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Founded | 1985 | ||||||
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Ceased operations | 1989 | ||||||
Hubs | Washington Dulles International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities | Washington, D.C., Boston, Massachusetts | ||||||
Alliance | United, Continental | ||||||
Fleet size | 23 | ||||||
Headquarters | Herndon, Virginia, United States | ||||||
Key people | Harold J. Pareti (founder, president, CEO) |
Presidential Airways (IATA: XV, ICAO: n/a , Call sign: Washington Eagle) was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express Airlines, (known as "PEOPLExpress") as a low-cost carrier, with Boeing 737-200 service from Dulles to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts commencing October 10 of that year. A small fleet of B737-200 jetliners were initially operated by the airline.
Presidential then expanded to a number of destinations, merging with the original Colgan Air in 1986 and adding the British Aerospace BAe 146-200 jetliner and orders for the de Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 Dash 8 turboprop to its fleet (only two of the DHC-8-300s were ever received). It was unable to sustain its expansion, however, and became a regional feeder for Continental Airlines in 1987 and then United Airlines in 1988. In early 1989, Presidential attempted to capitalize on the "hub fever" then prevalent in the southeastern United States by trying to raise money from investors in Birmingham, Alabama with the stated intent of operating a new mini-hub at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM). Presidential's already shaky financial condition and eventual bankruptcy assured that nothing ever came of it. Burdened with debt from its changes of business plan, Presidential filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 26, 1989. It ended operations on December 5, 1989 and its assets subsequently liquidated. Shortly before that time, employees received a pay cut for two pay periods in an attempt to improve cash flow at the airline.