Command Airlines was founded by Kingsley G. Morse (1931–1993), who was the airline’s sole CEO during its entire existence.
The company was established as Mid-Hudson Airlines in 1951 At its peak in 1988, Command Airways had 538 employees and 15 aircraft serving 13 airports.
In 1984 it began transitioning into operating in affiliation with American Airlines, much like AmericanConnection did. By maintaining independent management and separate ownership, it continued to do business in its own colors as Command Airways, although its fleet was primarily dedicated for American Airlines operations.
This permitted Command to gain marketing presence associated only usually with much larger airline carriers.
Command was one of the first regional airlines to carry the American Eagle brand when it became a part of the American Eagle system which included repainting their entire fleet under the American Eagle banner.
This rebranding process of regional airlines commenced around 1985 and accelerated when American Airlines parent company began purchasing a number of smaller regional carriers after the bankruptcy (December 1987) of one of its affiliate partners named AVAir which was operating similarly to Command Airways.