Mississippi Valley Airlines



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. 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). 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. 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
 * 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.