The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. With its fairly high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings, large Fowler flaps which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high altitude airfields. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. Jet airliners soon supplanted turboprops for many purposes, and many Electras were modified as freighters. Some Electras are still being used in various roles into the 21st century. The airframe was also used as the basis for the Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
Capitol Air was a United States supplemental air carrier and, after 1978, a scheduled passenger air carrier based which was operational from 1946 to its bankruptcy filing on November 23, 1984. It was founded as Capitol Airways in 1946, and then renamed Capitol International Airways in 1967. Supplemental air carriers were also known as irregular air carriers or nonscheduled carriers. In 1981, the airline changed its name to Capitol Air and was operating scheduled domestic and international passenger flights that year.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1963.
Trans-Canada Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGregor. Founded in 1937, it was renamed Air Canada in 1965.
Capital Airlines was a United States trunk carrier, a scheduled 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.
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.
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.
A government contract flight is a type of charter airline operation contracted with a government agency.
Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S) was a United States trunk carrier, a scheduled airline that started life as Pacific Seaboard Air Lines in California and was organized on June 15, 1933. Following the move from California, the airline's headquarters were initially located in St. Louis, Missouri, and were then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, which also served as a hub for the carrier. C&S was merged into Delta Air Lines in 1953, thus providing Delta with its first international routes.
National Airlines was a trunk carrier, a scheduled airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with Pan Am in 1980. For most of its existence the company was headquartered at Miami International Airport, Florida. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast" flights, linking Florida and Gulf Coast destinations such as New Orleans and Houston with cities along the East Coast as far north as Boston as well as with large cities on the West Coast including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. From 1970 to 1978, National, Braniff International Airways, Pan American World Airways and Trans World Airlines (TWA) were the only U.S. airlines permitted to operate scheduled passenger flights to Europe.
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.
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.
Standard Air Lines Flight 897R was a domestic passenger flight between Albuquerque, New Mexico and Burbank, California. At 7:43am on July 12, 1949, the flight, operated by a Curtiss C-46E, crashed in Chatsworth, California, upon approach to Burbank, killing 35 of the 48 passengers and crew on board.
Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 46E was a scheduled cargo flight on 31 March 1993, operated by Evergreen International Airlines, on behalf of Japan Air Lines, from Anchorage International Airport, in Anchorage, Alaska, to O'Hare International Airport, in Chicago. After departure, while climbing through 2,000 feet, the pylon for engine two detached, causing the whole engine to fall off the wing. The pilots managed to land the 747 back at Anchorage without further incident.
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.
