Western Airlines

Western Airlines was a large airline based in California, with operations throughout the western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington D.C. and Miami on the U.S. east coast and also into Mexico. The airline also served other international destinations such as London, England and Nassau, Bahamas. Western had hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver. Before it merged with Delta Air Lines in 1987 it was headquartered at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The company's slogan for many years was "Western Airlines....The Only Way To Fly!"

Western Air Express
In 1925, the United States Postal Service began to give airlines contracts to carry air mail throughout the country. Western Airlines first incorporated in 1925 as Western Air Express by Harris Hanshue. It applied for, and was awarded, the 650-mile long Contract Air Mail Route #4 (CAM-4) from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles. On 17 April 1926, Western's first flight took place with a Douglas M-2 airplane. It began offering passenger services a month later, when the first commercial passenger flight took place at Woodward Field. Ben F. Redman (then president of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce) and J.A. Tomlinson perched atop U.S. mail sacks and flew with pilot C.N. "Jimmy" James on his regular eight-hour mail delivery flight to Los Angeles. By the mid 1930s, Western Air Express had introduced new Boeing 247 aircraft.

Transcontinental & Western Air
The company reincorporated in 1928 as Western Air Express Corp. Then, in 1930, it purchased Standard Air Lines, subsidiary of Aero Corp. of Ca., founded in 1926 by Paul E. Richter, Jack Frye and Walter Hamilton. WAE with Fokker aircraft merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA, later known as Trans World Airlines).

General Air Lines
In 1934, Western Air Express was severed from TWA and briefly changed its name to General Air Lines, returning to the name Western Air Express after several months. In a 1934 press release by the company, it called itself the Western Air Division of General Air Lines.

Western Airlines
In 1941 Western Air Express changed its name to Western Air Lines (WAL) and later to Western Airlines. At one point, the carrier also billed itself as Western Airlines International. During the 1940s, Western acquired a controlling interest in Inland Air Lines, which operated as a subsidiary with this air carrier's schedules appearing in Western system timetables at the time before Inland was fully merged into Western during the early 1950s. After World War II, Western was awarded a route from Los Angeles to Denver via Las Vegas, but financial problems forced Western to sell the route as well as Douglas DC-6 new aircraft delivery positions to United Air Lines in 1947. Western was later awarded a route between Minneapolis and Salt Lake City via Casper, Wyoming, thus allowing the airline to develop from a large regional airline into a major mainline air carrier. This growth also enabled the airline to introduce Douglas DC-6 (DC-6B models), Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops and eventually Boeing 707 jet service. The airline's president was Terrell "Terry" Drinkwater. Drinkwater got into a dispute with the administration in Washington D.C. that severely hampered WAL's growth. Pressured in a famous phone call by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to "buy American made aircraft", Drinkwater reportedly responded: "Mr. President, you run your country and let me run my airline!" For years after this exchange, the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) would not award Western new routes while their major competitors including United and American grew enormous even though all of Western's airliners were of U.S. manufacture while their competitor's fleets included aircraft that had been built in Europe by British or French companies.

In August 1953 Western was serving 38 airports. By June 1968, that number had grown to 42 airports.

In 1960, Western Airlines introduced Boeing 707 jetliners (B707-139 models) with flights between Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, OR and Seattle. In 1967, WAL acquired Pacific Northern Airlines, which served the state of Alaska, with their primary route being Anchorage-Seattle, which was served nonstop with Boeing 720 jetliners. In the late 1960s, Western aimed for an all-jet fleet, adding Boeing 707-320s, 727-200s and 737-200s to their fleet of 720Bs. The two leased B707-139s had previously been removed from the fleet in favor of the turbofan powered Boeing 720B. Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops were then replaced with new Boeing 737-200s.

In 1973, Western added nine McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10s, marketing their wide-body cabins as "DC-10 Spaceships". These aircraft had seating for 46 first class passengers and 193 in coach, and a lower level galley for food preparation.

Western was headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Following the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, the airline's principal hubs underwent an evolution and were eventually reduced to hub operations at two airports: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). Prior to airline deregulation, Western operated smaller hubs in Anchorage, Alaska (ANC), Denver (DEN), Las Vegas (LAS), Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) and San Francisco (SFO). By the spring of 1987, shortly before Western was acquired by Delta Air Lines, the airline operated only two hubs, with a major operation in Salt Lake City and a secondary hub in Los Angeles.

