Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin."World Airline Directory." Flight International. July 26, 1980. 330. "Head Office: 2763 Reed Road, La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601, USA." Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer. It began scheduled flight operations on July 22, 1968 between La Crosse Municipal Airport and both Chicago (O'Hare International Airport) and Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport)."Gateway Opens New Air Taxi Routes Monday". The Milwaukee Journal. July 18, 1968. p.19 The carrier changed its name to Mississippi Valley Airways in October 1969. It became Mississippi Valley Airlines (MVA) and moved its headquarters to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois, in January 1982."World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 30, 1985. 98." Retrieved June 17, 2009. The airline merged into Air Wisconsin on May 17, 1985 in a $10 million share exchange transaction. At the time of the merger, Mississippi Valley Airlines was the United States' eighth-largest regional airline in terms of ridership.

Destinations Mississippi Airlines had the following destinations:

Alexandria, Minnesota Benton Harbor, Michigan Burlington, Iowa Cedar Rapids, Iowa Champaign-Urbana, Illinois Chicago, Illinois (O'Hare) Clinton, Iowa Columbia, Missouri Dubuque, Iowa Kansas City, Missouri La Crosse, Wisconsin Lincoln, Nebraska Madison, Wisconsin Marshall, Minnesota Mason City, Iowa Milwaukee, Wisconsin Minneapolis, Minnesota Moline, Illinois Omaha, Nebraska Oshkosh, Wisconsin Ottumwa, Iowa Peoria, Illinois Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin St. Louis, Missouri Springfield, Illinois Willmar, Minnesota Winona, Minnesota

Turboprop fleet

Beechcraft Model 99 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Fokker F27 Short 330 Short 360 Swearingen SA-226TC Metroliner

Accidents Although the airline had no fatal accidents, it lost one aircraft during in-flight operations, a Twin Otter which hit trees upon landing at La Crosse, Wisconsin.

See also List of defunct airlines of the United States

References