In 1981 Mid Pacific Airlines was founded and started operations on the Hawaiian inter-island market out of Honolulu. At that time air traffic between the islands was dominated by Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines. Mid Pacific therefore positioned as an early low-cost airline, their fares being well below those of the two established competitors. For example, when starting flights to Kauai and Maui one-way tickets were offered for $25, about half the price of the other airlines.

Initially Mid Pacific’s fleet consisted of six NAMC YS-11 turboprops, which were slower and noisier than the jets used by the competition, but customers were attracted by the low fares and by the very friendly staff. Over the years, the YS-11 fleet grew to 24 units, making Mid Pacific the largest non-Japanese operator of the type. In June 1985 the first Fokker F28 entered the fleet, followed two weeks later by the second Fellowship. Two more F28 had been ordered, but these were never delivered. The Fellowships were used in the Hawaiian network in order to keep up with the competition. In 1986 the airline was bought by KOA Holdings. Also under the new ownership Mid Pacific fell short of its goals of building the market and its market share. The F28 were returned to the lessor after less than two years flying and the airline ended its passenger service in January 1988. Cargo operations continued for another month. Then the company filed for bankruptcy, citing “declining passenger traffic, eroding market share and its inability to complete a much-needed refinancing package.”

After the Hawaii operations ended, Mid Pacific Air moved to the Midwest to continue cargo flights from the hub in Lafayette, Indiana using part of the YS-11 fleet. In the 1990s the airline operated commuter services as Reno Air Express out of San Jose in California with BAe Jetstream 31 equipment. For a short period a BAe-146 jet was used for cargo operations between New York and Bermuda on behalf of TNT. The airline ceased to exist in 1995.

Mid Pacific Air Fokker fleet

Mid Pacific pictures

Mid Pacific Air F28 N281MP (11221) in the attractive standard livery (airlines-airliners.de; Honolulu, 1985)

Mid Pacific Air F28 N282MP (11223) in the standard livery (from the Petr Popelar collection, airliners.net; Honolulu, March 1987)

Credits

• Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_Pacific_Air , as well as the corresponding pages in German and French; all accessed 23-05-2023.
• http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=27429 (via the Wayback Machine), accessed 23-05-2023.
• R. Roche and A.B. Eastwood. Jet Airliner Production List volume 2. The Aviation Hobby Shop, July 2006.