The Legacy Carriers - Part Four - August 28, 2009

The Legacy Carriers – Part Three – August 21, 2009
August 21, 2009
The Low Cost Carrier – Part One – September 04, 2009
September 4, 2009
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The Legacy Carriers – Part Four – August 28, 2009

This week we conclude the series on the legacy carriers but help me keep the memory of those that are gone but not forgotten alive by reading their history. As always, I would like all aviators to connect with their roots and one of the ways they can do that is by using the “Third Dimension Blog” as a resource.

Quote of the Week

“I may be flying a complicated airplane, rushing through space, but in this cabin I’m surrounded by simplicity and thoughts set free of time. How detached the intimate things around me seem from the great world down below. How strange is this combination of proximity and separation. That ground — seconds away — thousands of miles away. This air, stirring mildly around me. That air, rushing by with the speed of a tornado, an inch beyond. These minute details in my cockpit. The grandeur of the world outside. The nearness of death. The longness of life.”—Charles A. Lindberg “The Spirit of St. Louis”

Gone but Not Forgotten

1978 Roll Call of Legacy Carriers

Alaska Airlines Northwest
Aloha Airlines Ozark
Air Cal Pacific Southwest
American Pan Am
Braniff Piedmont
Continental Republic
Delta Southwest
Eastern TWA
Frontier United
Hawaiian US Air
National Western

 

Mergers and failures are difficult to keep up with, but there are some significant changes that took place in the 1980s and the decades after that can provide us with some perspective of the state of the industry. Consider the following facts:

  • Aloha Airlines failed in 2008
  • Air Cal was absorbed by American in 1987
  • Braniff failed in 1982 and Braniff II failed in 1989
  • Continental is still with us but the current Continental is a remake of the original Continental that was bought out by TI/Frank Lorenzo
  • Eastern failed in 1990
  • Frontier was absorbed by Continental in 1985
  • National was absorbed by Pan AM in 1980
  • Northwest was absorbed by Delta in 2008/2009
  • Ozark was absorbed by TWA in 1986
  • Pacific Southwest was absorbed by US Air in 1988-
  • Pan Am failed in 1990
  • Piedmont was absorbed by US Air in 1989
  • Republic was absorbed by Northwest in 1980
  • TWA was absorbed by American in 2001
  • Western was absorbed by Delta in 1987

The following airlines are still in operation: Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, and US Air.

I have closed with pictures of the fallen carriers, so enjoy and for each photo there is a credit listed so that you can do some looking on your own.

Next week we will start a new series called the Low Cost Carrier. So, until then take some time to look back, connect with your past and remember as an aviator you are a “Gatekeeper of the Third Dimension.”

Protect your profession, your future and the future of your fellow aviators.

 

Robert Novell 

August 28, 2009

Gone but Not Forgotten

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aloha Airlines failed in 2008
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Boeing737-N742AL.jpg/800px-Boeing737-N742AL.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
Air Cal was absorbed by American in 1987
http://www.aircraftshots.com/Airlines/photo/lg/Air-California-Boeing-737-293-N462AC-Passenger-Jet-Airplane-Commercial-Aircraft.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Braniff failed in 1982 and Braniff II failed in 1989
http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2006-11/1512.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
Eastern failed in 1990
http://aviationexplorer.com/Eastern_Airlines_Aircraft/Eastern_Airlines_L1011.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frontier was absorbed by Continental in 1985
http://members.tripod.com/~LAMKINS/FL_737DEN.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

National was absorbed by Pan AM in 1980
http://airlinersgallery.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/national-1st-747-100-n77773-67grd-mia-bdlr.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northwest Orient—Northwest Airlines
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Northwest_Orient_Boeing_747-100_at_London_Gatwick_Airport_in_June_1983.jpg/800px-Northwest_Orient_Boeing_747-100_at_London_Gatwick_Airport_in_June_1983.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northwest was absorbed by Delta
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/NW_B747-200_before_and_after.jpg/715px-NW_B747-200_before_and_after.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
Ozark was absorbed by TWA in 1986
https://shop.slidecorner.ch/images/NS0009r.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Pacific Southwest was absorbed by US Air in 1988
http://www.jetpsa.com/photos/70s/7003.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
Pan Am failed in 1990
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons

 

 

 

 

 

 
Piedmont was absorbed by US Air in 1989
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/3509740948_f46217238a.jpg?v=0

 

 

 

 

 

 
Republic was absorbed by Northwest in 1980
http://www.aviationexplorer.com/Old_Airline_Airliner_Pictures/Republic_Airlines_Boeing_727.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

TWA was absorbed by American in 2001
http://www.airplane-pictures.net/images/uploaded-images/2008-2/10230.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 
Western was absorbed by Delta in 1987
http://www.aviationexplorer.com/Old_Airline_Airliner_Pictures/Western_Airlines_Boeing_707.jpg