Business History Books » Business Consulting » As usual, media get it wrong…
As usual, media get it wrong…
Question:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were >running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in >the very early 1930s. >Bob C. > The company that ran hourly services between NY and DC from 1930 to > 1933 was the Ludington Line, which did not carry airmail (and is > believed to have been the first airline ever to make a profit without > it!) After Eastern was given the airmail contract, Ludington started > to suffer and EAL eventually bought it up. > All this from R E G Davies’ _Airlines of the United States since 1914_ > which is highly recommended to serious airline nuts> Robin Johnson
You are correct–it could not have been the then-American Airways, as AA did not serve Washington, nor any East Coast cities south of New York/Newark, prior to the 1934 Air Mail reorganization. While they had been a transcontinental carrier since 1930, the joke was "Coast to Coast via Canada and Mexico" as their rather circuitous transcon route at the time grazed both borders at Buffalo and El Paso. After 1934 they obtained the much more direct "Southern Transcontinental Route" from New York to LA via Washington, Nashville Dallas, and Tucson.
Response:
> > >Behind which other 2? > Air Atlanta for one. > Airways has an article on this topic in the newest issue. > That was my source, too. (My copy is at home.) Air Atlanta > was second; the first was an air taxi service that evolved into > a small commuter line before folding.
Wheeler Airlines, based in Raleigh NC from 1969 to 1987.
Response:
>> I don’t think it ever did. AFAIK, that was just a marketing >name/slogan > to emphasize that they had foreign routes to the orient. I’m pretty > sure that the corporate name didn’t change. >Correct. And contrary to a previous post, the "Orient" part of the >marketing name was first used in the late 1940s, not the mid to >late ’50s.
Quite right. I should have specified I menat when the Northwest Orient titles began appearing on the airplanes. I believe the DC-7s were the first, but can’t find a reference to confirm it. ISTR a photo of a Stratocruiser so adorned, but that may just be my failing memory :-) B.
Response:
> > When did it become Northwest Orient Airlines, the name that I first > knew it by? > I don’t think it ever did. AFAIK, that was just a marketing name/slogan > to emphasize that they had foreign routes to the orient. I’m pretty > sure that the corporate name didn’t change.
Correct. And contrary to a previous post, the "Orient" part of the marketing name was first used in the late 1940s, not the mid to late ’50s. > BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were > running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in > the very early 1930s.
In 1934, following the Air Mail Reorganization Act. Northwest Airways became Northwest Airlines at that same time. > Bob C.
Response:
Wow, you’re a mine of information! Thanks. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip> >When did it become Northwest Orient Airlines, the name that I first >knew it by? >Mid to late 1950’s. The application of the ‘Orient’ bit on the planes >varied, and seemed to go in and out of fashion. Some 747s wore it, but some >727s never did – presumably because they never went there ! >Disappeared forever(?) with the new Landor scheme. <snip> >And when did this one become Trans World Airlines, which is what the >initials have always meant to me? >A holding company TWA Inc. was formed April 1 1934. >On 27 December 1934 the assets of the operating company (T&WA) were taken >over. >On 17 May 1950, the name Trans World Airlines was adopted. >Brian
Response:
> When did it become Northwest Orient Airlines, the name that I first > knew it by?
I don’t think it ever did. AFAIK, that was just a marketing name/slogan to emphasize that they had foreign routes to the orient. I’m pretty sure that the corporate name didn’t change. BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in the very early 1930s. Bob C.
Response:
> A falsehood in the AP story on the AA/TWA deal, and repeated by other > sources (heard it tonight on NBC news) is that TWA is the oldest "name" > in US commercial aviation. > Nope. WRONG! (as usual…)
I noted this, along with the oft-repeated misstatement that DC Air will be the "first minority-owned airline" in the US. (If it happens, it will actually be the third….)
Response:
Behind which other 2? Matthew 
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I noted this, along with the oft-repeated misstatement that DC Air will > be the "first minority-owned airline" in the US. (If it happens, it will > actually be the third….)
Response:
>Behind which other 2? >Matthew
Air Atlanta for one. Airways has an article on this topic in the newest issue. -Erik
Response:
> >Behind which other 2? > Air Atlanta for one. > Airways has an article on this topic in the newest issue.
That was my source, too. (My copy is at home.) Air Atlanta was second; the first was an air taxi service that evolved into a small commuter line before folding.
Response:
>BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were >running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in >the very early 1930s.
*Hourly*? In the 30s? I’ll be- I didn’t think there’d be business, even between those two cities. -Kenny — Kenneth R. Crudup Sr. SW Engineer, Scott County Consulting, Washington, D.C. Home2: 38010 Village Cmn. #217 Fremont, CA 94536-7525 (510) 745-8181 Work: See: "Home2". The hell with slow Bay Area drivers! (510) 745-0101
Response:
> >BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were >running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in >the very early 1930s. > *Hourly*? In the 30s? I’ll be- I didn’t think there’d be business, even > between those two cities.
