Simmons Airlines

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Founded by Larry Simmons in Marquette, Michigan, Simmons Airlines began scheduled service in October 1978 with an eight-seat Piper Chieftain linking the Upper Peninsula to Lansing. It offered a more direct way south for Michigan travelers—because occasionally the glamorous alternative to a long drive is a tiny commuter aircraft and a timetable.

The carrier grew quickly in the early 1980s, adding Houghton/Hancock, Escanaba, Traverse City, Detroit, and Chicago service. Its fleet expanded beyond Pipers to Embraer Bandeirantes, Shorts 360s, NAMC YS-11s, and ATR 42 turboprops. In 1985 Simmons flew as Republic Express from Detroit and began American Eagle-branded operations from Chicago O’Hare.

AMR Corporation, parent of American Airlines, announced its purchase of Simmons in June 1988 and completed the transaction that August. Simmons then moved exclusively into the American Eagle orbit, while its headquarters eventually shifted from Marquette County Airport in Negaunee Township, Michigan, to Chicago’s Near North Side.

In 1998, Wings West Airlines and Flagship Airlines were merged into Simmons, and the resulting carrier became American Eagle Airlines. The Simmons name left the gate, but its MQ operating certificate and central-U.S. regional-airline lineage carried forward.

Our Simmons Airlines collection celebrates Upper Peninsula ambition, turboprop hustle, and the charmingly improbable era when a small Michigan carrier helped build a regional-airline giant.