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| Founded | 1917 (1917) (asRed Arrow Flying Service) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commenced operations |
(asChalk's International Airlines) | ||||||
| Ceased operations | 2007; 18 years ago (2007) | ||||||
| AOC # | FVYA015T[1] | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | OceanPasses | ||||||
| Parent company | Flying Boat Inc. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Broward County, Florida, United States | ||||||
| Key people |
| ||||||
| Founder | Arthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk | ||||||
| Website | [1] | ||||||
Chalk's International Airlines, formerlyChalk's Ocean Airways, was anairline with its headquarters on the grounds ofFort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport inunincorporatedBroward County,Florida nearFort Lauderdale.[2] It operated scheduled seaplane services to theBahamas. Its main base wasMiami Seaplane Base (MPB) until 2001, with a hub at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.[3] On September 30, 2007, theUnited States Department of Transportation revoked the flying charter for the airline,[4] and later that year, the airline ceased operations after nearly 90 years of flying.
The airline was founded byArthur Burns "Pappy" Chalk, and startedad-hoc charter operations as theRed Arrow Flying Service in 1917 flying afloatplane.[5] After "Pappy" Chalk served in theArmy Air Service inWorld War I, he returned to Miami. The company claimed to have commenced scheduled service between Miami andBimini in theBahamas in February 1919 asChalk's Flying Service.[6][7] Chalk's first base was a beach umbrella on the Miami shore ofBiscayne Bay. In 1926 a landfill island,Watson Island, was created in Biscayne Bay close to Miami. Chalk's built an air terminal there, and operated from the island for the next 75 years.
DuringProhibition, Chalk's was a major source of alcoholsmuggled from the Bahamas to the United States.[4][8][9]
Pappy Chalk sold the airline to his friend in 1966,[10] but continued to be involved in the daily operations of the airline until he retired in 1975. He died in 1977 at the age of 88.[4][11]
In the early 1970s,Frakes Aviation bought the rights to the aircraft and began a conversion program, replacing the oldPratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engines withPratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops.[12] By 1985 three of Chalk's eightGrumman Mallards had been converted, with five ex-military piston enginedGrumman Albatross aircraft making up the balance of the fleet.
In 1974,Resorts International purchased Chalk's Airlines, which became the primary air carrier toParadise Island near the Bahamian capital ofNassau, where Resorts International owned and operated hotels and other resort facilities. After Resorts International constructed a short take off and landing (STOL) runway on Paradise Island and switched to using STOL-capablede Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7 turboprop aircraft operated by subsidiaryParadise Island Airlines, it sold Chalk's in 1991 to United Capital Corporation, anIllinois-based investment firm (which was not affiliated withUnited Airlines).[13]
The television showMiami Vice, a symbol of both Miami and the 1980s, featured a Chalk's seaplane in its opening credits. N2969, which had a fatal accident in 2005, asFlight 101 is featured in an extended scene at the end of the third-season episodeBaseballs of Death, when the antagonist attempts to leave the US. The music video forGeorge Michael's "Careless Whisper" and Miami Vice second-season episodeOne Way Ticket featured a Chalk's seaplane, N2974. In one of the final scenes of the motion pictureSilence of the Lambs, Dr Frederick Chilton is seen disembarking a Chalk's aircraft in Bimini, where Hannibal Lecter is waiting to "have him for dinner". A Chalks plane also makes an appearance at the end of the movie 'After The Sunset' with Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek's characters embracing as they stand next to it. Chalk's fleet was as high-maintenance as it was glamorous. It was a unique carrier, its Watson Island base being the smallest port of entry in the United States. Chalk's revenues were about $7.5 million in 1986, when it carried 130,000 passengers. Most were staying at Resorts International properties, although island residents used the airline for shopping trips to Miami.[14]
United Capital expanded Chalk's service toKey West, Florida, and Nassau and acquired additional aircraft, but struggled financially.[13] In 1996, United Capital sold Chalk's to a group of investors, who operated the airline under the namePan Am Air Bridge. In January 1998,Texas-based aircraft lease companyAir Alaska purchased 70% of Pan Am Air Bridge, but following the collapse of Air Alaska, Pan Am Air Bridge filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection only a year later on January 11, 1999.[10] James Confalone, a businessman and formerEastern Airlines pilot, purchased Chalk's out of bankruptcy for $925,000 on August 2, 1999; it had been reduced to two aircraft and only 35 staff. Confalone bought five additional Grumman Mallard seaplanes and arranged a contract to buy 14 largerGrumman G-111 seaplanes to expand the operation.[10] On December 17, 1999, the airline was relaunched as Chalk's Ocean Airways.
In late 2001 following theSeptember 11 attacks, Chalk's was forced to leave its longtime operations base on Watson Island due to security concerns over its proximity to thePort of Miami. Helicopter traffic had also increased around Watson Island.[11] Operations moved toFort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, where Chalk's already had its maintenance base.
The airline suspended operations after the crash ofChalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 on December 19, 2005. It had planned to resume flights between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas under its earlier name of Chalk's International Airlines on November 9, 2006,[15] but its airworthiness certificate issued by the Bahamas had expired.[16] It resorted to using aircraft "wet leased" from and operated byBig Sky Airlines to operate flights from Fort Lauderdale to Key West and toSt. Petersburg, Florida.[17] Chalk's added flights betweenPalm Beach International Airport (PBIA) and destinations in the Bahamas in late May 2007, but carried only 14 passengers through PBIA that August.[4]
Chalk's ceased flying from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after September 3, 2007. After the final report from the Flight 101 crash investigation was released, theUnited States Department of Transportation revoked the airline's flying authority for scheduled service on September 30, 2007, effectively shutting down the airline. Chalk's continued to hold its FAR 121 operating with a part 298 authority in good standing, and sought to add 60-passengerregional jets to its FAR 121 operating licence, but these efforts never came to fruition.
Chalk's had claimed to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the world, having begun operations in 1917 and scheduled flights in February 1919, and having only ceased operations for three years due toWorld War II, two days due to 1992'sHurricane Andrew, and eleven months due to an "at altitude tragedy" on December 19, 2005.
During 2006 the airline leased conventionalBeechcraft 1900D turboprop commuter land planes fromBig Sky Airlines which were later replaced bySaab 340A and otherwet leased aircraft while working with theFederal Aviation Administration to rebuild its fleet ofGrumman G-73T TurbineMallards.[15][18]
As of March 2007 the Chalk's International Airlines fleet comprised:[3]
Chalk's also formerly operated the Grumman Albatross.[citation needed] These were the only Albatross sea planes ever converted into a full passenger configuration.[citation needed]
Chalk's International Airlines operated the following services (as of 2007):
Bahamas
United States
FVYA — Flying Boat Inc d/b/a Chalk's International Airlines, Cert. No. FVYA015T