At their peak in the 1970s and 1980s, Western flew to many cities across the western United States, and to Mexico (Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and Mazatlán), Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak and other Alaskan destinations), Hawaii (Honolulu, Kahului, Kona, and Hilo), and Canada (Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton). New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston and Miami were added on the east coast as well as Chicago and St. Louis in the midwest, and also destinations in Texas (Austin, Dallas/Ft. Worth, El Paso, Houston and San Antonio). Western also operated numerous intrastate flights within California, competing with Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), Air California/AirCal, Air West/Hughes Airwest and United Airlines. In addition, Western operated "Islander" service with Boeing 707-320, Boeing 720B and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliners to Hawaii from a number of mainland U.S. cities in its route system that previously did not have direct flights to the 50th state. In 1973, the airline was operating nonstop "Islander" service between Honolulu and Anchorage, Los Angeles, Oakland, CA, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose, CA with one stop, no change of plane "Islander" flights being operated between Honolulu and Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Phoenix, Sacramento and Salt Lake City. In 1981, the airline was also operating nonstop DC-10 jet service between Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and Honolulu as well.

One of the airline's smallest jet service destinations was West Yellowstone, Montana, located near Yellowstone National Park. Western operated seasonal service into West Yellowstone Airport during the summer months with Boeing 737-200 jetliners, which had replaced Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop service into this small airfield. During the 1970s and 1980s, Western served a number of small cities in the western U.S. with Boeing 737-200 jet service including Butte, MT, Casper, WY, Cheyenne, WY, Helena, MT, Idaho Falls, ID, Pierre, SD, Pocatello, ID, Rapid City, SD and Sheridan, WY. The 737 replaced Electra propjet service to all of these destinations. Western also used its larger jetliners to serve other small communities as well: in 1968, the airline was operating nonstop Boeing 720B service between the Annette Island Airport serving Ketchikan, Alaska and Seattle in addition to operating the 720B between Juneau and Seattle, and in 1973 was flying 720B nonstop service between Kodiak, Alaska and Seattle.

In the late 1970s, Western Airlines (WAL) and Continental Airlines (CAL) agreed to merge. A dispute broke out over what to call the combined airline: Western-Continental or Continental-Western. An infamous coin toss occurred. Bob Six, the colorful founder of CAL, demanded that Continental be "tails" in deference to their marketing slogan "We Really Move Our Tail for You! Continental Airlines: the Proud Bird with the Golden Tail". The coin flip turned up "heads". Six was so disappointed he called the merger off.

In 1981 Western Airlines began international flights from Anchorage and Denver to London Gatwick Airport with a single McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 intercontinental wide body jetliner At one point, as an extension of the service to the U.K., Western operated one stop, no change of plane DC-10-30 flights on the polar route between Honolulu and London via a stop in Anchorage. The London to Denver DC-10-30 flight (inaugurated 24 April, 1981) featured continuing no change of plane service to Las Vegas and Los Angeles with the same routing being flown in reverse. Another international route at this time was one stop, no change of plane service between Los Angeles and Nassau, Bahamas, which was flown with a DC-10 via a stop in Miami. As Western extended its network to destinations on the east coast such as New York City, Washington, D.C. and Boston, as well as to Chicago and St. Louis in the midwest, Albuquerque and El Paso in the west, and Houston, New Orleans, Miami and Fort Lauderdale in the south, the airline became a sponsor of the Bob Barker television show The Price Is Right in order to reach new customers in the eastern U.S. In 1987, Western was operating four round trip nonstop flights a day with Boeing 737-300 jets between Boston and New York LaGuardia Airport in addition to operating a major hub at the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and a secondary hub at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Western Express
During the late 1980s, Western entered into a code sharing agreement with SkyWest Airlines, which was a commuter air carrier at the time. SkyWest operated Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia and Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft as Western Express providing passenger feed to and from Western mainline flights at Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego and other Western mainline destinations In the spring of 1987, SkyWest operating as Western Express was serving 36 destinations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. Western also entered a similar code sharing agreement with Alaska-based South Central Air, a small commuter airline that operated as Western Express as well, providing passenger feed to and from Western flights serving Anchorage. Several destinations in southern Alaska including Homer, Kenai, Soldotna were served by South Central Air operating as Western Express. Following the acquisition of Western by Delta Air Lines, SkyWest became a Delta Connection code sharing air carrier which is a business arrangement that currently remains in place.

