|
Post by phx2gb on Feb 5, 2010 15:10:45 GMT -5
Thanks for the Flightplans and the excellent YS11 paint, Jason! I've already got her up and flying. I remember this short-lived airline when it flew into Midland/Odessa. It was always a thrill hearing that high pitched RR turboprop whine when it pulled up to the gate!
|
|
|
Post by Christian Page, RAI on Feb 10, 2010 15:19:24 GMT -5
Oh, my own howntown POS airline! HQ was between a Taco Bell and an Albertson's grocery. I could swear they still had some worn-out and hated Merto IIs in '83. TCA began operations out of Wiley Post Airport (KPWA) around 1980 to serve the oil industry. Around 1981, they bought YS-11a for some unodly reason and switched ops to Will Rogers (KOKC), They had Metros painted white with a tri-color stripe, they looked like (and may have been) old or leased Air Midwest planes. TCA was a classic example of how not to strat ad run and airline - crap airplanes that looked like the paint job was done by Krylon spray cans, and that real bad habit of not cleaning or maintaining the planes. I was on a TCA YS-11 in '82 and I could figure out why my seat area smelled until I looked in the seat pocket - s**t-filled diaper! So much for cleaning the cabin on that 40-minute turnaround @ KOKC.
|
|
|
Post by Christian Page, RAI on Feb 13, 2010 2:19:22 GMT -5
it is very close, but one problem is you can read the registration number . Most Total Cardiac Arrest planes had so much exhaust soot and filth aft of the engines that the lower rear half of the YS-11s was virtually black. They eventually started painting the blue areas black to hide the grime.
|
|
|
Post by krubs on Apr 26, 2010 10:03:34 GMT -5
Hi All,
I just joined this forum after having run across it during a Google Search of Trans Central Airline.
I was an employee of TCA from November 1980 thru September 1984 when it ceased operations.
I started in LIT as a CSA and ended up in OKC as Manager of Flight Control.
The airlines was owned by a group of folks headed up by an OKC oilman. Even so, it seemed to be perpetually undercapitalized
If I may, let me expound on a few things that I have read.
* When I was hired, the headquarters was on Northwest Expressway in OKC next to a Long John Silvers.
* The maintenance had just been moved from a small airport near Norman to WPA (Wiley Post) in OKC near the headquarters.
* The airline, at that point in 1980 operated 4 Swearingen Metro II's. They were painted tan, with a tri-color stripe running down the side of the fuselage (red, orange and black). I thought that they paint scheme was very handsome. I don't know the origins of these airplanes for sure, but their N numbers were N63Z, N65Z, N70A and N71Z. I think they may have been Southern Airways equipment prior to being acquired by TCA.
* These airplanes were essentially worn out at that time and required constant maintenance, and as a result, there were usually on 3 airplanes that were operational at any one time during this period. Sometimes only two, which resulted in TCA being referred to as "Trans Cancel Airlines" by some to our great chagrin. * The airlines operations was effectively run by the marketing department who were determined to run the complete routing structure regardless of how many airplanes were flying that day. That resulted in serious delays all over the system and lots of flight cancellations anyway. This was devastating to the fledgling airline's operational reputation.
*The airplanes landing gear were not cleaned regularly by maintenance (They barely had time to fix them and get them back on the schedule) and gave the effect of dirty airplanes. Another marketing black eye, in my opinion.
*In 1982/83 the airline moved it's headquarters into a newly built office/ maintenance/hangar complex at Will Rogers. At that time, 2 new Swearingen Metro III's were acquired and put into service. They were painted navy blue with a red stripe running down the side. This was done due to the principle investor being a US Marine Colonel in a former life and this paint scheme was reminiscent of US Marines dress blue pants.
* In an effort to revitalize the airline and generate more passenger revenue, the dubious decision was made to purchase 4 YS-11's from All Nippon Airways in Japan. TCA flight crews were sent to Japan and ferried the newly refurbished airplanes back to OKC. They were painted in the same navy blue/red paint scheme. However, I never saw a YS-11 painted black to cover the exhaust smudges adhering to the lower body of the airplanes. The bodies of the airplanes were kept very clean.
Sadly, these airplanes lacked the power to fly over the even the normal turbulence encountered between OKC and AMA or anywhere else in the route system, so they were definitely not the answer, nor were they air-conditioned as they weren't equipped with on-board GPU's.
