AIRWAYS HISTORY Mackey Airlines
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Midet ’ s passenger traffic , using its sole leased Douglas DC-3 , doubled .
Mackey Airlines absorbed Midet Aviation through merger in December 1956 .
EXPANSION
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delayed construction progress , including a dock strike in the UK and devaluation of the pound sterling in 1949 . Desperate for income , Butlin opened the partially-completed resort for one season in 1950 . It wasn ’ t enough . Mired in debt , Butlin put his Vacation Village up for sale . Various companies showed interest until , in 1955 , the resort was finally leased to Midet Aviation and rechristened the Grand Bahama Club .
Midet was authorized to fly between both West Palm Beach and Miami in the US , and West End . After taking control of the resort on Grand Bahama Island ,
The Midet merger gave Mackey its first entry into Miami , even though passengers could only be carried from that city to West End . But , in 1955 , Mackey gained entry into two other Florida cities — Tampa and St . Petersburg — via their respective airports . Traffic from those two cities was limited to international passengers flying to Nassau , but that would change .
Mid-decade , Mackey ’ s fleet – which up until then had consisted of DC-3s – saw the addition of the first of several four-engine DC-4s , along with a Grumman Goose amphibian available for charter .
When the CAB renewed Mackey ’ s operating certificate in 1956 , it gifted the carrier another vacation destination : Havana . Mackey could fly to the Cuban tourist mecca from both West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale .
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