Today in 1985, Presidential Airways (XV) began flying from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). Harold J. “Hap” Pareti, a former president of People Express (PE), founded the airline with other former employees of that carrier.
Pareti combined low fares with full service: Presidential checked bags and served food at no extra charge. It launched with four aircraft serving five destinations.
The initial network linked Dulles with Boston, Cincinnati, Hartford, Indianapolis, and Miami. Presidential used leased Boeing 737-200s previously operated by Lufthansa (LH). According to the World Airline Historical Society's history of Presidential's early expansion, the airline served 18 destinations by summer 1986.
In June 1986, Presidential ordered five British Aerospace BAe 146s for smaller markets where the 737 was uneconomical. That year it also bought Colgan Airways, which provided commuter connections at Dulles under the Presidential Express name.
Feeder Agreements and Closure
By October 1986, Presidential had an agreement to feed passengers to Pan American World Airways (PA) at Dulles and Miami. In 1987, it became a Continental Airlines (CO) feeder under the Continental Jet Express name. The Continental arrangement lasted less than a year; Presidential returned to its own branding before reaching a feeder agreement with United Airlines (UA) in 1988.
Presidential filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 1989 while continuing to fly. It ceased operations on December 4, 1989.
The featured image shows BAe 146-200 N408XV at Manchester in April 1989, leased from British Aerospace to British Airways (BA) and retaining Presidential's basic colors. The photograph is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Historical photo: British Airways BAe 146-200 N408XV in former Presidential Airways colors, April 1989. Photo: Ken Fielding/CC BY-SA 3.0.
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