Southern Airways - 1970s

1970s

Revenue passenger traffic, in millions of passenger-miles (scheduled flights only)

By 1971 Southern was operating flights into New York City and Chicago and as far south as Orlando and Miami. Because U.S. government regulation of airline routes prohibited Southern from operating flights from New York or Washington, D.C. nonstop to Atlanta, Southern had multiple daily flights from New York and Washington nonstop to Columbus, Georgia, then on to Dothan, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; Panama City, Florida, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and/or Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi. Southern remained a regional airline in character with many flights scheduled with up to five or six stops.

With increasing acquisitions of DC-9 jet aircraft, many routes once served with propeller-driven aircraft were served with jets. Jet flights linked small cities to hubs at Atlanta and Memphis, sometimes with multiple stops. Some examples include:

• Columbus, Georgia to Washington, DC. and New York/Newark.
• Meridian, Mississippi to Birmingham, Alabama; Columbus, Mississippi; and Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Atlanta, Georgia and Columbus, Mississippi.
• Muscle Shoals/Florence, Alabama to Memphis, Tennessee and Huntsville/Decatur, Alabama.
• Greenville, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee and Monroe, Louisiana.
• Columbia, South Carolina to Greenville/Spartanburg and Charleston, South Carolina.
• Albany, Georgia to Atlanta, Georgia; Valdosta, Georgia; Dothan, Alabama; and Columbus, Georgia.

One of the most extreme examples of a single flight number, same aircraft, with multiple stops, was the routing flown by a DC9-14 originating in Miami, then on to Orlando, Tallahassee, Panama City, Eglin AFB, Mobile, Gulfport, New Orleans, Birmingham, Atlanta, Huntsville, Memphis, St Louis and terminating in Chicago (Midway Airport), a total flight time start to finish of 14hr 32min.

By the mid-1970s Southern's route system had expanded to St. Louis, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale and Grand Cayman, Southern's only international destination.

Southern Airways billed itself as the "Route of the Aristocrats." and used the slogan "Nobody's Second Class on Southern" in its television commercials. They were famous for their promotional shot glasses: for a time, differently designed shot glasses were issued each year. Original Southern shot glasses are valued by collectors of airline memorabilia.

During the early 1970s, before strict airport security was implemented across the United States, several airlines experienced hijacking incidents. One such incident occurred on November 10, 1972, when Southern Airways Flight 49, a Southern Airways DC-9 en route from Memphis to Miami was hijacked during a stopover in Birmingham, Alabama. The three hijackers boarded the plane in Birmingham armed with handguns and hand grenades. At gunpoint, the hijackers took the airplane, the plane’s crew of four, and 27 passengers to nine American cities, Toronto, and eventually to Havana, Cuba. During the long flight the hijackers threatened to crash the plane into the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, nuclear facilities, insisted on talking with President Richard Nixon, and demanded a ransom of $10 million. Southern Airways was only able to come up with $2 million. Eventually the pilot talked the hijackers into settling for the $2 million when the plane landed in Chattanooga for refueling. Upon landing in Havana the Cuban authorities arrested the hijackers and, after a brief delay, sent the plane, passengers, and crew back to the United States. The hijackers and $2 million stayed in Cuba.

Southern Airways accounted for the $2 million by debiting it to an account entitled “Hijacking Payment.” This account was reported as a type of receivable under “other assets” on Southern’s balance sheet. The company maintained that it would be able to collect the cash from the Cuban government and that, therefore, a receivable existed. Southern Airways was repaid $2 million by the Cuban government, which was attempting to improve relations with the United States.