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Big Sky Airlines

Big Sky Airlines
Big Sky Airlines Logo.JPG
IATA ICAO Callsign
GQ BSY BIG SKY
Founded 1978
Ceased operations 2008
Hubs Billings Logan International Airport
Frequent-flyer program MVP Club
Fleet size 10
Destinations 10
Parent company Big Sky Transportation-MAIR Holdings
Headquarters Billings, Montana
Key people Fred deLeeuw (President)
Website bigskyair.com

Big Sky Airlines was an U.S. commuter air carrier that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of MAIR Holdings.

Big Sky operated scheduled commuter passenger services to ten cities and maintained a hub at Billings Logan International Airport in Billings, Montana, from which the airline flew more of its nonstop routes than it did from any other airport. The airline was a crucial air link within the state of Montana, serving as the primary (and in some cases, only) commercial air carrier to several small airports in the state. The airline also began and ended service to a number of other locations over the years, often operating as a contract carrier under the federal government's Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

The airline was established in 1978 and started operations on September 15, 1978, initially operating to a number of small cities in eastern and central Montana formerly served by the original Frontier Airlines. This remained the core of the company's business throughout its history, although the airline also expanded into a number of other geographic areas over the years. Most of the later expansions proved to be short-lived, however.

In 1987, Big Sky was operating code sharing service as Northwest Airlink on behalf of Northwest Airlines from a hub in Billings with British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 propjets. The Jetstream turboprops were then replaced with Swearingen Metroliner propjets on the Northwest Airlink service.

Big Sky took over Exec Express II d/b/a Lone Star Airlines/Aspen Mountain Air's EAS routes in October 1998, following the bankruptcy of this Texas-based commuter air carrier. Transfer of services was completed in December 1998. These routes included: Dallas/Ft. Worth-Brownwood, TX; Dallas/Ft. Worth-Enid/Ponca City, OK; Dallas/Ft. Worth-Hot Springs-Harrison-Mountain Home, AR-St. Louis, MO; and Dallas/Ft. Worth-El Dorado-Jonesboro, AR.


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