Cascade Airways BAC-111-201
N102EX
(c/n 09)
Cascade, in 1984/5, suffered from the "too rapid
expansion" syndrome and was basically under-
capitalized (for jet
operations) when CEO Mark Chestnutt decided to acquire a fleet of
BAC111s.
Three of the 200 series came from open storage in Las Vegas and
were ex-Pacific Express machines.
including N102EX above, originally a British United
Airlines early machine when first built in 1964.
In the event,
Cascade filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 1985 and
finally closed down on
7 March
1986. By that time its niche market had been seriously
eroded by
Horizon Air, and this,
along with
its propensity of operating too wide a variety of aircraft, some too
small and some too large,
spelled
its doom. In the end it found itself operating from
Spokane to as far
afield as Salt Lake
City,
Calgary, Pocatello,
Butte, and
Reno. Many of its routes were later taken
over by Horizon Air, although
that line did
not, as some sources state,
purchase Cascade
Airways. .