All of these factors combined to eventually drain the airline of the capital needed to operate and it ceased operations in September of 1984.
However, some great professional pilots and others worked at one time or another for TCA and were a family. TCA employed pilots from all over the world and I learned from them that people were people where ever they happened to be from. I will never forget them.
I even had the distinction of dispatching what may be the first ever all female crew in 121 operational history. That day in 1984, we operated a series of legs with a female captain, a female first officer and 2 female flight attendants (the equipment was the YS-11).
I remember my time at TCA very fondly, even though the undercapitalization issues caused some wild operational decisions to be made, but all in all, it was the highlight of my working life. After all, I also found my wife there, too.
Thanks for reading my little historical synopsis of my time at Trans Central Airline Corp.
|
|
d
Second Officer
Posts: 189
|
Post by d on Apr 27, 2010 13:06:05 GMT -5
What a great story! I love these insider viewpoints on the inner workings of an airline (especially those that are no longer with us!).
Regards....Duncan
|
|
|
Post by Christian Page, RAI on Apr 30, 2010 20:36:24 GMT -5
i have a picture of a TCA YS-11 in what appears a black and red scheme. Unfortunately, I can't post it here due to copyright issues - though I can scan it and send it to you personally if you promise not to tell ;-P. It could be a lighting deal, as many Braniff propliner repaints show up on Avsim and Flightsim depict a orange, black, and white scheme. Never did orange appear on a Braniff plane until the "Jellybean" era of the 1960's. But, many old photos do make it look orange and black when it's really red and blue. I have a postcard of a very dirty YS-11 in my collection, but it could have been photographed at the the of the day, after it had flown several hops. I don"t recall the combination office/hangar building at Will Rogers - but I'm sure it's still there somewhere amongst the huge AAR complex that rules the east side of 17R/35L. I have been doing research for another site (now defunct) of the "Meridian Ave." terminal that was the airport's first terminal, built in 1931 and used up until late 1965, when the twin-concourse terminal was built and went a massive renovation and expansion in the mid-to-late 2000s, just in case you are no longer in OKC or haven't seen it. I don't know how they managed to essentially tear the 1965 building down to it's bare bones and expand it without bothering operations much is amazing to me. Anyway, the tower remained in use until the current one opened in 1971, but tracing what happened after that, but where it used to stand is where a vaguely-1980's-looking building that is part of AAR and I wonder if this could be the old TCA building?
The new building has a planned east concourse (both of the originals were leveled, taking away the observation tower where I spent many a hour both as a kid and during my times working there) - it was supposed to be the "hub" for Great Plains Airlines as it expanded (Tulsa was the original hub and maintenance was there), but it was a 9/11 casualty, plus they were flying Dornier 328Jets and Fairchild/Dornier had stopped production, making spare parts rare. So, the concourse hasn't been built yet - there is talk of building it now as an international terminal for charters to other countries so they don't have to stop at DFW to clear customs before going on to OKC. Plus, rumors have been popping up about a nameless scheduled airline that has been sniffing around (hint: think maple leafs) to operate into the city with the arrival of the NBA, the Edmonton AHL affiliate plus the energy companies it makes sense for them to fly in to OKC.
A great story comes out of the Great Plains debacle. To finance the operations HQ and build a new hangar for them, the Tulsa Airport Authority took out a loan using the airport as collateral. Great Plains goes under, and now the TAA no longer has the promised repayment from GPA. So, the Bank of Oklahoma threatened to seize the whole airport. After various lawsuits and robbing Peter to pay Paul, the debt was paid and Tulsa kept its ownership of the airport.
P.S., I worked for AA in Tulsa (having the distinction of being twice laid-off by Darth Crandall and Darth Carty - the first was during the '96 pilot's strike, so my layoff was about 15 minutes, since President Clinton ordered the pilots back to work, the second was permanent, or at least they haven't called me back lately...) as well as Western Pacific - another undercapitalized airline. They were set to merge with Frontier in '96, until Frontier got a look at WPA's finances and wisely backed out. But as odd as they were, the "flying billboards" had their charm, as you never knew what was coming in. I also did a brief stint with Evergreen as a ramp rat, working the UPS aircraft and subcontractors. Great job - no insurance and about 3,000 ways to get maimed or killed every night. I suffered a mild concussion after chocking a Shorts 330 and forgot about the wing strut and conked myself in the back of my head fairly hard. And I nearly got sand-blasted by the wash of a 757 turning out, managed to dive into an empty baggage cart before the full force hit me...good times...L)
|
|
d
Second Officer
Posts: 189
|
Post by d on May 1, 2010 0:55:22 GMT -5
Swaying a little OT here..... ;D
I also worked the ramp/load control for Western Pacific while working for Midwest in the mid nineties. It was fun while it lasted, with a new bizarre color scheme coming around the corner every week (love that Stardust tail, and who could forget the 'electric banana', aka the Simpsons plane).