Delta Air Lines merger
In the early 1980s, Air Florida tried to buy Western Airlines, but they were able to purchase only 16 percent of the airline's stock. On September 9, 1986, Western Airlines and Delta Air Lines entered into an agreement and plan of merger. The merger agreement was approved by the United States Department of Transportation on December 11, 1986. On December 16, 1986, shareholder approval of the merger was conferred and Western Airlines became a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. The Western brand was discontinued and the employee workforces were fully merged on April 1, 1987. All of Western's aircraft were repainted in Delta's livery, including ten McDonnell Douglas DC-10 wide body trijets. Delta eventually decided to eliminate the DC-10s from the combined fleet as they already operated a considerable number of Lockheed L-1011 TriStar wide body jetliners—a similar type when compared with the DC-10. Western's former Salt Lake City hub became a major Delta hub, and Delta currently uses Los Angeles International Airport as a major gateway and hub as well.

Destinations in 1987
The following mainline destination information is taken from the Western Airlines March 1, 1987 system timetable shortly before the merger with Delta Air Lines was finalized. According to the route map contained in this timetable, the airline's primary connecting hub at this time was located at the Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) with a secondary connecting hub located at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).


 * Acapulco, Mexico
 * Albuquerque, New Mexico
 * Anchorage, Alaska
 * Austin, Texas
 * Billings, Montana
 * Bismarck, North Dakota
 * Boise, Idaho
 * Boston, Massachusetts
 * Bozeman, Montana
 * Burbank, California (BUR): Hollywood/Burbank Airport, then Burbank/Glendale/Pasadena Airport, currently Bob Hope Airport
 * Butte, Montana
 * Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 * Casper, Wyoming
 * Cheyenne, Wyoming
 * Chicago, Illinois -(ORD): O'Hare International Airport
 * Colorado Springs, Colorado
 * Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas
 * Denver, Colorado
 * Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
 * El Paso, Texas
 * Fairbanks, Alaska
 * Fresno, California
 * Great Falls, Montana
 * Guadalajara, Mexico
 * Helena, Montana
 * Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
 * Houston, Texas (IAH): George Bush Intercontinental Airport
 * Idaho Falls, Idaho
 * Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico
 * Jackson, Wyoming
 * Juneau, Alaska
 * Kansas City, Missouri
 * Kahului, Maui, Hawaii
 * Kalispell, Montana
 * Las Vegas, Nevada
 * Los Angeles, California (LAX): Los Angeles International Airport - Secondary hub
 * Mazatlan, Mexico
 * Mexico City, Mexico
 * Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
 * Missoula, Montana
 * New York City, New York (JFK): John F. Kennedy International Airport
 * New York City, New York (LGA): LaGuardia Airport
 * Oakland, California (OAK): Oakland International Airport
 * Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 * Omaha, Nebraska
 * Ontario, California (ONT): Ontario International Airport
 * Orange County, California (SNA): John Wayne Airport
 * Palm Springs, California
 * Pasco, Washington (Tri-Cities area)
 * Phoenix, Arizona
 * Portland, Oregon
 * Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
 * Rapid City, South Dakota
 * Reno, Nevada
 * Sacramento, California
 * Salt Lake City, Utah (SLC): Salt Lake City International Airport - Primary hub
 * St. Louis, Missouri
 * San Antonio, Texas
 * San Diego, California
 * San Francisco, California (SFO): San Francisco International Airport
 * San Jose, California
 * Seattle/Tacoma, Washington (SEA)
 * Sioux Falls, South Dakota
 * Spokane, Washington
 * Tucson, Arizona
 * Tulsa, Oklahoma
 * Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
 * Washington, D.C. (IAD): Dulles International Airport
 * Washington, D.C. (DCA): Ronald Reagan Airport
 * Wichita, Kansas

Western was operating service on a short flight between Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and Washington National Airport in the greater Washington, D.C. area at one point in 1985. In 1987, the airline was operating four round trip flights a day nonstop between Boston and New York LaGuardia Airport.

Destinations in 1970
The following mainline destination information is taken from the January 6, 1970 Western Airlines route map. According to this system timetable route map, the air carrier was operating as "Western Airlines International" at this time.


 * Acapulco, Mexico
 * Anchorage, Alaska - Hub
 * Billings, Montana
 * Butte, Montana
 * Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 * Casper, Wyoming
 * Cheyenne, Wyoming
 * Denver, Colorado - Hub
 * Great Falls, Montana
 * Helena, Montana
 * Hilo, Hawaii, Hawaii
 * Homer, Alaska
 * Honolulu, Hawaii
 * Idaho Falls, Idaho
 * Juneau, Alaska
 * Kenai, Alaska
 * Ketchikan, Alaska
 * King Salmon, Alaska
 * Kodiak, Alaska
 * Las Vegas, Nevada - Hub
 * Long Beach, California (LGB)
 * Los Angeles, California (LAX): Los Angeles International Airport - Hub
 * Mexico City, Mexico
 * Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota - Hub
 * Oakland, California
 * Ontario, California
 * Palm Springs, California
 * Phoenix, Arizona
 * Pierre, South Dakota
 * Pocatello, Idaho
 * Portland, Oregon
 * Rapid City, South Dakota
 * Reno, Nevada
 * Sacramento, California
 * Salt Lake City, Utah - Hub
 * San Diego, California
 * San Francisco, California (SFO): San Francisco International Airport - Hub
 * Seattle/Tacoma, Washington (SEA)
 * Sheridan, Wyoming
 * Sioux Falls, South Dakota
 * Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
 * West Yellowstone, Montana (served on a seasonal basis primarily during the summer months)

