Private company
Mississippi Valley Airlines
Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3
US regional airline (1968–1985) merged into Air Wisconsin
Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0
Last updated Oct 21, 2026.
Overview
- HeadquartersLa Crosse1
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Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer. It began scheduled flight operations on July 22, 1968 between La Crosse Municipal Airport and both Chicago (O'Hare International Airport) and Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport). The carrier changed its name to Mississippi Valley Airways in October 1969. It became Mississippi Valley Airlines (MVA) and moved its headquarters to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois, in January 1982. The airline merged into Air Wisconsin on May 17, 1985 in a $10 million share exchange transaction. At the time of the merger, Mississippi Valley Airlines was the United States' eighth-largest regional airline in terms of ridership.2
Products and brands
Destinations
Mississippi Airlines had the following destinations:
Turboprop fleet
Beechcraft Model 99
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
Fokker F27
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Short 330
Short 360
Swearingen SA-226TC Metroliner
From Wikipedia’s article on Mississippi Valley Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
Controversies and legal
Accidents
Although the airline had no fatal accidents, it lost one aircraft during in-flight operations, a Twin Otter which hit trees upon landing at La Crosse, Wisconsin.
From Wikipedia’s article on Mississippi Valley Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4
Timeline
Links
- WikipediaMississippi Valley Airlines
- More imagesWikimedia Commons
- WikidataQ6879339
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
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- 5Wikimedia CommonsMississippi Valley Airlines photo by Jon Proctor, GFDL 1.2