Key Airlines

The early years: Commuter operations

The airline was originally based in Ogden, Utah, and began scheduled passenger service in 1964. The airline initially served eleven destinations in Idaho as well as Spokane, Washington with de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft. The commuter carrier lasted less than two months and halted operations on January 20, 1969, and its president resigned a week later. The airline later restructured and resumed service.

On February 20, 1972, Sun Valley Airlines suffered a fatal crash near Fairfield, which killed all five on board. Included was the company president, Rolland Smith, who was filling in as pilot of the mid-morning flight of the Beechcraft 65-B 80 Queen Air from Hailey to Boise. The left wing broke off due to a fire in the wheelwell. The fire was attributed to engine maintenance procedures, but the wing separation was due to inadequate fire protection in the design.

That summer, Sun Valley Airlines was acquired by Key Transportation and became "Sun Valley Key Airlines." In 1974, the airline was serving Boise and Sun Valley in Idaho as well as the following destinations in Utah via a small hub in Salt Lake City: Brigham City, Logan, Moab, Ogden, Price and Provo. It was sold to Johns-Mansville Corporation in 1975, and its name was changed back to "Key Airlines" in 1976. The airline's base was Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC) and by this time the aircraft of choice was the Convair 440, although other smaller turboprop and prop aircraft were used as well.

According to the February 1, 1976 edition of the North American Official Airline Guide (OAG), Sun Valley Key Airlines was operating scheduled passenger flights as a commuter air carrier from Salt Lake City (SLC) to a number of destinations in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. These flights primarily served smaller communities in the region; however, service was also flown into larger cities such as Boise, ID (BOI), Grand Junction, CO (GJT), Oakland, CA (OAK) and Reno, NV (RNO). The primary aircraft types used for these flights were small Piper Cherokee and Piper Navajo prop airplanes although larger de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Convair 440 aircraft were also being flown at this time between Salt Lake City and Sun Valley, ID (SUN) as well as between Boise and Sun Valley.

Key Airlines made headlines on the sports pages in November 1978, when it was part of a forfeited college football game. Idaho State University chartered two Convair 440 aircraft from Key to carry its football team from Pocatello to its night game with the University of Idaho in Moscow. To forego lodging, ISU chose to fly on game day, but the plane carrying the Bengals' defense developed carburetor problems shortly after take-off and turned back. Both teams were having poor seasons in the Big Sky Conference and opted not to reschedule, as both schools' indoor stadiums were soon changing over to basketball configurations.