Lake Central Airlines

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Lake Central Airlines emerged from Turner Airlines, established in May 1949. Passenger service began on November 12, 1949, between Indianapolis and Grand Rapids, Michigan. When Roscoe Turner sold his controlling interest in December 1950, the young carrier became Lake Central Airlines. Its offices and chief maintenance base remained in Indianapolis, Indiana—the Hoosier airline with a rather larger view of the map.

The carrier linked smaller Midwestern and eastern cities with Indianapolis at its center, eventually winning authority to serve 50 cities. In 1954, a majority of employees bought roughly 97 percent of the voting stock, giving Lake Central an unusually worker-owned chapter in the buttoned-up, federally regulated airline business.

During the 1960s, Lake Central moved from DC-3s toward Convair aircraft and Nord 262 turboprops. The Nord experiment came with engine troubles, grounded aircraft, debt, and enough disappointment to earn the airline the mordant nickname “Late Central.” In April 1967, the Bass family acquired the employee group’s common stock; six months later, the company announced a merger.

Our Lake Central Airlines collection celebrates Indianapolis optimism, employee ownership, Convair-era travel, and a regional carrier that connected the heartland before merging into Allegheny Airlines on July 1, 1968. Boarding call: bring a carry-on and a healthy suspicion of the timetable.