Unlike Smokers Express, which didn’t manage to start one flight, another private start-up promised three flights but called it quits when there wasn’t as much interest as initially perceived.
Like a cloud of smoke, the hype for this airline masked any actual interest. Here’s the story of Freedom Air.
Puff Pieces Aplenty for this Smokers’ Flight
After the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned public airlines from permitting smoking on commercial flights in 1989, this upset many smokers in the country.
One of them was 60-year-old former United Airlines captain Ted Hall from Ramona, California. A passionate smoker and tobacco user who started at age 14, Hall called the new anti-smoking laws ‘murder’ and ‘un-American.’
Hall founded Freedom Air in January 1992, a year after retiring from United. Like Smokers Express, Freedom Air would function as a private airline, allowing it to legally ignore all FAA flight regulations.
Freedom Air charged $20 for memberships, which would allow passengers exclusive deals for charter flights and the freedom to smoke. Not all members had to be smokers, but members would have to sign a waiver that states the person would not sue Freedom Air over second-hand smoke problems.
The airline acquired a used Boeing 727, which could seat 165 passengers. The Boeing came from American Trans Air from Indianapolis, Indiana. A Freedom Air spokesperson added that the aircraft had ‘great ventilation.’
This new venture made nationwide headlines in publications such as Newsweek, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Tampa Bay Times, and the Chicago Tribune. Hall was hoping to drum up interest in Freedom Air with the help of these media outlets.
‘Ted’s Not-So Excellent Adventure’
Freedom Air scheduled three round trips between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on 28 September, 5 October, and 12 October 1993. These flights cost $396 round-trip.
The inaugural flight was certainly newsworthy. Seven crew members joined Hall and his wife Jinni onboard the flight. According to the Los Angeles Times, a whole pack of reporters eagerly awaited to interview passengers. On the flight were personnel from NBC, CNN, BBC, a syndicated TV news show, A Current Affair, and a German news outlet—though some of these figures were smokers.
Altogether, there were nine Freedom Air personnel, 17 reporters and film crew members, and ten travel agents from Chicago. As for actual paying passengers? Just two.
The first was Ruthie Fairchild, a Clinton, Iowa resident traveling to LA for a court hearing for her brother McKinley Lee, a Snoop Dogg bodyguard. Both men were accused of killing a gang member in West Palm Beach. Fairchild wasn’t a smoker but became a Freedom Air Member as a cheap way to fly to LA.
The second was a construction worker named Marty Stollar from Toronto, Canada. Despite not living in America, he wanted to support smoker’s rights by pledging money to Freedom Air.
Hall was elated to see the ‘No Smoking’ light go out during the flight. Hall smoked a whole pack of cigarettes during the near-four-hour flight.
‘I would have liked to have seen a full plane, but I’ll never forget this thing,’ Hall said.
The flight’s departure and arrival were greeted by even more members of the press looking to interview the passengers. Despite all the fanfare from the media, it didn’t get the story and footage it was hoping for. If footage of these flights did air on television, it’s now lost media.
‘They Probably All Choked to Death’
The other two flights between ORD and LAX did take place, but they received less attention from the media and filled even fewer seats. Hall thought about canceling the other two flights but told Jinni, ‘I can live better with losing money than going back on my word.’
Being the only known investor of the airline, Hall gave up on Freedom Air shortly thereafter. Only about 100 people became Freedom Air Smoker Club members.
President of Aviation Systems Research Corporation (ASRC) Michael Boyd told Bloomberg that the travelers interested in Freedom Air ‘probably all choked to death’. Boyd added that Hall likely misjudged the appeal and demand for a smoker-friendly airline.
Bloomberg states that Hall was going to restart the airline in Las Vegas, Nevada, but nothing came of this idea.