It likely didn’t last very long. And remember those were 14-passenger Ford trimotors. See page 589 in the May 1933 National Geographic. The Geographic had a number of interesting aviation articles in the 20s and 30s. Consider buying "The Complete National Geographic" on CD-ROM. I happen to have that one 1933 issue in paper form. Bob C.
Response:
>BTW, when did American Airways change to American Airlines? They were >running an hourly shuttle from EWR to Hoover Field, Washington, DC, in >the very early 1930s. >Bob C.
There was a major re-organisation forced on all the airlines, as a result of the new FDR administration cancelling all airmail contracts in February 1934, and the resultant chaos and deaths of many military pilots unused to night flying, because it disapproved of the deals made by the previous Postmaster General, Walter Folger Brown. No corporation or executive involved in Brown’s "Spoils Conference" of mid-1930 that allocated the contracts was permitted to participate in the new contract negotiations. This resulted in a lot of name and ownership changes, The company that ran hourly services between NY and DC from 1930 to 1933 was the Ludington Line, which did not carry airmail (and is believed to have been the first airline ever to make a profit without it!) After Eastern was given the airmail contract, Ludington started to suffer and EAL eventually bought it up. All this from R E G Davies’ _Airlines of the United States since 1914_ which is highly recommended to serious airline nuts! Look him up on Amazon.com to see his stuff: great books about many major airlines as well as this particular heavy tome, of which my revised edition dates from 1982. He’s Transportation Curator at the Air & Space Museum. Robin Johnson
Response:
>A falsehood in the AP story on the AA/TWA deal, and repeated by other >sources (heard it tonight on NBC news) is that TWA is the oldest "name" >in US commercial aviation. >Nope. WRONG! (as usual…) >Northwest owns that distinction, with the "Northwest" name in >continuous use since the 1926 formation of Northwest Airways (renamed >Northwest Airlines in 1934, after the Air Mail reorganization).
When did it become Northwest Orient Airlines, the name that I first knew it by? >The TWA name (originally an acronym for "Transcontinental and Western >Air") did not come about until 1930, following the forced merger of TAT >(Transcontinental Air Transport) and PART of Western Air Express! >WAE kept their ‘core’ San Diego-Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City >route under their own name. This part of Western became Western >Airlines and merged into Delta in 1987.
And when did this one become Trans World Airlines, which is what the initials have always meant to me? Thanks.
Response:
>>A falsehood in the AP story on the AA/TWA deal, and repeated by other >sources (heard it tonight on NBC news) is that TWA is the oldest "name" >in US commercial aviation. >Nope. WRONG! (as usual…) >Northwest owns that distinction, with the "Northwest" name in >continuous use since the 1926 formation of Northwest Airways (renamed >Northwest Airlines in 1934, after the Air Mail reorganization). >When did it become Northwest Orient Airlines, the name that I first >knew it by?
Mid to late 1950’s. The application of the ‘Orient’ bit on the planes varied, and seemed to go in and out of fashion. Some 747s wore it, but some 727s never did – presumably because they never went there ! Disappeared forever(?) with the new Landor scheme. >The TWA name (originally an acronym for "Transcontinental and Western >Air") did not come about until 1930, following the forced merger of TAT >(Transcontinental Air Transport) and PART of Western Air Express! >WAE kept their ‘core’ San Diego-Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City >route under their own name. This part of Western became Western >Airlines and merged into Delta in 1987. >And when did this one become Trans World Airlines, which is what the >initials have always meant to me?
A holding company TWA Inc. was formed April 1 1934. On 27 December 1934 the assets of the operating company (T&WA) were taken over. On 17 May 1950, the name Trans World Airlines was adopted. Brian
Response:
> Northwest owns that distinction, with the "Northwest" name in > continuous use since the 1926 formation of Northwest Airways (renamed > Northwest Airlines in 1934, after the Air Mail reorganization).
Wasn’t it Northwest Orient at one point in time ?
Response:
A falsehood in the AP story on the AA/TWA deal, and repeated by other sources (heard it tonight on NBC news) is that TWA is the oldest "name" in US commercial aviation. Nope. WRONG! (as usual…) Northwest owns that distinction, with the "Northwest" name in continuous use since the 1926 formation of Northwest Airways (renamed Northwest Airlines in 1934, after the Air Mail reorganization). The TWA name (originally an acronym for "Transcontinental and Western Air") did not come about until 1930, following the forced merger of TAT (Transcontinental Air Transport) and PART of Western Air Express! WAE kept their ‘core’ San Diego-Los Angeles-Las Vegas-Salt Lake City route under their own name. This part of Western became Western Airlines and merged into Delta in 1987.