Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel. The airline was bought by Federal Express in 1989.
Trans International Airlines (TIA) started as a United States supplemental air carrier. From 1964, such carriers were simply charter carriers, but until 1964 they also had the ability to fly a limited amount of scheduled service. After US airline deregulation in 1979, it also operated scheduled passenger service flying as Transamerica Airlines as well as passenger and cargo charter flights during its last decade. Its headquarters were at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in Oakland, California.
Saturn Airways was a US supplemental air carrier, certificated as such by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US air transport. Saturn operated from 1948 until 1976. Originally a Florida company, Saturn moved to Oakland, California in 1967 where its headquarters were located on the grounds of Oakland International Airport.
Overseas National Airways (ONA) was a supplemental air carrier during the period in which the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), a now defunct United States Federal agency, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transport. From 1964 onward, supplemental carriers were charter carriers, but until 1964 they were charter-scheduled hybrids. Until 1950, ONA was known as Calasia Air Transport, and until 1947, Air Travel.
Northeast Airlines was an American trunk carrier, a scheduled airline based in Boston, Massachusetts, originally founded as Boston-Maine Airways that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Bermuda and other cities. It was notably small and unprofitable relative to other trunk carriers, being less than half the size, by revenue, than the next biggest trunk in 1971. Northeast was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines in August 1972.
Universal Airlines was a United States supplemental air carrier that operated from 1966 to 1972, based initially at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan and later at Oakland International Airport in California. Universal was a re-naming of Zantop Air Transport. At the time, "supplemental" was the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) term for a charter airline, the CAB being the Federal agency that tightly regulated US carriers in that era.
Zantop Air Transport was a United States airline incorporated in 7 July 1956 from the earlier Zantop Flying Service. It was a Part 45 carrier until 1962 when the Civil Aeronautics Board approved transfer of the operating certificate of Coastal Air Lines, making Zantop a supplemental air carrier. As a Part 45 carrier, Zantop was not a common carrier, it flew contract work for the Big Three automakers and for the Air Force Logair air freight service and with the US Navy, Quicktrans freight service up and down the Eastern Seaboard. As a supplemental, Zantop was able to hold itself out to the public as a general charter carrier. The original founders of Zantop Flying Services, the Zantop brothers, all sold their stock and resigned from the company in 1966. A name change was filed with the State of Michigan effective 29 December 1966 in the name of Universal Airlines, Inc.
From 1982 to 1985, a company called United Air Carriers flew as a US airline under the names Overseas National Airways and then National Airlines. This airline was the second user of both names after the original Overseas National Airways and National Airlines (1934–1980). The airline was started by former officers of, but was not a legal successor to, the original Overseas National Airways.
AAXICO Airlines was an airline based in the United States. AAXICO is an acronym for American Air Export and Import Company. Initially founded as a non-scheduled airline or irregular air carrier, AAXICO was awarded certification as a scheduled air cargo airline in 1955 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transportion. However, in 1962 AAXICO reverted to a supplemental air carrier. In 1965, it was nominally bought by Saturn Airways, another supplemental airline, but AAXICO was the surviving management and ownership. In its later years, AAXICO was noted for its consistent profitability, financial strength and its near total focus on flying for the military.
Airlift International was an American cargo airline that operated from 1945 to 1991, initially under the name Riddle Airlines. It was certificated as a scheduled freight airline in 1951 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transport. Airlift's headquarters were at Miami International Airport, Florida.
Slick Airways was one of the first scheduled cargo airlines in the United States, awarded a certificate for scheduled cargo service in the same proceeding that awarded a certificate to Flying Tiger Line. The airline was founded by Earl F. Slick, a Texas aviator and multimillionaire who along with his brother, inherited $25 million in oil wealth after their father's death in 1930.
