Leisure Air
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| Founded | 1992 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | February 1995 | ||||||
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| Fleet size | 15 (during operations) | ||||||
| Destinations | Various charter | ||||||
| Headquarters | Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States | ||||||
Leisure Air was an American airline based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Beginning as a charter airline, the company expanded to offer scheduled service to major cities as a discount carrier. It operated from 1992 until 1995, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and then ceased operations.
Leisure Air was established in 1992 with its base in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It flew charter flights using five leased Airbus A320s, four McDonnell Douglas DC-10s and two Boeing 757s. The charter flights were to the southwest United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Also it operated charters from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Hawaii using the DC-10s, Oakland to Mexico and Chicago using the A320s. Those DC-10s were also used for charter flights to Europe.
After beginning with charter service, Leisure Air expanded to offering scheduled service to major cities. It operated as a discount airline, selling coast-to-coast seats for as little as $99 one way. Part of its strategy was to control costs by contracting out its reservations service and renting airport counter space from other carriers for $150 a flight. One of its gimmicks to keep costs low was to offer turkey sandwiches for every meal. The airline carried 1,000 to 1,200 passengers a day on seven to eight flights.
Harold J. (Hap) Pareti started Leisure Air. He previously was one of the founders of People Express.
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