Rich International, Where Did They Go?

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Jkw777
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Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:06 am

Hi there,

Just browsing the photo page and I came across an airline called Rich International. I am just curious to know where they went?

Also what routes did they operate? Did anyone here fly on them?


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Photo © James Gardner
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Photo © Paul Harvey



Thanks for any information  Smile

Best Regards,

Justin  Big thumbs up
[email protected] or +447751242989
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MYT332
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:21 am

The airline, grounded on September 2 1996 by the Federal Aviation Administration, primarily due to discrepancies it found in company crew training records.

Filed for chapter 11 on Nov. 18, 1996

At the time of the grounding, Rich operated a fleet of 21 L-1011 and Super DC-8 jetliners in worldwide passenger and military charter services.

When it halted flights on September 2, it employed 1,130 men and women worldwide

-
Alex
One Life, Live it.
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B757capt
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:13 am

I flew them on a charter to CUN on that L-1011 landed on a dirt runway. I remember captain saying that in about a year they were going to pave it. Now it needs a paving again
The views written by this user are in no manner the views of my employer and should not be thought as such.
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luv2fly
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 4:17 am

Do a search there has been numerous threads lately on Rich. A lot of good information already posted.
You can cut the irony with a knife
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ClipperMonsoon
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:01 am

B757capt, I worked for RIA in ops, and I can assure you we never had an L1011 land on a dirt runway !
The true Queen of the Skies has an HF antenna probe atop the stabilizer, the Boeing 707-321B
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as739x
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:15 am

ANSWER: They went to the desert!
ASSFO
"Some pilots avoid storm cells and some play connect the dots!"
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SQ25J
Posts: 253
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 7:23 am

I was told by several former Rich crew that the main reason they went under was an internal family dispute
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fanofjets
Posts: 2030
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:10 pm

They started out as a freight airline out of Miami, with DC-6s and C-46 Commandos. They eventually acquired early-model DC-8s before moving onto the Super -62s (and occasional -61s and -63s) and even later, L-1011s. They flew a lot of military charters, as did Arrow and Tower Air; their onboard service was bare-bones, a fact to which I can attest, having flown the airline on a charter from LGW to JFK on a DC-9-62.

Cheers,
Daniel
The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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HNLFlyBoy
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 12:15 pm

They used to fly into HNL and do LAS charters for one of the tour operators here in HNL. If I am not mistaken, after Rich was grounded, this tour operator filed for Chpt. 7 bankruptcy.

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B757capt
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:29 pm

That L1011 I should clarify at the time it was a "Gravel runway." If I look in my boxs of pictures I think I have some. But swear to god it was not a "hard surface."
The views written by this user are in no manner the views of my employer and should not be thought as such.
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IMissPiedmont
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:29 pm

Rich International was voluntarily grounded by it's owner, not the FAA. She was one of the rare people who knew when to call it quits before people died.
The day you stop learning is the day you should die.
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Air1727
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 1:59 pm

The FAA most definitely grounded Rich in Sept of 96. Jean voluntarily shut the carrier down permanently after the fact. Current tour broker SunTrips was one of the companies that lost over a million dollars in rebookings when the FAA shut Rich Intl down during Labor Day weekend.

Some of Rich's routes:
LAX-OGG-HNL-LAX
SFO-OGG-HNL-SFO
SJC/SMF-HNL
ONT/SAN-HNL
LAS-FLL/CLE/PIT/BOS/GRR/MSP
SFO-BOS
ORD-CUN
LAX-PVR
HNL-GUM
HNL-JON-GUM
SFO-ANC-RJOI

[Edited 2004-02-11 06:08:21]
In the Alaska bush I'd rather have a two hour bladder and three hours of gas than vice versa.
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777ualsfo
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:19 pm

Flew them SFO-HNL in 1995, for budget sun trips, not a bad flight. Food ok, L1011 pretty beat up, movie projector didn't work right. Heard 60 minutes report several months later about FAA fines for flying with cracked cockpit windows and poorly functioning cabin doors. Haven't flown charter since, sticking with UA!
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ClipperMonsoon
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:20 pm

FYI, Jean Rich, the original owner passed away a few years before the shutdown. After her death, the ownership of the airline was split up between her kids and her husband, she certainly had nothing to do with closing the company down, the airline was grounded by the FAA.
The true Queen of the Skies has an HF antenna probe atop the stabilizer, the Boeing 707-321B
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lasbagman
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 3:26 pm

I was the Airport Rep for Santo Tours in LAS, when Rich Intl closed, the Flight was LAS to CLE and the door was shut, jetbridge pulled back and the flight ready to push when The FAA said the flight could not leave with Passengers.
Santo Tours put the passengers up over night and charterd 4 WN 737's
to get the passengers home to CLE.





















































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ctflyer
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:44 pm

Several years ago I was on a flight and the attendant serving my area had worked for Rich International. She had nothing but praise for the airline. In fact she sates that Rich was an excellent employer. I asked about the items raised in the 60 minute piece and she stated she never saw any such activity on any of her flights. She believed that it was a family despute between Jean Rich's children and her second husband their step father. Also Jean's second husband leased the L-1011's from George Bathcelor of Arrow Air fame. She explained that she and other Rich flight crews were stationed in Rome for several months at a time to work military flights. She did tell me that several of her friends were on a TWA flight to Rome which was about to depart. All of the Rich employees were called off the aircraft and informed that Rich had been shut down. She did state that several crews were stranded overseas and needed to find their own way home. Rich had not paid her final check. That was her only complaint about working for Rich.
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luv2fly
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Wed Feb 11, 2004 11:49 pm

I use to work for a tour operator that used Rich for several flights, and even flew them once myself, and for a charter airline they did do a good job.
You can cut the irony with a knife
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DB777
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RE: Rich International, Where Did They Go?

Thu Feb 12, 2004 12:00 am

Clipper Monsoon is correct above - Jean Rich died from lung cancer years before the airline shut down. I used to smoke cigs with her in her office back in the early 80's when collecting landing fees. Her husband's last name was Meenan.

There was an article in the Miami Herald not long ago that mentioned Rich Int'l being awarded some money from the George Batchelor estate because of some deal that soured between Arrow Airways and Rich Int'l.
Photographing aircraft since the Earth was flat and on Airliners.net since #338
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