History
Simmons Airlines was founded by Larry Simmons in Marquette, MI. Scheduled flights began in October 1978 using an eight-seat Piper Chieftain aircraft to connect Marquette, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to the state capital of Lansing.
Marquette was already served by North Central Airlines with DC-9 jets; however, its flights to the Lower Peninsula required multiple stops on an indirect routing over Green Bay WI. Simmons provided Upper Peninsula passengers with a more direct routing.
The original Simmons route soon lengthened to include Houghton/Hancock as the northern terminus, and Detroit Metro as the southern terminus. Meanwhile, Escanaba and Traverse City were added as intermediate stops. Smaller but faster six-seat Piper Aerostars joined the fleet to improve economics.
Simmons expanded rapidly in the early 1980s under a new Chief Executive Officer, the flamboyant Joel Murray. During this timeframe, Republic Airlines (North Central’s successor) began to draw down service levels in many of Michigan’s smaller communities. The first 19-seat turboprop Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante joined the fleet in January 1981, and flights to Chicago O’Hare were added the following July. To provide additional capacity, Simmons introduced the larger 36-seat Shorts 360 aircraft in December 1982. An even larger aircraft came on-line in July 1984 when Simmons introduced the 56-seat NAMC YS-11 into its network. It also joined Republic’s “One-Ticket Way” program to offer coordinated fares and schedules for passengers connecting to the larger carrier at Detroit and Chicago.
Simmons formalized its relationship with Republic to become the first code-sharing Republic Express carrier. On April 28, 1985, Simmons began operating Republic Express flights to 12 cities in Michigan, along with two in Ohio, from its Detroit hub. It also inaugurated Republic Express service to MSP from Houghton/Hancock and Marquette using a mix of Shorts 360 and YS-11 aircraft. Instead of being painted in a full Republic Express livery, aircraft remained in standard Simmons colors with a small Republic Express decal placed near the boarding door.
Express I Airlines joined Simmons as a Republic Express carrier at MSP in December 1985. Although Express I quickly became the larger operation, Simmons continued to operate Republic Express flights from MSP to the Upper Peninsula markets. This continued after the merger of Republic and Northwest in October 1986, when Simmons transitioned to become the Northwest Airlink carrier for the Detroit hub. The high-capacity YS-11 fleet with its high operating costs was phased out in favor of new-generation ATR turboprops. Several Simmons aircraft, including a few new 46-seat ATR-42s, were painted in full Northwest Airlink colors. Simmons/Northwest Airlink operated both the ATR-42 and Shorts 360 aircraft on flights between MSP and the Upper Peninsula before standardizing on the smaller Shorts.
Shortly after starting its Republic Express flying, Simmons negotiated a similar code-sharing agreement with American Airlines to operate its flights at Chicago O’Hare under the American Eagle brand. As American sought to have greater operational control of its Eagle affiliates, it started acquiring them. In June 1988, American’s parent, AMR Corporation, announced that it would purchase Simmons to become a wholly-owned Eagle subsidiary. The transaction closed in August, and Simmons quickly transitioned to flying exclusively for its new owner. Northwest chose MSP-based Mesaba to replace Simmons as its Airlink affiliate at Detroit. After an orderly transition, Mesaba initiated its Detroit-based flying in December 1988. The last Simmons/Northwest Airlink flight from MSP departed on January 7, 1989.
Meanwhile, through acquisitions and alignments, the core operation of Simmons eventually became American Eagle’s key feederline for the central U.S., Envoy. It still uses the original “MQ” operating certificate, flying 70-76 seat regional jet equipment to American’s hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare.
Route Maps
Timetables
Aircraft
The fleet involved in Republic and Northwest contract flying comprised:
