This article needs additional citations for verification .(October 2013) |
Friedkin Airlines was an unsuccessful charter airline created by the businessman and aviator Kenneth Giles Friedkin. The airline flew between El Centro and San Diego, California.
The first customer was flown by J. Floyd Andrews (who later became the president of the successor Pacific Southwest Airlines) to El Centro. As it was raining, the passenger was afraid to fly back to San Diego, and drove instead. On the drive back, the customer's car slipped off the road, and he was killed. Another passenger was a pregnant woman having a baby. The airline's failure led to the success of Pacific Southwest Airlines. This time, Friedkin obtained advice from a travel agent. [1]
Southwest Airlines Co. is a major airline in the United States that operates on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in Love Field, Dallas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the United States and ten other countries. As of 2018, Southwest carried more domestic passengers than any other United States airline. It is currently the third largest airline in the world based on passengers flown.
San José Mineta International Airport, officially Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, is a city-owned public airport in San Jose, California. Located 3 mi (4.8 km) northwest of Downtown San Jose, the airport serves both the city and the Santa Clara Valley region of the greater Bay Area. It is named after San Jose native Norman Mineta, former United States Secretary of Transportation and United States Secretary of Commerce, who also served as Mayor of San Jose and as a San Jose City Councilman.
Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and Nassau. 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). Throughout the company's history, its slogan was "Western Airlines...The Only Way to Fly!"
Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a low-cost US airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was the first substantial scheduled discount airline. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airline" and painted a smile on the nose of its airplanes, the PSA Grinningbirds. The Los Angeles Times called PSA "practically the unofficial flag carrier airline of California for almost forty years."
Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 was a scheduled flight on September 25, 1978, by Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), from Sacramento to San Diego (SAN), with a stopover at Los Angeles (LAX). The aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 727-214, collided mid-air with a private Cessna 172 over San Diego, California. It was Pacific Southwest Airlines' first fatal accident, and it remains the deadliest air disaster in California history. At the time, it was the deadliest air crash to occur in the United States, and remained so until the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 in May 1979.
The San Diego and Arizona Railway was a 148-mile (238 km) short line U.S. railroad founded by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels, and dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved. It linked San Diego, its western terminus, with El Centro, its eastern terminus, where passengers could connect with Southern Pacific's transcontinental lines, eliminating the need to first travel north via Los Angeles or Riverside.
The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company is a short-line American railroad founded in 1932 as the successor to the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A), which was founded in 1906 by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railroad" by many engineers of its day due to the immense logistical challenges involved, the line was established in part to provide San Diego with a direct rail link to the east by connecting with the Southern Pacific Railroad lines in El Centro, California. Since 1979, the company has been owned by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit Development Board and its successor, the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System.
Imperial County Airport is a county-owned public-use airport in Imperial County, California, United States. Also known as Boley Field, it is mostly used for general aviation, but has scheduled passenger service from one commercial airline. Service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. The airport is located 1 nautical mile south of the central business district of Imperial, California, partially in the city of Imperial and partially in an unincorporated area of Imperial County. It serves nearby communities, including El Centro.
Yuma International Airport is a joint use airport with civilian and military flight activity operated in conjunction with the U.S. Marine Corps via the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. The airfield is located 3.5 miles south of the central business district of Yuma, a city in Yuma County, Arizona, United States, and 150 miles east of San Diego International Airport. It is mostly used for military aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline and one aeromedical Medevac company as well as being used for general aviation activities.
Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company linked small cities in California with larger cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Flights later operated to Portland, Oregon, and eventually reached Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada.
Imperial Airlines was a United States commuter airline that operated from 1964 to 1986. Imperial served a number of cities in Southern California and for a brief period several cities in Arizona.
StatesWest Airlines was a commuter airline headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona that operated to destinations in the Southwestern United States.
Sun Aire Lines was a United States commuter airline that operated from 1968 to 1985. Sun Aire served a number of cities in Southern California and Arizona.
Air Bahia was an airline with flights to Mexico which also served Las Vegas and Tucson during its existence.
Swift Aire Lines was a U.S. commuter air carrier that was based in San Luis Obispo, California. The airline's two letter code was "WI". Swift Aire provided scheduled passenger air service wholly within California from the late 1960s until 1981 when it merged with Golden Gate Airlines. Shortly thereafter, Golden Gate experienced financial challenges and ceased all operations.
SeaPort Airlines was a US-based regional airline with its headquarters at Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon.
Thomas Hoyt Friedkin was an American billionaire businessman, airplane pilot, and stuntman who founded Gulf States Toyota Distributors.
Kenneth Giles Friedkin was an American aviator and businessman. He founded Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA), generally viewed as the original low-cost airline. PSA was the acknowledged inspiration for Southwest Airlines, which in turn inspired low-cost airlines globally. Friedkin is therefore a key figure in the advent of low-cost air travel. In 2001, Forbes Magazine referred to Friedkin as "an early-model Herb Kelleher." Friedkin's son and grandson went on to even greater business success outside of aviation.
Goat Canyon Trestle is a wooden trestle in San Diego County, California. At a length of 597–750 feet (182–229 m), it is the world's largest all-wood trestle. Goat Canyon Trestle was built in 1933 as part of the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, after one of the many tunnels through the Carrizo Gorge collapsed. The railway had been called the "impossible railroad" upon its 1919 completion. It ran through Baja California and eastern San Diego County before ending in Imperial Valley. The trestle was made of wood, rather than metal, due to temperature fluctuations in the Carrizo Gorge. By 2008, most rail traffic stopped using the trestle.
The Imperial was a night train of the Rock Island Rail Road and the Southern Pacific. It operated from Chicago to Los Angeles, via Kansas City (Missouri) and Tucumcari.