Sandpiper Air (often simply referred to as "Sandpiper") was the Nantucket-based business operating out of Tom Nevers Field owned by Joe Hackett and Brian Hackett. Sandpiper Air founded in 1988 by Joe Hackett with the assistance of Fay Cochran. Sandpiper's sole aircraft was a Cessna 402, FAA registration number N121PP.
History[]
Sandpiper Air was a Nantucket-based business and operating out of Tom Nevers Field. In 1988 the route and counter formerly used by Siasconset Air were acquired by Joe Hackett when he founded Sandpiper. The concept of Sandpiper Air had been considered by Joe Hackett for a long time prior to it getting off the ground. As a child, he loved flying, and as a teen he took aviation lessons. When he grew up Joe worked as a corporate jet pilot until he amassed enough capital to strike out on his own. The original idea for Sandpiper had been slightly different than what became reality. Joe had been engaged to Carol, and his plans were to run Sandpiper as a "mom & pop" small business, with Joe captaining the flights while Carol would handle the ticket counter. However, when Joe's brother Brian ran off with Carol it caused a rift in the Hackett family as well as Joe returning to corporate America as he had to abandon his dream in addition to continue to earn a living.
Then on Flight 211 New York to Honolulu, Joe was a passenger on a major airline where he encountered Fay Cochran, who was bitter about spending years working faithfully for the airline only to be forced into mandatory retirement. In getting to know Joe, Fay became his partner, and went to help found Sandpiper and work there as the ticket agent and head of reservations (Stew in a Stew). On his first day of business, Joe was incredibly nervous, having spent all day idle as no one came to the counter. Then, when the airport was about to close, an old lady named Mrs. McGuire was unable to find any flights, but then saw Sandpiper was not booked and requested a ticket to Boston. Joe charged her $20, which she paid in cash. Joe had vivid memories of that fateful flight, as he could truthfully tell himself he was now running his own business. Joe framed the $20 bill in his office as a reminder of Sandpiper's maiden voyage. (Wingless (Part 1)).
After the death of his father, Joe was encouraged to make peace with Brian, and even hired him as a pilot at Sandpiper. When Joe was grounded from flying due to his hypertension, Sandpiper hired Kenny McElvey to work temporarily as a swing pilot (Friends or Lovers?). After Joe had a nervous breakdown, he abandoned his responsibilities and ran off to the Caribbean. When Brian tracked him down, Joe said he was going to no longer let life pass him by and sold the business to Brian for one dollar (Joe Blows (Part 2)). Joe later returned to the States, whereupon he saw Brian was struggling to keep Sandpiper afloat. Brian was stressed, but not to the point of risking a breakdown himself. Brian revealed that he was so low on funds that he resorted to bartering with a fuel supplier to keep the plane fueled. Brian elected to sell the business back to Joe, but they decided to make it into a limited liability partnership where both brothers would share responsibility.
Due to Nantucket's limited geography, there was only one airport with limited flights and only two airlines, with Sandpiper being the weaker member of the duopoly. The stronger member, Aeromass, was owned by Roy Biggins. Although Sandpiper was often shown struggling to stay afloat, Roy still considered Sandpiper a threat, and frequently tried to run it out of business or become the majority shareholder.
Through a windfall inheritance by Joe's and Brian's father Donald (Final Approach 2), Joe planned to invest his half of the money in another airplane to expand Sandpiper's services. As Joe would leave to help accompany his wife Helen to Vienna during her studies as a cellist for a year, Brian would come to ensure the continued existence of Sandpiper Air and its assets by covering for Joe in managing the company during his year long leave.
Flight Schedule[]
| Location | Flight | Departure | Flight | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provincetown & Hyannis | 7 | 7:03 AM | 8 | 8:34 AM |
| Boston | 19 | 10:00 AM | 2 | 12:09 PM |
| Martha's Vineyard & New Bedford | 20 | 1:22 PM | 14 | 2:47 PM |
| Boston | 25 | 3:14 PM | 28 | 5:38 PM |
Trivia[]
- Sandpiper's sole aircraft was a Cessna 402, FAA registration number N121PP.
- According to their presentation in Wingless (Part 1), Sandpiper Air was founded in 1988.
- In Wingless (Part 1), Joe shared that a sweet old lady named Mrs. Maguire was the first customer of Sandpiper Air when she bought a ticket to Boston for $20. Joe had that $20 framed, but Brian used it to purchase lottery scratchers.
- Sandpiper also flies to Providence, but it's not on the posted schedule.
- Prior to 1987 the business that occupied Sandpiper's counter at the airport was called Siasconset Air. When they misplaced one of Eleanor Kingsbury's bags, she had their bank loan revoked in the 11 minutes it took to find it (Death Becomes Him).
- For five episodes in the sixth season, "New York" replaced "Boston" in the Flight 25 slot on the posted schedule.
- During Joe's fantasy sequence in Life Could Be a Dream, the counter that usually housed "Sandpiper Air" was occupied by "Nantucket Air" because Joe become a world-famous baseball player and never founded Sandpiper.
Fay as the Bride of Frankenstein working at Sandpiper Scair for Halloween
- As seen in The Gift of Life, during the Halloween season, Sandpiper Air becomes "Sandpiper Scair".