Former New York lawyer and aviation enthusiast Carleton Putnam founds his first airline, Pacific Seaboard Air Lines, on June 15, 1933. On June 23, scheduled, but unsubsidized, passenger and air express service is opened from Los Angeles’ Glendale Airport to Mills Field, San Francisco, via Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Monterey, Salinas, and San Jose. The inaugural aircraft employed is Putnam’s personal Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker Miss San Jose.
The route, flown by three Pacemakers acquired in June and July (including one purchased from Wayne King, “the Waltz King”), is advertised in the local media as “The Scenic Route” and “Cheaper Than Driving Your Car” — and at 3.5 cents per mile it is—but loses money. Still, in just over 4 months, 1,113 passengers are transported.
On October 15, flights are started between San Francisco and Sacramento, followed by service from Sacramento to Stockton and Modesto on November 1 and to Monterey on November 15. Late in November, the Los Angeles-San Francisco multistop route is closed for the winter.
The Los Angeles-San Francisco service is reopened briefly during the first week in February 1934. On February 9, effective February 19, the U. S. Post Office, as a result of the so-called “Air Mail Scandal,” cancels all existing mail contracts. The White House now calls upon the U. S. Army Air Corps to fly the mail, a military option that is not successful.
At the end of March, the Post Office rebids the routes, opening applications in late April. Putnam wins not a California route subsidy, but a contract to fly the Chicago-New Orleans mail route, AM-8. As a result, he quickly shifts his airline from California to Memphis. A Pitcairn PA-6 is purchased on April 14 and two more CH-300s are acquired during the first week of May.
Putnam’s Pacemakers inaugurate their Chicago-New Orleans via Peoria, Springfield, Memphis, Greenwood, and Jackson mail service on June 3. A Bellanca Type D Skyrocket joins the fleet 16 days later. Passengers are first flown on July 17. The company’s headquarters at
Memphis are moved to Chicago in September 1935 and on December 3 the corporate identity is changed to Chicago and Southern Air Lines.
PACIFIC SKYWAY: 2320 Thompson Way, Santa Maria, California 93455, United States; Phone (805) 925-1160; Http://www. pacificskyway. com; Year Founded 2000. Pacific Skyway is established at Santa Maria in January 2000 to offer daily roundtrip commuter flights to San Jose, Sacramento, and Las Vegas. Revenue flights begin and continue with a pair of British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31s. Charters between those cities on behalf of the gambling industry are also flown.
PACIFIC SOUTHWEST AIRLINES (PSA): United States (19461988). Founded by Joseph Plosser Jr. and Kenneth G. Friedkin as a flight training and charter operation at Lindbergh Field in San Diego in 1946, Friedkin School of Aeronautics is born in 1947 when partner Plosser is bought out by mortgage broker Victor Lundy and the concern is renamed. Additional hangar space is rented and flight instructors J. Floyd “Andy” Andrews, Leo Leonard, Gordon Tinker, and Hugh Wood are all hired to assist Plosser and Friedkin. All provide an education for GI Bill recipients, with particular emphasis on pilot training for the students drawn from the ranks of these former military personnel. Friedkin diversifies into other aviation activities during 1948. Public re-laitons aerial banner towing and live bait transport flights are offered, while Cessna UC-78 Crane passenger charter flights are also made from Lindbergh Field under the marketing name Friedkin Airlines Charter Service.
With the supply of potential pilots drying up, Friedkin and his 50 employees form Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) in the spring of 1949 in an effort to expand business. Scheduled weekly $15.60 (one-way) intrastate flights are started to Oakland via Los Angeles (Burbank Airport), on May 6 with a single Douglas DC-3 piloted by Plosser and Andrews. Instructor Gordon Tinker will be the first pilot permanently assigned to the airline.
This first Douglas transport is leased for $2,000 per month; however, its owner expects the airline to operate it only 12 hours per month, not the 150 experienced. Initial flights are made on weekends and at such low fares that many military personnel come to employ it as a prime transport mode. At this early point, the company earns its enduring nickname, “The Poor Sailor’s Airline.”
When a physically large repossession agent is sent to reclaim the overactive aircraft, a new lease more agreeable to the lessor is rapidly signed and flights continue until early December when the plane is sold to Arrow Air. The airline’s history appearing on the “Catch Our Smile” website reveals that the first PSA corporate headquarters erected at Lindbergh Field at this time is an old rehabilitated and repainted USMC latrine set up near the company hangar at a cost of $3.80. The 6’ x 12’ structure houses a ticket counter as well as the dispatch, flight control, and reservations center.
