Mississippi Valley Airlines
US regional airline (1968–1985) merged into Air Wisconsin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine[2] as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin.[3] Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer.[4] It began scheduled flight operations on July 22, 1968 between La Crosse Municipal Airport and both Chicago (O'Hare International Airport) and Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport).[5] The carrier changed its name to Mississippi Valley Airways in October 1969. It became Mississippi Valley Airlines (MVA) and moved its headquarters to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois, in January 1982.[6][7] The airline merged into Air Wisconsin on May 17, 1985 in a $10 million share exchange transaction. At the time of the merger, Mississippi Valley Airlines was the United States' eighth-largest regional airline in terms of ridership.[8]
| |||||||
Commenced operations | July 22, 1968 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ceased operations | 1985 | ||||||
Operating bases | La Crosse Municipal Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | See Fleet below | ||||||
| Destinations | See Destinations below | ||||||
| Headquarters | La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States Moline, Illinois, United States | ||||||
Destinations
Mississippi Airlines had the following destinations:[9]
- Alexandria, Minnesota
- Benton Harbor, Michigan
- Burlington, Iowa
- Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
- Chicago, Illinois (O'Hare)
- Clinton, Iowa
- Columbia, Missouri
- Dubuque, Iowa
- Kansas City, Missouri
- La Crosse, Wisconsin
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Marshall, Minnesota
- Mason City, Iowa
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Moline, Illinois
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Oshkosh, Wisconsin
- Ottumwa, Iowa
- Peoria, Illinois
- Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Springfield, Illinois
- Willmar, Minnesota
- Winona, Minnesota
Turboprop fleet
Accidents
Although the airline had no fatal accidents, it lost one aircraft during in-flight operations, a Twin Otter which hit trees upon landing at La Crosse, Wisconsin.[11]
