Western Airlines

Western Airlines was a large airline from the American California. It was founded in 1925 and took the following year, the flight operations. They evolved over the decades into a network carrier. The end of the Western Airlines came with the takeover by Delta Air Lines in 1987, when the Western Airlines brand disappeared from the market.

History

Beginnings as a post flight Society

Western Airlines in 1925 was called by the name Western Air Express in California to life. It was founded and maintained by Harris M. Hanshue. The background was that the United States Postal Service had announced several contracts for the carriage of airmail throughout the United States. Western Air Express won the tender for the carriage of air mail on the route from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and back.

The operational receiving the Western Air Express took place on 17 April 1926. Have existed at the date of two new plants supplied propeller aircraft type Douglas M- 2, which were flown by the former military pilots from the First World War. The route was advertised by the United States Postal Service, which ran from Salt Lake City via Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Las Vegas served as a refueling stop, to which further mailings were received or discharged. The flight lasted about 8 hours.

Entry into the passenger business

Only about one and a half months after the launch took at this time equipped with a 24 - strong workforce Western Air Express on 23 May 1926 on the passenger flight operations. It is therefore regarded as the first scheduled airline in the United States.

In July of the same year it carried with Mrs. Maude Campbell the first female passenger of commercial aviation in the United States.

Climb the world's largest airline in 1930

The passenger business of the Western Air Express developed quickly. In 1927 they acquired some routes of Colorado Airways. The fleet was to remain equal to the increasing demand supplemented by other aircraft and greatly expanded its route network. Western Air Express took over in 1928 with a Fokker F.10 also the first airline in the United States, a three -engined aircraft. In the same year, the airline also installed 37 weather stations on the route from Los Angeles to San Fransisco and other navigational and radio equipment on the ground and in their aircraft. Western Air Express had contributed to these systems with larger amounts of development and they rehearsed in practice and used. Some of the resulting at this time with the assistance of Western Air Express systems are used today in modified aviation. 1930 took over one standard Airlines.

1930 Western Air Express became the then world's largest civil transport airline. Operation to 1926 two aircraft were already 1930 40 The network also had a length of about 16,000 miles.

Partial fusion of Trans Western Airlines

The end of the passenger boom until 1930 had at Western Air Express abruptly to an end when Walter Folger Brown, a senior employee of the U.S. Post Office, the airline forced to form a joint venture with the American Transcontinental Air also. The new company, Transcontinental and Western Air (T & WA), completely and Western Air Express took over in the Transcontinental Air up on the routes from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and Cheyenne to Colorado Springs with their routes and aircraft, was 45 percent of the former owners of Western Air Express held. However, the new airline did not perform particularly well and was threatened several times in the subsequent years of the operation setting. 1939, the billionaire Howard Hughes was the majority owner of the airline and later called them to in Trans World Airlines.

Continued existence of the residual and changes in ownership

The fused parts of the Western Air Express remained in ailing company while the remaining independent part of the airline tried to continue the flight operation, which ultimately succeeded in successfully.

In 1931, the financially strong General Motors Western Air Express, which operated from now as a subsidiary. In October of the same year they took over the Mid-Continent Air Express, which was then fully integrated and the name disappeared from the market. The acquisition could expand its route network to the offers Denver to El Paso and Dallas. In 1932, Western Air Express, a television advertisement run, which was directly transferred and rotated with the actress Loretta Young. Thus West Air Express was the world's first airline, which turned an ad on television.

1934, the name Western Air Express Airlines in general has changed.