View source for Lake Central Airlines

{{Short description|US airline (1950–1968) that merged into Allegheny}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline=Lake Central Airlines
| image=File:Lake Central Airlines Logo, October 1967.png
| caption=<!-- Caption for the image -->
| IATA           = LC<sup>(1)</sup><ref name=airportstats>{{cite report|title=Airport Activity Statistics of Certificated Route Carriers|publisher=Air Transport Association of America|date=31 December 1959|page=iv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBDWAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PR4}}</ref>
| ICAO           = LC<sup>(1)</sup><ref name=airportstats/>
| callsign= LAKE CENTRAL
| founded= <!-- {{Start date|YYYY|MM|DD}}<br />[[City]], [[State/Province]], [[Country]] -->
| commenced={{Start date and age|1950}}
| ceased={{End date and age|1968|06|01|br=y}}
| bases=[[Weir Cook Airport]] (now [[Indianapolis International Airport]])
| hubs= <!-- {{plainlist|*[[Airport Name1]] }} -->
| fleet_size=[[Douglas DC-3]],<br/>[[Convair 340]],<br/>[[Convair 580]],<br/>[[Beechcraft Bonanza]],<br/>[[Nord 262]].
| destinations= <!-- See [[#Destinations|Destinations]] below -->
| parent=Employee owned
| headquarters=[[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], United States
| notes = <small>(1) [[Airline codes#ICAO airline designator|IATA, ICAO codes]] were the same until the 1980s</small>
}}
'''Lake Central Airlines''' was a [[local service carrier]] and scheduled airline that served multiple locations throughout the midwestern and eastern [[United States]] from 1950 to 1968, when it then merged into [[Allegheny Airlines]]. In 1979 Allegheny became [[USAir]], and in 1997, USAir became [[US Airways]]. In 2015, US Airways was acquired by [[American Airlines]] through a [[Mergers and Acquisitions|merging]] of the two companies.

==History==
[[File:Douglas DC-3, Lake Central Airlines JP7079315.jpg|thumb|left| [[Douglas DC-3|DC-3]] at [[Chicago O'Hare Airport|Chicago O'Hare]] 1962]]
[[File:Lake Central Convair CV-580 N73131.png|thumb|left|[[Convair 580]] at [[Port Columbus Airport|Columbus]] 1968]]
The airline was founded as [[Turner Airlines]] in 1948; it was based at Weir Cook Airport (now [[Indianapolis International Airport]]) in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]].  Lake Central's network in the 1950s extended from Chicago to Pittsburgh; in August 1953 it had scheduled flights to 21 airports, and in May 1968, this number increased to 39.

Like other [[local service carrier|local service airlines]] regulated by the federal [[Civil Aeronautics Board]], Lake Central was subsidized; in 1962 its revenue of $10.8 million included $4.2 million of "pub. serv. rev.".<ref>Moody's Transportation Manual 1964</ref>

In February 1955 Lake Central Airlines became the first employee-owned scheduled airline in the history of the air transport industry.<ref>''Aviation Week'' 21 Feb 1955 p111</ref> 162 employees (65% of the total) bought 97.5% of the outstanding stock, 25% outright, and the rest financed over 24 months.

Effective July 1, 1968, the airline was acquired by and merged into [[Allegheny Airlines]]. Allegheny later closed the Indianapolis base and sold the Nord 262s, which had proven unreliable.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last1 = Furlong| first1 = Patrick J. | editor1-last= Bodenhamer | editor1-first = David J. | editor2-last = Barrows | editor2-first = Robert G. | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis | title = Lake Central Airlines | url =  | year = 1994 | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | location = Bloomington and Indianapolis | isbn = 0-253-31222-1 | pages = 891–892  
}}</ref> Lake Central had planned on acquiring new [[Boeing 737-200]]s, but the order was cancelled.

