Alabama Airlines opened its doors in June 1995 as a commuter

service with its headquarters and only hub located in Birmingham.

A product of airline deregulation, Alabama Air joined the

growing number of successful short-haul, point-to-point airlines,

including Lone Star, Comair, Atlantic Southeast, Skywest,

and Business Express.

Alabama Air was started and managed by two former pilots,

David Douglas (who had been with the defunct Eastern

Airlines) and Savas Ozatalay (formerly with Pan Am). It acquired

a fleet of 12 used prop-jet planes and the airport gates vacated

by the 1994 downsizing of Delta Air Lines.