The following article was originally published in 2004. The positive response I received from airline enthusiasts around the world led to the writing and publication of the book Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia . The second edition of Sunshine Skies was published in 2008 and explores the histories of over 80 airlines. More information can be found here: www.sunshineskies.net Enjoy... When I was an airplane obsessed kid in the 70s, I would often see a mysterious yellow and hot pink Martin 404 flying over our house near Atlanta airport. Decades later, long after I had filed the pink Martin away under "odd things remembered from childhood", I saw a photo of this exact aircraft at Atlanta on www.airliners.net . It was an Air South M-404 in Shawnee colors. This sparked my interest and I looked for more info on Shawnee Airlines online but came up with very little. Since grade school I've been interested in airlines that flew old propliners and was always a bit confused by the Air South/Florida Airlines/Shawnee Airlines conglomeration. This is my attempt to untangle the information and present a clear history of the airline. I'm always interested in photos, timetables, and other Shawnee Airlines items. If you have any scans, stories, or more information about Shawnee Airlines, Air South or Florida Airlines, PLEASE let me know! There are still details that need to be filled in. I'd love to hear from you. EMAIL zeusface AT yahoo DOT com |
 Shawnee Airlines
began scheduled commuter services on July 12, 1968 from
Orlando's Herndon Airport using Beech 99 equipment. It
was founded by David D. Latham and was a subsidiary of
the Root Co. of Daytona Beach. It operated an extensive
route system across the state of Florida and to several
points in the Bahamas. When Walt Disney World opened in
1971, Shawnee began regular passenger service from
Orlando's McCoy jetport directly to Disney World's own
STOLport (Short Take Off and Landing) using 19 seat
DeHavilland Twin Otters. The actual flight time was only
a few minutes. As far as I know, Shawnee was the only
airline ever to fly directly into the Magic Kingdom. (An
odd note about Disney's STOLport: there were bumps laid
out on the runway in a pattern that played the rhythm of
"Zip-a-dee-do-da" as a plane ran over them.) Photo: DHC-6 Twin Otter
N659E at Orlando's Herndon Airport in 1972 |
 By 1971 Shawnee
was serving no less than 14 points: Daytona Beach, Ft.
Lauderdale, Freeport ,Gainesville, Jacksonville, Miami,
Nassau, Orlando, Panama City, Pensacola, Tallahassee,
Tampa-St. Petersburg, Walt Disney World, West Palm Beach.
To handle increasing passenger loads, a single 48-seat
FH-227 was leased from Northeast Airlines during 1971-72
but was returned in favor of the trusted and less
expensive Douglas DC-3. The DC-3 fleet would eventually
total 12 (although not all at the same time) and remained
the backbone of the airline for most of the 1970s. These
aircraft allowed the company to greatly expand its
freight service and passenger charters, especially the
lucrative gambling runs to the Bahamas. Ironically, and
probably out of economic neccessity, the airline
gradually replaced its entire modern turboprop fleet with
World War II era and post-war piston airliners. Shawnee's one and only
FH-227 N379NE at Ft. Lauderdale in 1972. |
In 1975 the airline was acquired by Florida Airlines, who were very interested in Shawnee's routes to the Bahamas. That same year Florida , based in Sarasota, also  bought Air South.
For a few years the three airlines' flight schedules were
integrated but during the late 70s Shawnee pretty much
continued operations as a seperate entity. After the
merger, Shawnee's planes wore a number of different paint
schemes. Several of the DC-3s were repainted in Florida's
red/orange/yellow livery with "The Connection"
titles painted on the fuselage. A few were repainted in a
similar pastel yellow/pink/orange scheme with Shawnee
titles and several retained the original white and orange
scheme. During 1976 and 1977 the airline bought four
ex-Southern Airways Martin 404s. The 40 seat propliners
were painted in a bright yellow and hot pink scheme that
certainly demanded attention wherever they went. Even in
the era of Braniff airlines, many people seemed shocked
to see these colors on an airliner and I can remember
several people being horrified by them! photo: DC-3 N1301 seen
at Sarasota, circa 1977 |
 Shawnee's
fortunes slowly dwindled in the late 1970s. The carrier
apparently filed for bankruptcy in early 1977 and all
operations ceased. Florida Airlines' December 1976
timetable shows Shawnee's Bahamas service integrated into
the schedule, but all of these routes had disappeared in
the June 1977 issue. (Florida would later print
timetables showing Air South and Florida as two seperate
operations with no mention of Shawnee.) I have often
heard that Florida Airlines bought Shawnee for their
Martin 404 fleet. Interestingly, a little research
reveals that Shawnee did not operate Martins until AFTER
the takeover by Florida Airlines and that Florida did not
operate the 404s until after Shawnee's shutdown. This
might lead one to wonder if Shawnee's bankruptcy was
intentionally used as a way for Florida to replace their
DC-3s with Martins at bargain basement prices. In any
case, records show that the aircraft were owned by
Shawnee for only a matter of months and that Florida
bought them shortly thereafter. photo: Martin 404 in Shawnee
colors and Florida Airlines titles at Miami |
|
 The
flight schedule dated April 15, 1978 shows the following
routes between 6 points: Miami to Treasure Cay, N.
Eleuthera, and Bimini and Miami- Ft. Lauderdale-
Freeport. Reflecting the emphasis on the Bahamas service,
the carrier changed the name to Shawnee International
Airlines. By the end of the year, six daily round trips
were being flown on the Ft. Lauderdale - Freeport route
and the cities of West Palm Beach and Marsh Harbour had
been added to the system. In 1979, after the "Florida Keys Own
Airline" Air Sunshine was absorbed by Air Florida,
Shawnee International began flying Air Sunshine's former
routes from Miami to Key West and Marathon . Route
map dated December 15, 1978 |
Most of the Herons, Aero Commanders, and DC-3 N11BC (reregistered N3XW) continued to fly with Air Miami, which later changed its name to North American Airlines. In the conservative atmosphere of today's generic airline world, an independent carrier like Shawnee flying classic propliners painted in tropical pastels and neon pinks would truly be a bizarre anachronism. Yet at the time it was just another commuter airline, trudging it's way through sub-tropical skies. Shawnee will probably go down in history as the only airline to ever actually fly to Walt Disney World, now a no-fly zone. How the world has changed. As always, I welcome more photos, and any additional information. David Henderson |
While Shawnee's
Martin 404s continued to operate in daily passenger
service with Florida Airlines and Air South, many of the
DC-3s were parked in the grass at Sarasota and gradually
stripped of parts to keep other 'gooney birds' in the
air. This 1977 photo shows DC-3 N19919 missing her
engines and a passenger window while Florida Airlines
DC-3 N341W is missing the port engine and starboard prop.
The Keys service was short
lived, though, as the carrier continued to struggle.
Shawnee was facing stiff competition from the larger
Mackey International Airlines on the Bahamas routes and
an increasing number of major carriers were flying
directly to Nassau and Freeport, bypassing the need for
connecting flights from Florida. The seasonal nature of
traffic in south Florida also presented problems as
demand often exceeded capacity in the Winter and planes
flew nearly empty in Summer. All of this was too much at
once, and with competition intensifying and passenger
counts dropping, Shawnee ceased operations for the last
time in 1980. pictured: DeHavilland DH-114
Heron N6VM
