Island Airlines Ceramic Coffee Mug

$12.99

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Start the day with a reminder of Island Airlines and the classic Hyannis-to-Nantucket connection. This coffee mug honors Nantucket's Community Airline and a local aviation story with roots in 1930, when Erie Isle Airways began aerial transport to the island. The story later passed through Sky Tours and into the Island Airlines era, ending in 2015. An easy everyday keepsake for Cape aviation fans, travelers, and collectors of former regional airlines.

Island Airlines was a commuter airline headquartered at Barnstable Municipal Airport in Barnstable, Massachusetts, operating hourly scheduled service between Hyannis and Nantucket. Its roots reached back to 1930, when former Chicago barnstormer Milton "Red" Hersberger developed the first aerial transport to Nantucket with two biplanes under the name Erie Isle Airways. In 1932, he acquired a Ford Trimotor, beginning a larger Trimotor fleet that supported the operation. Following World War II, surplus engines purchased from the United States government were used in those aircraft. Hersberger renamed the airline Sky Tours and sold it in 1953; the business changed hands again in 1973. William McGrath assumed ownership in 1991, when the operation received the Island Airlines name. The company used the slogan "Nantucket's Community Airline." In 2009, it added a Cessna Grand Caravan to the Hyannis-Nantucket route, later adding three more. Island Airlines and its sister freight company ceased operations on December 11, 2015.