Other historical destinations
According to various Western Airlines system timetables from the 1940s to the 1980s, the air carrier also served the following destinations at different times over the years in addition to the above listed destinations:


 * Alliance, Nebraska
 * Baltimore, Maryland (BWI)
 * Brookings, South Dakota
 * Cedar City, Utah
 * Cordova, Alaska
 * Cut Bank, Montana
 * El Centro, California
 * Fort Lauderdale, Florida (FLL)
 * Grand Junction, Colorado
 * Hot Springs, South Dakota
 * Huron, South Dakota
 * Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada (first international destination served by the airline)
 * Lewistown, Montana
 * Logan, Utah
 * London, England (LGW): London Gatwick Airport (nonstop DC-10 service to Anchorage and Denver with one stop, no change of plane service to Honolulu via Anchorage and direct, no change of plane service to Las Vegas and Los Angeles via Denver)
 * Mankato, Minnesota
 * Miami, Florida (MIA)
 * Nassau, Bahamas (one stop, no change of plane DC-10 service to Los Angeles via Miami)
 * New Orleans, Louisiana
 * Ogden, Utah
 * Rochester, Minnesota
 * Scottsbluff, Nebraska
 * Spearfish, South Dakota
 * Twin Falls, Idaho
 * Yakutat, Alaska
 * Yuma, Arizona

Revenue passenger miles
The following revenue passenger miles data includes information for Pacific Northern Airlines and Inland Air Lines, both of which were acquired by and merged into Western.

Advertising
Western contributed to popular culture with their 1960s era advertising slogan, "It's the oooooonly way to fly!" Spoken by Wally Bird, an animated bird hitching a ride aboard the fuselage of a Western airliner, and voiced by veteran actor Shepard Menken, the phrase soon found its way into animated cartoons by Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera. Another famous advertising campaign by the airline centered on Star Trek icons William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Some of their last television ads, shortly before the merger with Delta, featured actor/comedian Rodney Dangerfield.

During the 1970s, they promoted themselves as "the champagne airline" because champagne was offered free of charge to every passenger over age 21. (As an aside, actor Jim Backus uttered the "It's the only way to fly!" phrase while piloting an airplane, somewhat inebriated, in the film It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.)

Western Airlines was also famous for its "Flying W" corporate identity and aircraft livery. Introduced in the mid-1970s, the unique color scheme featured a large red stylized "W" that fused into a red cheatline running the length of an all-white fuselage. This new corporate identity was the subject of litigation by Winnebago Industries, which contended the new "Flying W" was too similar to its own stylized "W" logo. In their final years, Western Airlines slightly modified its corporate identity by stripping the white fuselage to bare metal, while retaining the red "Flying W" (albeit with a dark blue shadow). This color scheme was also affectionately known as "Bud Lite" due to its resemblance to a popular beer's can design.

Western Airlines was a favorite first class carrier for Hollywood movie stars and frequently featured them in their on board magazine, "Western's World". Marilyn Monroe and many other silver screen actors were frequent flyers and the airline capitalized on it. Western had a famous flyer out of Seattle: Captain "Red" Dodge. Red worked previously as a helicopter test pilot, and got involved with flying for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in his later years when he wasn't flying as captain on the DC-10. The movie Breakout starring Charles Bronson was based on his daring airlift of a CIA operative out of the courtyard of a Mexican prison. The Mexican government tried to extradite Dodge back to face charges. Red became wealthy leasing government storage units with unlimited government business but never again flew to Mexico.

The airline was also promoted in the Carpenters promotional video for the track "I Need to Be in Love", released in 1976. The video shows exterior footage of a DC-10 in takeoff and landing shots, as well as seating promotions for Western's FiftyFair seating product, with shots of a cabin setting depicting what looks like business class of the DC-10.

