Southern Airways
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| Founded | February 1, 1944 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | July 1, 1979 (merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines) | ||||||
| Hubs | Atlanta Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 47 | ||||||
| Destinations | 64 | ||||||
| Headquarters |
William B. Hartsfield Airport Greater Atlanta, Georgia |
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| Key people | Frank Hulse (Founder) | ||||||
Southern Airways (IATA: SO, ICAO: -, Call sign: Southern) was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local service air carrier") as designated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) operating in the United States from their founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when they merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines, which on October 1, 1986, then became part of Northwest Airlines, which, in turn, was merged into Delta Air Lines in 2008. Southern maintained corporate headquarters in Birmingham with operations headquartered at William B. Hartsfield Airport, near Atlanta.
As a local service airline, Southern Airways covered the south-central U.S. In 1955 their network spanned from Memphis south to New Orleans and east to Charlotte and Jacksonville. In August 1953 Southern flew to 29 airports and in August 1967 to 50.
Like other Local Service airlines Southern was subsidized; in 1962 its operating "revenues" of $14.0 million included $5.35 million "Pub. serv. rev.".
In May 1968 Southern's routes extended from Tri-Cities in Tennessee south to New Orleans and Jacksonville, and east from Baton Rouge and Monroe, Louisiana to the coast at Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Later in 1968 a route sprouted northward: three weekday Douglas DC-9-10s from Columbus GA (CSG) nonstop to Washington Dulles and on to New York LaGuardia. These originated at Eglin Air Force Base, FL (VPS).
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