Unfortunately the CEO of the airline (Ed B?) believed the only way an airline could achieve success was to reach 'critcal mass' by adding as many planes as possible in the shortest amount of time. Someone should have told him that when something reaches critcal mass it sometimes blows up which is exactly what WP did in 1998.
Best regards....Duncan
|
|
|
Post by Christian Page, RAI on May 7, 2010 15:42:06 GMT -5
Ed Beauvais was the CEO at W7 form most of its career. I don't recall the exact timeframes 15 years on, but he left sometime before the aborted Frontier merger. The new leader, whose name I forget, hated the "flying billboards" and planned to do away with them and adopt a standardized paint scheme. It appeared in advertising and on the final W7 timetable, which I have in storage. But no plane was ever painted this way, so - like the Braniff Concordes - any depiction of that final scheme were fake. Something else happened right at the end, in anticipation of the Frontier merger, was the transfer of hub operations from KCOS to KDEN, putting them right in conflict with UA and F7 on its most profitable routes. One last tidbit, the very first "flying billboard" was for the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, owned by the late Oklahoma City multi-billionaire Edward L. Gaylord via one of his companies, Gaylord Entertainment. Gaylord was a large investor in W7 and the first W7 service ever was by that plane from KCOS-KOKC. E.L. Gaylord died some time in the late 1990's and his empire distributed throughout the family. They divested themselves of a lot of holdings, pretty sure they sold off their interest in W7 well before the collapse, don't know if they still own the Broadmoor...
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Nov 14, 2012 10:42:37 GMT -5
Hi,
I worked at Trans Central Airlines in the early 80's until the time it shut down. I was a mechanic when they operated out of Wiley Post Airport in OKC.
|
|
|
Post by cgold on Nov 14, 2012 17:14:22 GMT -5
Looks like talking about airlines in a bad light could render those who worked for them to come out... I'm surprised we haven't seen more former TowerAir or Valujet employees... I bet they have some interesting stories. Very interesting story about TCA, there... Thank you and welcome, regardless.
|
|
|
Post by Wayne Delph on Feb 15, 2014 23:40:55 GMT -5
I did engine repairs and hot sections on all the aircraft from 1981 thru 1983. I had many interesting standby flights to get to aircraft. I even repacked an escape slide in the YS-11 when it was accidently deployed by the bag boys. We had to ride the YS-11 as passengers for the first few months in suits. The Metro's were a real joy to work on too up at Wiley Post because we had to cross their tails in the hangars. They even built me an engine shop in the corner out of plastic and even had an ac unit. Water would run through the hanger when it rained and the bug zappers made quit a pile every night. It was nice when we moved to Will Rodgers.
|
|
|
Post by MEC on Nov 12, 2015 18:22:21 GMT -5
Hello I was a flight attendant for trans central. I remember certifying the WS-11s with the FAA. Does anyone have photos of the flight attendants and crew. Many of my professional technology associates want validation of my fabulous past with trans central. My husband also worked for trans central as a mechanic. We departed before the airline went under. I went to college and got a computer science degree. Hubby went to northwest airlines. Our three adult sons are aviation professionals; engineering, air traffic control in the Air Force and pilot. I'm just saying trans central was the beginning but far from the end of aviation in my family. I hope all of my trans central family is doing well.
|
|
|
Post by No more on May 22, 2016 23:25:21 GMT -5
Trans central was a complete JOKE. The equipment was, as this gent said, former southern. I shut down 3 different engines during my brief time there. Lot of good people there, BUT none in management which is why they ended up with bigger aircraft. Trans cancel, NO, trans menstrual.....on time once a month. Lamerts I hope you lost your ass!!
|
|