The Airline Encyclopedia 1909-2000 (3 vol. set)

3357 Pages·2002·24.49 MB·English

by  Myron J. Smith Jr.

The Airline Encyclopedia
1909–2000
Myron J. Smith Jr.
The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Lanham, Maryland, and Oxford
2002
SCARECROWPRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
AMember of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
PO Box 317
Oxford
OX2 9RU, UK
Copyright ©2002 by Myron J. Smith Jr.
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith, Myron J.
The airline encyclopedia, 1909–2000 / Myron J. Smith, Jr.
p. cm.
Included bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8108-3790-0 (alk. paper)
1. Airlines—Encyclopedias. I. Title
HE9780 .S65 2002
387.7'03—dc21
00-044000
∞™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Servicing the American Overseas Airlines Boeing 377 Stratocruiser Flagship Europe (N90941). Originally named
Flagship Great Britainupon delivery, the giant aircraft would become Clipper Americawhen AOA was purchased by
Pan American World Airways (1) late in 1950. American Airlines photo AA85-86-1. Courtesy American Airlines.
In memory of my father, Myron J. Smith Sr.,
and for Marion O. Smith, my mother, and Myron J. Smith III, my son.
Contents
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Company Profiles A–C 1
Company Profiles D–P 1048
Company Profiles Q–Z 2191
Postscript 2941
Appendix A: Acronyms and Abbreviations 2943
Appendix B: Research Sources 2945
Regional Indexes of Carriers
Africa/Middle East 2951
Asia/Pacific 2956
Europe 2962
Latin America 2976
Canada/United States 2982
Name and Subject Index 3001
About the Author 3307
v

