A Houston-based commuter air carrier also used the Universal name during the late 1970s operating scheduled passenger service in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.[1]
In 1966, Universal Consolidated Industries (the Matthews family) bought Zantop Air Transport and renamed it Universal.[2][3] A name change was filed with the State of Michigan effective 29 December 1966 in the name of Universal Airlines, Inc.[4] The fleet originally comprised C-46, DC-6, DC-7, and Argosy AW650 aircraft to which Lockheed Electras were added. Universal had three businesses: flying parts for auto manufacturers, flying freight for the military and passenger charters.[5]
Lamar Muse was president and part owner of Universal from 1967 to 1969. He went on to become the first President and CEO of Southwest Airlines (1971–1978) and later co-founded his namesake airline Muse Air where he served as Chairman and CEO. Muse resigned from Universal after the owner insisted on ordering 747s.[5] During his tenure, Universal became a public company with an initial public offering in November 1968.[6]
In 1969 Universal took delivery of DC-8 aircraft both standard and stretched versions, and leased three additional DC-8s over the next three years. It operated a number of military contract flights. During its heyday in 1969, Universal Airlines looked into the plausibility of obtaining the Lockheed L-500 (Civilian C-5) to carry passengers and their vehicles from coast to coast.[7] A scale model of that concept was displayed in the hangar two lobby.
In 1970, Universal announced it was moving to Oakland,[8] at that time a center of the US charter business, home to World Airways, Trans International Airlines and Saturn Airways. In May 1971, Universal purchased American Flyers Airline.[9] But on 4 May 1972, Universal ceased operations and went bankrupt. Trans International took over its passenger contracts while Saturn took over some of the cargo contracts, including absorbing nine Universal Electras in its fleet.[10][11]
Universal's president, Glenn L. Hickerson, in 1976 Senate testimony, outlined the causes of Universal's demise:
Contraction of automaker parts business. Revenues collapsed from about $20mm in 1968, $12.5mm in 1969, $5mm in 1971 and only $600K in the first quarter of 1972.
Military market was not an alternative as it was not growing during this period, and indeed saw additional competition.
Universal attempted to restructure, cutting employment from 1400 in 1968 to 750 in 1971. It acquired American Flyers to obtain its transatlantic charter authority, viewed as one of the few bright spots in the charter market. Unfortunately, the CAB took a long time to approve the merger, meaning the 1971 summer charter season performed less well than expected. Further, the CAB then tentatively decided to pull Universal's transatlantic authority for 1972, which made financing Universal almost impossible. The airline collapsed one day before the CAB announced that it would, in fact, permit Universal to continue to operate charters across the Atlantic.[12]
On 30 May 1972, the Zantop brothers incorporated Zantop International Airlines (ZIA) and by June they were in operation, once again flying auto parts. They once again started flying for the Air Force and in 1977 once again obtained certification as a supplemental air carrier from the CAB.
Fleet
The Universal Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[13]
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