Purdue Aeronautics Corporation was established in 1942 as an affiliate to Purdue University's Aviation Technology program, specifically its professional pilot program. Purdue Aeronautics operated from Purdue University Airport initially with DC-3 and later DC-6 aircraft. In 1968, Purdue Airlines was incorporated as a for-profit "supplemental" carrier - the term the US government uses to denote charter operations. The airline's certification authorized it to offer charter services in the United States and Canada. In 1969, the airline took delivery of its first DC-9 aircraft, the first of three it ultimately flew. [1]
The airline was famous for operating and maintaining Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's private aircraft, also a DC-9, named "The Big Bunny" - painted black with the Playboy bunny logo on the tail, which was based at Purdue University Airport and available (though apparently rarely used) for charter use by the airline. [2] [3]
In early 1971, Purdue made the decision to shutter the airline. The timing was fortuitous for Southwest Airlines, which was working towards its first flight. Southwest hired the entire of the Purdue Airlines pilot corps, over 20 people, speeding its launch. [4] [5]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a U.S. federal government agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation which regulates civil aviation in the United States and surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic control, certification of personnel and aircraft, setting standards for airports, and protection of U.S. assets during the launch or re-entry of commercial space vehicles, powers over neighboring international waters were delegated to the FAA by authority of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was an American low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights throughout the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Portugal as well as military and commercial charter flights around the world. In its early days, the airline flew charters on a worldwide basis and had bases in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis, Oakland, and Milwaukee. Later, when it entered scheduled service, the airline maintained focus cities at Chicago Midway International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
El Paso International Airport is an international airport located four miles (6 km) northeast of downtown El Paso, in El Paso County, Texas, United States. It is the busiest commercial airport in West Texas, and also serves Southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico. It handled 3,904,110 passengers in 2023, with 96,316 aircraft operations.
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. Opinion L.A. of the Los Angeles Times called PSA "practically the unofficial flag carrier airline of California for almost forty years."
Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that flew air carrier operations from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the midwestern and southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89, and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.
Texas International Airlines Inc. was an airline in the United States, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTA), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. It was headquartered near William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas.
Capital Airlines was an airline serving the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. Capital's headquarters were located at Washington National Airport across the Potomac river from Washington, D.C., where crew training and aircraft overhauls were also accomplished. In the 1950s Capital was the fifth largest United States domestic carrier by passenger count after the Big Four air carriers.
USA Jet Airlines is an American cargo airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Willow Run Airport, and in Van Buren Township, Michigan. USA Jet operates on-demand air charter freight, and formerly passenger flights out of Willow Run Airport. USA Jet Airlines is a division of Ascent Global Logistics.
Aberdeen Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles east of the central business district of Aberdeen, a city in Brown County, South Dakota, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation with Delta Connection as its sole commercial airline.
Memorial Field Airport is located in City of Hot Springs, in Garland County, Arkansas, United States, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Downtown Hot Springs. It serves nearby Hot Springs National Park. The airport is used for general aviation; airline flights are subsidized by the federal government's Essential Air Service program at a cost of $1,637,012.
Montgomery Regional Airport is a civil-military airport seven miles southwest of Montgomery, the capital of Alabama. Owned by the Montgomery Airport Authority, it is used for general aviation and military aviation, and sees two airlines.
Daytona Beach International Airport is a county-owned airport located three miles (5 km) southwest of Daytona Beach, next to Daytona International Speedway, in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The airport has 3 runways, a six-gate domestic terminal, and an international terminal. Daytona Beach is the headquarters of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Central Airlines was a scheduled passenger airline operating service in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas from 1949 to 1967. It was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to operate charter and fixed base services in Oklahoma, but was not granted an air operator's certificate until 1946 and did not begin scheduled flights until September 15, 1949, just before the certificate expired. Central was then headquartered at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, Texas. The airline was eventually acquired by and merged into the original Frontier Airlines which continued and expanded its network.
Las Cruces International Airport is a city-owned, public airport nine miles west of the central business district of Las Cruces, in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. It is in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–23 which categorized it as a regional general aviation facility.
Muse Air was a domestic U.S. airline founded in 1980, headquartered near Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas, later moving to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. Southwest Airlines acquired Muse Air in 1985 and later renamed it TranStar Airlines, but it was unprofitable, and was shut down in 1987.
Tuscaloosa National Airport is 3.5 miles northwest of Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. The airport is owned and operated by the City of Tuscaloosa. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2019–2023 categorized the airport as a general aviation facility. The City of Tuscaloosa changed the name of the airport that had formerly operated under the name Tuscaloosa Regional Airport, in March 2019, to reflect the FAA's official designation as a national airport, one of only 89 in the nation.
Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline 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.
Purdue University Airport is a public-use airport in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States. Owned by Purdue University, the airport is 2 nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Lafayette, Indiana, in West Lafayette. Because of the heavy traffic generated by Purdue University and its flight programs, Purdue University Airport is one of the busiest airports in Indiana, second only to nearby Indianapolis International Airport.
Big Spring McMahon–Wrinkle Airport is a municipal airport two miles southwest of Big Spring, in Howard County, Texas. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 categorized it as a general aviation airport.
Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport 6 miles northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas. It was Dallas' main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) opened. Love Field covers an area of 1,300 acres (530 ha) at an elevation of 487 feet (148 m) above mean sea level and has three runways.
Located in: West Lafayette, Indiana | |||||||||||
| System |
|  | |||||||||
| Academics | |||||||||||
| Athletics |
| ||||||||||
| Campus | |||||||||||
| Student life | |||||||||||
| People | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||