Virgin Atlantic at Port Stanley Airport, and the time it would take to improve it, would render a route to the Falklands commercially unviable, thus the idea of such a service was dropped. In its place, Hellary and Fields commenced efforts to secure a licence to operate a route Gatwick Airport, London and John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City. During May 1983, a three-day inquiry was conducted, which chose to reject the application following objections from British Airways, British Caledonian and BAA. Hellary and Fields then applied for a licence between Gatwick and Newark, New Jersey, using a 380-seat McDonnell
Smith Reynolds Airport INT crew base in 1991. Their heavy aircraft maintenance base was closed in September 1998, leaving only specialty maintenance shops, the last of which was closed in 2005. US Airways maintained its largest reservations center in Winston-Salem before merging with American. Capital Airlines and Eastern Air Lines operated flights into Smith Reynolds Airport until 1961. The June 1, 1960 Eastern Air Lines system timetable listed nonstop flights to Washington National Airport and Charlotte as well as direct service between INT and New York La Guardia Airport, New York Newark Airport, Atlanta, Providence, RI, Richmond, VA, Atlantic City, NJ, Wilmington, NC