Altair Airlines  McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32  N901AK                    (c/n  45846)

                              

                                  Early in 1982 Altair acquired three ex-Air Canada DC-9s.  The first was the former C-FTKL, seen
                                  above in this rare shot by Trevor Ogle at the Niagara (Greater Buffalo) International Airport in Sept-
                                  ember of 1982.  ...............And then, as quickly as it had all started back in 1966, Altair was gone.
                                  On 9 November 1982 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.   Clearly, the up-and-coming regional air-
                                  line, which by then was serving cities as far afield as Buffalo, Hartford, Providence, Boston, Tampa,
                                  Memphis, Raleigh /Durham and Savannah from its hubs in Philadelphia and Newark had succumbed
                                  to the too rapid expansion syndrome, and this, coupled with under-cutting by de-regulation upstarts
                                  forced it out of business..   For a while the fleet was laid up in Philadelphia, but eventually homes
                                  were found for the bulk of them.    The DC-9 above went back to Air Canada the following year.