AIR SOUTH
(1981-1982) Based in Mobile, Alabama
Mobile-based Air South began operations on June 15, 1981, at 4 cities, Gulfport, Mobile, New Orleans, and Pensacola, with 19-passenger Swearingen Metroliners. Led by president and founder Arve Henricksen, Air South had an ambitious 5-year plan to serve two dozen cities from hubs at New Orleans, Memphis, and Atlanta, and predicted success on the same level as Air Florida and Southwest Airlines. The airline hoped to capitalize on Pan Am dropping service to Pensacola and Mobile, cities inherited from their acquisition of National Airlines.
Within weeks of their first flight, the new Air South faced a major hurdle when air traffic controllers went on strike on August 3, 1981, limiting most of the airline's flights to visual flight rules. Put simply, the majority of flights could only operate during clear weather conditions. While bad weather could potentially send flight scheduling into chaos, the upside is that the airline faced fewer delays than major airlines during favorable weather conditions due to the fact that the Metroliners could fly at low altitudes outside of controlled airspace.
An Air South advertisement announcing 9 daily flights from Pensacola to New Orleans. The increased flight frequencies were apparently in response to Texas International Airlines inaugurating DC-9 service between Pensacola, Mobile and Houston. From the October 13, 1981 edition of the Pensacola News Journal.
By early 1982, Air South had expanded west to Lake Charles and Lafayette, north to Jackson, and east to Ft. Walton Beach and Panama City. This route map is based on their timetable effective January 15, 1982. The fleet consisted of 4 Metroliners. Map created with Great Circle Mapper.
Here's the entire timetable effective January 15, 1982, scanned by Arthur Na. Thank you Arthur!
Service to Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama was inaugurated on March 1, 1982.
Air South abruptly shut down on March 17, 1982, citing "preventative maintenance and aircraft rescheduling", but it was more likely that the combination of the PATCO strike, the ongoing recession and the encroachment of Texas International DC-9 jet service into Air South markets led to the grounding. On March 30, the airline officially announced that they had filed for bankruptcy protection. Documents filed in court revealed the airline had roughly $1.8 million in assets and $3.7 million in debt.
