HOOTERS Airline WAS REAL! - Why?

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Hooters Air's story actually begins with another airline called Pace Air.

Pace air was founded back in 1996 and was designed as a luxury charter airline for sports teams and corporations with Boeing 737-200s carrying 44 passengers in an all first class layout. Everything was golden for the airline and by mid 2001, it had grown to a large charter carrier of 21 aircraft of 737s and 757s.

The airline would not only be a profitable sector of his buisness but also act as a flying billboard for the Hooters brand - which was rapidly growing at the time. His motto: Good Food, Cold Beer and Pretty Girls never goes out of style.

The CEO turned to Pace Airlines and offered to buy the airline outright in 2003. With the deal done he created the Hooters Air brand and set to work bringing the restaurant to the sky.

Hooters Air would convert four Pace Airlines Boeing 737s with 114 seats onboard to the new livery, including adding the mascot ("Hootie the Owl"), on the vertical stabilizer.

Onboard passengers would be treated to two hooters girls from local restaurants that would spend time in the cabin chatting to passengers, playing trivia games and selling hooters merchandise. They did not however, perform any flight attendant duties.

This is because also onboard there three or four actual trained cabin crew from pace airlines who wore modest uniforms, as opposed to the more tight outfits of the hooters girls, who served passengers food and drink and also performed all the safety aspects of traveling by air.

The airline would target golfers from around the region to fly them to the many courses of myrtle beach, hooters would even run their own competitions in the sport. As part of its advertising campaign, the company advertised nonstop flights for most routes, including funny slogans like "Fly a mile high with us"and stuck to a flat price point of $129 per seat which is incredible for an airline.

The plane had 34-inch (86 cm) seating for all passengers, comparable to the legroom offered by many carriers' business classes across the country; this was called "Club Class" seating.

,Also, at a time when many low-cost carriers were eliminating in-flight frills in an effort to curtail expenses, Hooters Air served complimentary meals to all customers on trips lasting over one hour.

This model seemed rather successful, and it saw the Hooters Air fleet expand from the original four Hooters livery Pace aircraft to seven planes including a Boeing 757-200. The route network would expand well beyond myrtle beach and feature flights across the country reaching as far away as Las Vegas, Denver and the Bahamas.

Pace Airlines itself contuined to operate alongside the Hooters venture and got a big boost in 2004 when the carrier applied for 180-eftops to fly from oakland, california, to honolulu hawaii - a first for the venture possibly outlining a future Hooters desintation. In addition, the hooters airline also planned a direct Myrtle Beach to Las Vegas link to connect to the new Hooters resort and casino in the city.

The carrier got as far as performing two providing flights to Hawaii, before cancelling the two new routes.

In 2005, Hooters Air was operating cross country routes from Rockford, illinoi to Denver (DEN) and Las Vegas (LAS) - these flights were subsidised with a guarantee that they would be profitable. Unfortantly and unannounced to Hooters Air, the same promise was given to a small carrier called United.

This plus a rapid increase in fuel prices thanks to the impact of Hurrican Katerina on the Southern states, caused Hooters Air to pull out of Rockford before the end of the year. In January 2006, the airline suddenly ceased all scheduled operations citing rising costs and refunded tickets.

Ultimately there were several reasons why Hooters Air ended its shift in the airline game. The first was the rise in fuel prices during this period. Plus other airlines like Southwest and Jetblue began rapid expansion during this period and with vastly superior route networks, and frequent flier programs.

The college students would sue Hooters, claiming that the CEO used their "concept, plan and work product" to start the airline in 2003, but never offered them management jobs or a stake in the company.

In total, it is estimated that Hooters of American lost roughly $40 million in the long run.

The carrier did fill in an important market segment in America during that time and brought plenty of business to Myrtle beach in a time that passengers were afraid to fly. It also served many airports that were rather remote.

Today, other airlines carry on the carrier's broad traditions, such as the infamously dubbed Bikini Airline of VietJet. Ultimately, these airlines are judged by their on-time service record, aircraft and seat price.

And this was something that the Hooters Air experiment failed to overcome.