Foreword
Myron J. (“Jack”) Smith Jr. has earned a well-deserved reputation as the compiled detailed operational and statistical profiles of more than
foremost bibliographer of his generation. Over the past quarter century, 6,000 commercial air transport companies over the 91 years from
he has published over 60 volumes of annotated bibliographical studies 1909 into 2000. The research required for such a compilation can only
that have been widely used by scholars in a variety of fields, especially be described as staggering. I have no doubts whatsoever that genera-
business, military, pro sports, and aeronautical history. tions of aeronautical, business, and military historians will use this
Like other writers, I have leaned heavily on Professor Smith’s books work as a fundamental reference tool. It will save researchers enor-
in my own work. His fine volumes, The Airline Bibliography: The mous amounts of time and effort to have the basic information on air-
Salem College Guide to Sources in English(2 vols., 1985–1986) proved lines so readily at hand.
indispensable when I was editing the airline industry volume for The Jack Smith has made an enormous contribution to scholarship. His
Encyclopedia of American Business History and Biography (Facts on indefatigable effort and unsurpassed skill in assembling The Airline En-
File, 1992). His bibliography will be joined shortly by an updated guide, cyclopedia,1909-2000, are deeply appreciated by all whose own works
also from Scarecrow Press. have or will rest upon this foundational endeavor.
Smith, who along with other authors joined me in contributing arti-
cles to The Airline Industry, has also been responsible for a number of William M. Leary
pictorial histories. His Passenger Airliners of the United States, cover- E. Merton Coulter Professor of History
ing the years from 1926–2000, is now in its fourth edition. University of Georgia
Smith’s latest project is his most ambitious effort to date and com-
bines a love of information gathering with concise narrative. He has
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Acknowledgments
Many individuals, associations, airlines, libraries, and aircraft manufac- Mr. John Hanlin, director, Tri-State Regional Airport, Blountville,
turers were contacted or visited in the process of assembling this ency- Tennessee
clopedia, work on which began over a decade ago at approximately the Mr. Scott Niswonger, chairman/CEO, LandAir Corp., Greeneville,
same time as my The Airline Bibliography:The Salem College Guide to Tennessee
Sources in English.Indeed, citations, press releases, and photographs for Mr. Michael A. Roberts, senior vice president, Forward Air, Greene-
both works were initially obtained simultaneously. Following comple- ville, Tennessee
tion of the publications guide, this project has occupied much of the au- Mr. Lewis Kunkel and Mr. Joe Tirone, VPs, Forward Air, Greeneville,
thor’s time ever since. Tennessee
Almost everyone contacted over the years has responded in a gracious Ms. Laurie Lincoln, Air Canada, Montreal, Canada
manner. For example, over two hundred airlines (several, such as Mr. John M. Jones Sr., The Greeneville Sun,Greeneville, Tennessee
Aeromech Airlines and the first Pan American World Airways, being no Mr. S. Wylie Milligan, Greeneville, Tennessee
longer extant) provided information and photographs—many of them Mr. Roy Thompson, Colorado Springs, Colorado
several times. All of the major fixed- and rotary-wing trade associations Mr. Larus Atlason, Civil Aviation Authority, Iceland
have also contributed facts and figures, while aircraft manufacturers Mr. David J. Hodder, Brymon Airways
have offered technical insight and photographs. Mr. Joe G. Walker, Kent, Washington
The growth in corporate information provided via the World Wide Mr. Walter S. Coleman, president, Regional Airline Association
Web since 1995 has been, as noted, of immeasurable value. The de- Mr. Malcolm Ginsberg, Air and Business Travel News
velopment of e-mail has made correspondence regarding this project Mr. Martin Brennan, Air Commerce Journal
much simpler than has been the case for any of my other 66 books; a Mr. Jay Selman, writer
message to and from England, for example, which used to take weeks, Hon. Jimmy Duncan (R-Tenn.), U.S. Congress, and his staff
now takes hours. Cobham, plc
For their advice, assistance, or encouragement in the formulation, re- David Charlton, Airbus Industries of North America
search, and completion of this endeavor, the following individuals and Robert Takis, American Airlines
libraries are particularly and gratefully, if not alphabetically, acknowl- Library of Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama
edged. Those organizations (extant or not) that provided photographs Library of Chattanooga State Technological Community College,
are acknowledged in the picture captions. This recognition of contribu- Chattanooga, Tennessee
tors does not, of course, necessarily translate into their endorsement, as Library of East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee
any errors (and it is not possible for there not to be a few in a solo work Library of Salem-Teikyo University, Salem, West Virginia
as large as this one) remain the responsibility of the author alone. Library of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal,
If not specifically renamed below, I have recalled all of those people Canada
acknowledged in TAB, as well as in the four editions of my Passenger Library of the National Air & Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
Airliners of the United States. This includes a huge cast of airline PR Library of Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
folks consulted earlier during this work’s formative years, but who have Library of Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
now retired or moved on. Library of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Mr. John Wegg, editor-in-chief, AirwaysMagazine Library of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Nicholas A. Veronico, former managing editor, AirlinersMagazine Library of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Mr. Graham Warwick, North American editor, Flight International Blacksburg, Virginia
Dr. R. E. G. Davies, curator of air transport for the Aeronautics De- Special appreciation is reserved for Ms. Lisa Henderson Ray, research
partment, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. and statistics editor, and Mr. James P. Woolsey, recently retired senior
Mr. Ian Harbison, editor, Regional Airline WorldMagazine editor and associate publisher, Air Transport World. Their long-standing
Ms. Kathleen Kocks and Mr. John Persinos, editors, Rotor & Wing support and assistance has been invaluable to the compilation of this, as
International well as earlier works.
Mr. Geoffrey Arend, La Guardia Airport, Flushing, New York I am also grateful to Mr. Jon Proctor, editor-in-chief of Airliners, who
Mr. Bob Balay, reference books editor, ChoiceMagazine has provided many key insights and much data.
Mr. Stan Cohen, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, Dr. Norman Horrocks of Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Sco-
Montana tia, formerly editorial VP of Scarecrow Press, was instrumental in
Mr. Robert B. Lane, director, Air University Library, Maxwell AFB, launching this project and has been a tower of aid and support. His
Alabama successor at Scarecrow, Ms. Shirley Lambert, and her staff have given
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