==Fleet==
Lake Central flew [[Douglas DC-3]]s, [[Convair 340]]s, [[Convair 580]]s, [[Beechcraft Bonanza]]s, and [[Nord 262]]s. DC-3 flights ended in 1967, and by spring of 1968 Lake Central had an all-turboprop fleet of Convair 580s and Nord 262s.<ref>http://www.timetableimages.com, April 28, 1968 Lake Central timetable</ref>

=== Historical fleet===
[[File:Nord 262 A F-WLHX Lake Cent LBG 19.06.65 edited-3.jpg|thumb|Lake Central's first [[Nord 262]] was delivered in August 1965]]
Lake Central Airlines previously operated the following aircraft:<ref>{{cite web | url = https://rzjets.net/operators/?show=6766 | title = Lake Central Airlines  | publisher = rzjets  | access-date = 5 August 2019}}</ref>
{{col div}}
* 8 [[Convair CV-240 family#Civil variants|Convair CV-340]]
* 4 [[Convair CV-240 family#Civil variants|Convair CV-580]]
* 1 [[Curtiss C-46 Commando]] (N1802M)
* 14 [[Douglas DC-3]]
* 5 [[Douglas C-47 Skytrain]]
* 3 [[Douglas C-53 Skytrooper]]
* 12 [[Nord 262|Nord 262A]]
{{col div end}}

==Destinations in 1968==
Shortly before the merger into Allegheny Airlines, Lake Central was serving the following cities with an all-turboprop fleet, mainly consisting of [[Convair 580]] and [[Nord 262]] aircraft, according to its April 28, 1968 timetable:<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/lc1.htm| title=April 28, 1968 Lake Central timetable| access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref>

{{col div}}
* [[Akron]]/[[Canton, Ohio]]
* [[Baltimore, Maryland]]
* [[Bloomington, Indiana]]
* [[Buffalo, New York]]
* [[Charleston, West Virginia]]
* [[Chicago, Illinois]] ([[Chicago O'Hare Airport]])
* [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] - '''''hub'''''
* [[Clarksburg, West Virginia]]
* [[Cleveland, Ohio]]
* [[Columbus, Ohio]] - '''''hub'''''
* [[Danville, Illinois]]
* [[Dayton, Ohio]]
* [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]]
* [[Elkins, West Virginia]]
* [[Erie, Pennsylvania]]
* [[Evansville, Indiana]]
* [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]]
* [[Indianapolis, Indiana]] - '''''hub'' & ''airline headquarters'''''
* [[Kalamazoo, Michigan]]
* [[Kokomo, Indiana]]
* [[Lafayette, Indiana]]
* [[Lima, Ohio]]
* [[Louisville, Kentucky]]
* [[Mansfield, Ohio]]
* [[Marion, Indiana]]
* [[Martinsburg, West Virginia]]
* [[Morgantown, West Virginia]]
* [[Muncie, Indiana]]
* [[Parkersburg, West Virginia]]
* [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]
* [[Portsmouth, Ohio]]
* [[St. Louis, Missouri]]
* [[South Bend, Indiana]]
* [[Terre Haute, Indiana]]
* [[Toledo, Ohio]]
* [[Washington, D.C.]] ([[Washington National Airport]])
* [[Wheeling, West Virginia]]
* [[Youngstown, Ohio]]
* [[Zanesville, Ohio]]
{{Div col end}}

==Accidents and incidents==
*On March 5, 1967, [[Lake Central Flight 527]], a [[Convair 580]], crashed near [[Marseilles, Ohio]], with the loss of all 38 passengers and crew.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AC.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-09-16 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004131832/http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AC.pdf |archive-date=2012-10-04 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of defunct airlines of the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://dantate.featuredblog.com/?p=251 Dan Tate's Blog] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710233815/http://dantate.featuredblog.com/?p=251 |date=2011-07-10 }}

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{{U.S. airlines of the regulated era (1938–1978)|state=collapsed}}
{{Airlines of the United States|state=collased}}
{{US Airways Group}}
{{American Airlines}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lake Central Airlines| ]]
[[Category:Airlines established in 1950]]
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 1968]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Indianapolis]]
[[Category:US Airways Group]]
[[Category:Defunct regional airlines of the United States]]
[[Category:Airlines based in Indiana]]