The Most Luxurious Airline Ever... The Forgotten Story Of MGM Grand Air

Are you a rich coke-fueled 1980s millionaire? Do you want to rub shoulders with Hollywood celebrities and fly the world's most luxurious airline? With ticket prices starting from a mere $3,200 from fly Los Angeles to New York one way, you too might be able to get one of the 33 seats onboard MGM Grand Air!

The US 1980s market deregulation was a fascinating time. Because now ticket prices were totally unbundled, the industry in North America saw an explosion of carriers catering to many different niches, such as wacky low-cost operations like Peoples express, less-than-presidential shuttle service and even one that was smoker focused, as in every passenger got a free pack of cigarettes to enjoy onboard.

But no other airline is as strange as MGM Grand Air, an airline run by a casino that tried to combine trans-American service and the private jet experience - and ultimately, was a colossal failure. This is the MGM Grand Air story.

Kirk Kerkorian had plenty of experience operating aircraft, having flown them in the war, and had made a small fortune afterwards by selling old military aircraft in the early 1950s. His success led him to run his own charter airline called Trans International Airlines that focused on the very lucrative destination Las Vegas trade,. In the 1960s he sold the charter airline, rolled out his own Casino and would buy the famous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio by 1969.

Kirks plan for an airline was as follows. It would operate between New York's JFK Airport and LAX in Los Angeles, with an occasional service between LAX and Las Vegas for particular high rollers. The airline would begin with a humble fleet of three Boeing 727s.

The planes would be fitted out completely in a first-class configuration, with only 33 passengers per aircraft, and five flight attendants to look after them - excessive but only the beginning for this carrier.

Passengers would be treated to leather swivel chairs and meals served on the very best china. There was a private business center with a fax machine, stand up cappuccino bar, oversized lavatories, sleeper recliners, and even staterooms that could convert into beds.

Passengers would be driven to the plane, wouldn't have to line up nor would they have to pay any extra for luggage. Every passenger would have their own VCR player and could watch whatever they wanted in the air, and access a telephone in their seat to talk to the ground at any time.

It would cost them $1,400 to fly from Los Angeles to New York, or $1,000 to fly between Los Vegas and New York, and $180 to fly between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The airline claimed that it was around the same price that passengers would pay for first-class on American Airlines and other carriers, but the experience of a private jet.
"Everything else should be called second class."

Taking off into the skies in September 1987, MGM Grand Air was an apparent success in the media, with the likes of many Hollywood celebrities using it to leap across the country.

But in reality... what passengers? You see, it quickly became apparent that in this age of deregulation a concept like MGM Grand Air wasn't really working as planned.

In an effort to remain competitive, added DC-8s to have an incorrectly named coach-class, with an additional 40 business class seats at the rear.

It couldn't' compete with other airlines that operate first-class services with more destinations, more daily flights, and frequent flyer programs. By 1994, the airline was suffering and it was costing too much money to operate. Further private jet aircraft sales finally drove the carrier bust.

At the start of 1995, MGM started to look for buyers and settled on a deal only six months later, with the brand becoming the renamed Champion Air - a venture that would cater to NBA sports teams.

From here, the MGM planes were traded again in 1997 to Northwest Airlines, and operated vacation operations with the Boeing 727s, still only carrying around 56 business class passengers. It would run for another ten years until 2007.

Then the last 20% of the business, the NBA contract was handled over behind closed doors, given the green light by the suspiciously all-northwest board of directors, with Northwest management themselves poaching several pilots from its sister company. Without any contracts, the charter airline faced a sever decline and was wound up.

On March 31, 2008, Champion President and CEO Lee Steele announced that "the company will cease all flight operations as of May 31, 2008." He cited high fuel costs and the inefficiency of their aging Boeing 727-200 fleet as some of the major reasons behind the shutdown.

MGM Grand Air was a fascinating airline that only exists thanks to deregulation and the dreams of those opulent few.

"That thing had more rooms than a mansion. And everybody was flying it — models and celebrities — so you'd always be running into people. There'll never be anything like it again."

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