Information for a school project

[velocity]

I am a student going to Colorado State University. I am doing a project for an International Business class. The project idea that my group has decided on is seaplane charter business. Is there anyone that can give me some relevent information regarding this project? Anything and everything would be very helpful. Thank you very much for your help!!!

[Gord May]

Chalk's International Airlines
http://www.chalksoceanairways.com/
http://www.chalksoceanairways.com/PR05.htm
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/bk1.htm

Chalk's Ocean Airways is the world's oldest scheduled airline. The company was founded by Arthur B. Chalk, an automobile mechanic in Paducah, Kentucky when he was introduced in 1911 to the noted aviation pioneer, seaplane pilot and barnstormer Tony Janus, who subsequently gave Mr. Chalk flying lessons in exchange for repairs on his aircraft. Mr. Chalk soon followed the path of the early aviation pioneers, barnstorming around the south until he took up residence in the fledgling city of Miami in 1917. Following military service in the Air Corps during World War One, Mr. Chalk returned to Miami and began operations in 1919 as Chalk's Flying Service. Prohibition was still in effect and the smuggling of liquor between the Bahamas and the U.S. Arthur B. Chalkwas in full swing. Rumrunning was a source of bountiful business for Chalk's and the company did not discriminate among passengers, carrying not only smugglers, but also the lawmen chasing them.

Business boomed and Chalk's grew. The company built a terminal on a newly created landfill named Watson Island in 1926. That same location, between downtown Miami and the popular South Beach tourist district, is now adjacent to the Port of Miami, which is the world's busiest cruise port, and remains the main operating base of the airline today. Chalk's seaplanes share the deep water channel and turning basin with oceangoing freighters and passenger liners from throughout the world.

With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Chalk's passengers became no less colorful. By that time the airline was established as a fixture in the region and carried many famous passengers including notable personalities of that era such as Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Howard Hughes, and Al Capone. Probably Chalk's most famous regular passenger was Ernest Hemingway, who like many others discovered that Bimini has some of the best big game fishing in the world and often flew Chalk's scheduled service to that island.

Chalk also used the versatility of the seaplanes to assist the public. After the devastating hurricane of 1926, Chalk's seaplanes assisted in search and rescue in the Florida Keys. In World War II, Chalk donated his planes and service to the Civil Air Patrol and flew hundreds of anti-submarine missions off the coast. He also assisted in training Navy seaplane pilots.

Mr. Chalk was involved in the daily operations of the airline until 1975, sadly passing in 1977 at the age of 88. The airline was purchased in the 1980's by Resorts International, a hotel and casino property development company with extensive holdings in the Bahamas. At the direction of James Crosby, the President of Resorts International, the company began two significant initiatives to upgrade the airline's fleet, including the modernization of the company's Grumman G-73 Mallard aircraft by Frakes Aviation which included converting the piston-engine aircraft to Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engines, as well as complete avionics upgrade and 17-seat interior refurbishment. Additionally, the company undertook a program which successfully certified the Grumman HU-16 Albatross, originally built for military service, as the G-111 30-seat passenger transport aircraft. The Albatrosses enabled Chalk's to usher in a new standard of scheduled seaplane service, with major-airline amenities such as flight attendants, inflight snack service and lavatories. With the addition of these 30 passenger amphibians, Chalk's became the primary carrier to Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

After being sold by Resorts International in conjunction with the disposition of that company's Bahamas hotel properties, Chalk's was owned by several South Florida investors, and operated for a time in conjunction with the restarted Pan Am under the Pan Am Air Bridge name. In early 1999, in conjunction with the bankruptcy filing of one of the airline's investors, Chalk's reorganized and recapitalized in mid-July 1999 when bought by Florida businessman, Jim Confalone. As part of its re-branding as Chalk's Ocean Airways following the bankruptcy, the Chalk's Turbine Mallard fleet is undergoing extensive refurbishment, Chalk's passenger facilities ashore are being upgraded, and a modernization program for the fleet of 30 seat Grumman G-111 Albatross is preparing that type for return to service.

New ownership, new identity, new destinations, and a bold outlook will ensure that Chalk's Ocean Airways remains the world's premier seaplane airline.