Mississippi Valley Airlines
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| Commenced operations | July 22, 1968 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1985 | ||||||
| Operating bases | La Crosse Municipal Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | See Fleet below | ||||||
| Destinations | See Destinations below | ||||||
| Headquarters | La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States Moline, Illinois, United States | ||||||
Mississippi Valley Airlines (IATA--XV) was a regional air carrier serving the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It was founded by Herb Lee, Norm Elsy and Charles A. ("Chuck") Draine as Gateway Aviation, and had its headquarters in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Chuck Draine served as chairman and chief executive officer. It began scheduled flight operations on July 22, 1968 between La Crosse Municipal Airport and both Chicago (O'Hare International Airport) and Milwaukee (General Mitchell International Airport). The carrier changed its name to Mississippi Valley Airways in October 1969. It became Mississippi Valley Airlines (MVA) and moved its headquarters to Quad City Airport in Moline, Illinois in January 1982. The airline merged into Air Wisconsin on May 17, 1985 in a $10 million share exchange transaction. At the time of the merger, Mississippi Valley Airlines was the United States' eighth-largest regional airline in terms of ridership.