Mid Pacific Air

IATA	ICAO	Callsign
HO	MPA	MID PAC

Founded

1981

Ceased operations

1995

Headquarters

Mid Pacific Air was a low-cost regional airline which began operations with passenger services in Hawaii. Founded in 1981, initial routes connected the islands of Kauai, O'ahu, Maui and Hawaii (the Big Island). Its primary competitors were established air carriers Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines. When it operated in the Midwest, its headquarters were on the grounds of Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana. Originally its headquarters were located at Honolulu International Airport.

In contrast to Hawaiian and Aloha, Mid Pacific Air's fleet was made up primarily of NAMC YS-11 turboprop planes; Hawaiian and Aloha operated jet aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 (Hawaiian) and Boeing 737 (Aloha) on the same interisland routes. Mid Pacific added Fokker F28 Fellowship twin jets in 1985. In October 1982, the airline wet leased a Boeing 707 from Arrow Air and operated a short lived service from Honolulu to Pago Pago, American Samoa using the name Mid Pacific Arrow. In February 1985, the airline expanded to the southwestern United States, where it operated low-fare service between from Las Vegas, Nevada and the Grand Canyon to Burbank and Orange County, California, and also flew nonstop between Orange County and Fresno, California. In 1985, Mid Pacific also leased four of its YS-11's to operate for Fort Worth Airlines in Texas. In January 1986, the airline was sold to KOA Holdings, and shortly after the F28 jets were removed from service.