Known for the first few months of its existence as Orvis Nelson Air Transport, Transocean Air Lines was a supplemental air carrier, a type of US airline defined and regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now defunct Federal agency that, from 1938 to 1978, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transportation. During the time the airline operated, supplemental airlines were charter/scheduled hybrids, legally able to operate a limited amount of scheduled service, which Transocean did, especially towards the end of its existence. Transocean was based in Oakland, California. The airline was among the most operationally capable of the supplemental airlines, regularly operating many thousands of miles from the United States. At times it accounted for over 20% of the revenue of all supplemental air carriers, and it usually was the largest supplemental by revenue. However, Transocean fell on increasingly hard financial times during the 1950s and ceased operating in 1960.
In the mid-20th century, Dwight W. "Poddy" Mercer established at least four airlines in the Los Angeles area:
United States Overseas Airlines (USOA) was a supplemental air carrier founded and controlled by Dr. Ralph Cox Jr, a dentist turned aviator, based at Cape May County Airport in Wildwood, New Jersey, where it had a substantial operation. It was one of the larger and more capable of the supplemental airlines, also known as irregular air carriers, during a period where such airlines were not simply charter carriers but could also provide a limited amount of scheduled service. USOA's operations included scheduled flights that spanned the Pacific. However, in the early 1960s USOA fell into significant financial distress leading to its 1964 shuttering by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the defunct federal agency that, at the time, controlled almost all commercial air transportation in the United States.
Johnson Flying Service (JFS) was an American certificated supplemental air carrier, a type of airline defined and regulated after World War II by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), a now defunct federal agency which tightly regulated almost all commercial air transportation in the United States during the period 1938–1978. From 1964, supplemental air carriers were charter airlines; until 1964, they were scheduled/charter hybrids.
Standard Airways operated intermittently from 1946 through 1969 as a small supplemental air carrier a type of US airline regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct US federal agency that tightly regulated airlines from 1938 to 1978. From 1964 onward, a supplemental air carrier was a charter airline. Until 1964, such airlines were charter/scheduled hybrids and Standard Airways did operate some scheduled services. The airline went bankrupt in 1964 and did not operate again until 1966 with new investors. It converted to jets but then ceased flying again on August 1, 1969. Many attempts were made to restart the airline until the CAB finally revoked its certificate in 1975.
Resort Airlines was an unusual United States scheduled international airline certificated in 1949 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all commercial air transport in the United States. Resort's scheduled authority was restricted to offering all-expenses paid escorted tours to nearby foreign destinations, known as sky cruises. Resort could offer conventional charter service but no other scheduled service. The market for sky cruises was limited and quite unprofitable, so the vast majority of Resort's business was charters, and for several years, only charters. At the time, the US did not have pure charter carriers, but rather supplemental air carriers, which at the time had a limited ability to offer scheduled service. Since Resort was functionally a pure charter carrier, it had in some ways the most restrictive certificate in the US airline industry. The airline ceased operations in 1960 at which time it tried selling its certificate to Trans Caribbean Airways. But in 1961 the CAB rejected the deal and revoked the moribund carrier's certificate.
The generically-named U. S. Airlines was one of the first scheduled cargo airlines to operate in the United States, awarded a certificate by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) in July 1949 in the same proceedings that awarded certificates to Flying Tiger Line and Slick Airways. Flying Tiger and Slick were given transcontinental freight routes, U. S. Airlines was given north-south routes east of the Mississippi. The CAB picked U. S. Airlines over competitors in significant part because it was well capitalized. U. S. Airlines started certificated service 1 October 1949. The airline spent the time before its certification flying freight on east coast routes.
Aerovias Sud Americana dba ASA International Airlines (ASA) was one of the first cargo airlines to fly between the United States and Latin America, a US carrier certificated to fly air freight on a scheduled basis between Florida and Latin America in 1952 by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly regulated almost all US commercial air transportation. ASA was undersized relative to contemporary freight airlines, but operated successfully in the 1950s nonetheless. Thereafter political instability, changing regulations and regulatory inertia impacted ASA and it failed to make the transition to jets. The CAB denied attempts by Riddle Airlines to merge with ASA before and after ASA collapsed in 1965.
North American Airlines Group or North American Group, dba North American Airlines was a "combine", a group of US irregular air carriers and related companies under common control that acted as an early scheduled low-cost carrier in the period 1949–1957. It can be seen as a form of virtual airline.