Fleet in 1986
In 1986, Western Airlines' fleet consisted of a total of 78 jetliners of the following types:

The airline also previously operated a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 in 1981 in order to serve London, England. The DC-10-30 was the largest aircraft type ever flown by Western.

Fleet in 1970
In 1970, Western Airlines operated a total of 75 aircraft. Its fleet consisted of the following jet and turboprop types:


 * 5 Boeing 707-320C
 * 29 Boeing 720 (720 turbojet engine and 720B turbofan engine models. The 720s were ex-Pacific Northern Airlines aircraft)
 * 6 Boeing 727-200
 * 30 Boeing 737-200
 * 5 Lockheed L-188 Electra (included passenger, freighter and passenger/freighter combi aircraft versions. Only turboprop aircraft type operated by the airline)

Earlier historical piston fleet
Western also operated a variety of piston-powered, propeller driven airliners over the years including Boeing 247D, Convair 240, Douglas DC-3, DC-4 and DC-6B, Lockheed Lodestar and L-749 Constellation aircraft. The Lockheed Constellation airliners were formerly operated by Pacific Northern Airlines and primarily served smaller Western Airlines destinations in Alaska such as Cordova, Homer, Kenai, King Salmon, Kodiak and Yakutat from Anchorage and/or Seattle during the late 1960s according to the airline's timetables at that time.

Accidents and incidents

 * December 15, 1936: Seven died when a Western Air Express Boeing 247 crashed just below Hardy Ridge on Lone Peak near Salt Lake City, Utah. The major parts of the aircraft were hurled over the ridge and fell over a thousand feet into a basin below.
 * January 12, 1937: Western Air Express Flight 7, a Boeing 247 flying from Salt Lake City to Burbank, crashed near Newhall, California, killing five of the 10 persons on board, including adventurer and documentary filmmaker Martin Johnson of Martin and Osa Johnson fame.
 * December 15, 1942: A Western Airlines transport crashed near Fairfield, Utah, approximately 50 miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah, on the way to Los Angeles, California. The plane took off at 1:05 a.m. and was reported missing approximately 15 minutes later. Of the 19 passengers and crew aboard, 17 died.
 * December 24, 1946: Western Air Lines Flight 44 crashed into the Laguna Mountains while descending towards San Diego. All 12 on board were killed. The CAB investigation determined that the pilot misjudged his position relative to the mountains, and flew too low to clear terrain.
 * April 20, 1953: Western Air Lines Flight 636, flying in the night, on the last leg of a Los Angeles-San Francisco-Oakland itinerary, descended below the prescribed minimum altitude of 500 ft and crashed into the waters of San Francisco Bay, killing eight of ten people aboard the Douglas DC-6.
 * February 25, 1971 – Western Air Lines Flight 329, a Boeing 737, was hijacked by a passenger, demanding to be taken to Cuba but instead landed in Canada.
 * March 31, 1971 – Western Air Lines Flight 366, a Boeing 720-047B flying from Los Angeles to Ontario, California, on a pilot proficiency check flight, yawed and rolled out of control, and crashed while in the process of executing a 3-engine missed-approach from a simulated engine-out instrument approach. The five crew members and only occupants died in the crash.
 * May 5, 1972 – Western Airlines Flight 407, a Boeing 737, was hijacked by a man demanding to be taken to North Vietnam. After refueling in Tampa, Florida, the plane went to Cuba.
 * June 2, 1972: Western Airlines Flight 701 from Los Angeles to Seattle was hijacked by Willie Roger Holder, a Vietnam War veteran, and his girlfriend Catherine Marie Kerkow. The hijackers claimed they had a bomb in an attaché case and demanded $500,000 and that Angela Davis, who was then on trial, be freed. After allowing half the passengers to get off in San Francisco and the other half to get off in New York on a re-fueling stop, they flew on to Algeria, where they were granted political asylum, joining the International Section of the Black Panther Party. It was and still remains the longest-distance hijacking in American history. Later, $488,000 of the ransom money was returned to American officials.
 * July 31, 1979: Western Airlines Flight 44 departed Los Angeles International Airport en route to Denver, Colorado, and Billings, Montana, via several other intermediate stops and then mistakenly landed at Buffalo, Wyoming, instead of Sheridan, Wyoming, which was the intended destination. No injuries occurred and the only damage was to the tarmac at the airport, which was not designed to support the weight of the Boeing 737-200 jetliner. The incident prompted a legal battle and subsequent landmark aviation ruling of Ferguson v. NTSB.
 * October 31, 1979: Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashed while landing at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, killing 73. The crew landed the DC-10 on a closed runway and it impacted construction vehicles during the attempted go-around.