Boeing 737-247
N4501W was
originally f lown by
Western Airlines. The
aircraft was delivered
to AirCal in late 1984
and is shown taxiing
at San Jose carrying
the then new AirCal
colour scheme.
As AirCal sought further expansion at Orange County
Airport, an old nagging problem continued to plague the
carrier’s ambitions. The airport was now land-locked and noise
had become an issue to the thousands of residents surrounding
the airport, particularly the coastal community of Newport
Beach. Although the 737-300s were quieter than the MD-80,
they still fell prey to Orange County’s strict noise constraints and
were slot restricted. Rival carrier PSA had gotten around this
issue by operating the British Aerospace 146 which was so quiet
it could fly, even from Orange County, whenever PSA desired.
AirCal was critical of the 146 fleet operated by PSA, but was
now backed into a corner with no choice but to order six 85-seat
146-200s from the British manufacturer. PSA had some fun upon
hearing of the AirCal order with a PSA spokeswoman saying :
“AirCal from the president on down to the flight attendants, have
been bad-mouthing the aircraft. And now they are going to have
to eat a little crow.”
AirCal President David A Banmiller said at a news conference,“We are not going to be in a situation of being less than the
dominant carrier in our hometown.”
The first 146 was delivered on March 3, 1986 and was placed
on the Orange County and recently reinstated San Diego routes.
As more 146s arrived they were placed on secondary routes
throughout the AirCal network including Burbank, San Jose
and Sacramento.
With continued success came more passenger demand and as
1986 came to a close AirCal was operating over 300 flights a day
to sixteen different cities in California, Oregon, Washington,
Nevada, Alaska and Illinois.
Additional 737-200s were leased and added to the fleet to meet
the growing numbers of faithful AirCal passengers, but with an
eye to the future, the carrier was looking at the Boeing 757 –
which Orange County Airport approved for operation. This
would allow an eventual transcontinental service to Montreal
(Canada), Boston, New York-La Guardia and Washington DC,
but this nationwide expansion was not to be realised.Boeing 737-159
N472GB joined
AirCal in 1978 after
serving with Avianca,
Lufthansa and Aloha
Airlines. It is seen here
at an overcast LAX on
June 6, 1983.
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66 AIRLINER Classics 2018