By the close of its first year of low-fare service, the infant airline has transported 15,011 passengers and earned revenues of $172,796. After deducting $160,902 in expenses, a remarkable $11,984 profit is generated.
A second DC-3 is acquired in 1950 and traffic triples to 45,000. Growth continues and, as an intrastate, PSA is regulated by Sacramento and not the CAB in Washington, which has taken a dim view of another contemporary low-cost, no-frills operator that is attempting transcontinental service in the manner of Stanley Weiss’ confederation, North American Airlines (1).
This second year is not quite as successful as the first. Although operating income climbs to $503,737, expenses jump to $517,334, leaving a loss of $8,597.
On July 4, 1951, frequencies are started from San Diego to San Francisco, again via Burbank. During the year, dispatcher Gary Golliber and flight attendant Beverly Ann Knowles are married aboard a company
DC-3 5,000 ft. over San Diego. Maintenance Chief Douglas Kelly plays a portable organ while Capt. Bogle both flies the aircraft and sings for the newlyweds. Passenger boardings by paying customers jump to 75,995 and a profit of $6,093 is earned.
At the beginning of 1952, airline employment stands at 119. Three more DC-3s are acquired and customer bookings surge to 92,484. Although revenues pass the $1 million mark for the first time ($1,125,364), costs are higher at $1,151972. The loss is $26,608.
In 1953, the workforce grows to 190. A route is stretched between Burbank, San Diego, and Long Beach. Enplanements reach 115, 028 and revenues advance to $1,454,413. Unhappily, expenses are $1,491,990, leaving a loss of $37,577.
A victim of financial mismanagement, the carrier’s only California-based competitor, California Central Airlines (CCA) goes bankrupt in 1954, leaving the Golden State’s intrastate skies to Friedkin. Still, PSA drops service to Oakland and Long Beach. Customer bookings fall to 102,124, but a net $26,711 profit is posted.
Buoyed by success, PSA launches San Diego-Los Angeles (Burbank)-San Francisco operations in January 1955 and traffic mounts so quickly that by December, it becomes necessary to begin replacing the DC-3s with the first two of four ex-Capital Airlines DC-4s. Another DC-4 enters service in 1956 and helps enplanement totals to reach 191,221. On revenues of $2,122,376, costs are $2,063,788 and the profit is $58,558.
Airline employment stands at 246 at the beginning of 1957. The fourth DC-4 is delivered during the spring. In June, CEO Friedkin announces that PSA intends to purchase two French-made Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle jetliners at a cost of $5 million; this price will prove to be too high and the order is not consummated. However, on September 16, an $8- million order is given to Lockheed for three L-188AElectras, which will be leased backed from Baron Conrad Hilton’s Electrahilt Corporation. The deal is publicly announced on September 21.
During these 12 months, passenger boardings increase to 256,454 and a profit of $762,294 is earned.
The route network is expanded once more in 1958; in July, flights begin into Los Angeles (LAX). A total of 10 daily roundtrip frequencies are offered over the California corridor.
Enplanements for the year are 295,818, but profits fall to $322,031.
Patronized by large segments of the commuting public and virtually ignored by larger competitors, the carrier is able to boldly handle its mounting loads by leasing the 3 Lockheed L-188C Electras from Hilton for 42 months, beginning with the delivery of the first on November 6, 1959. A new 49-minute “Electra Jet” service is inaugurated on November 20 between San Francisco, Burbank, and San Diego and between San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; the new frequencies cost $11.81 per head.
Passenger boardings rise to 355,099 and revenues are $4,362,921. With expenses of $3,907,015, the profit improves to $455,906.
The carrier employs 300 workers at the beginning of 1960. So successful are the Electras that PSA is able to retire its four DC-4s. Employing a leased Douglas DC-6B, service is resumed from Los Angeles (LAX) to Oakland in October. The year’s passenger bookings fall to 289,100 and net profit is just $499.
Another Electra joins the fleet in 1961. The Oakland service is discontinued in March because of poor loads and the DC-6B is returned. Passenger boardings swell to 713,064 and a profit of $310,483 is posted on revenues of $9.7 million.
Founder Friedkin dies of a cerebral hemorrhage on March 17, 1962; the 46-year-old is succeeded by close associate Capt. J. Floyd Andrews. Yet another Electra is acquired in April and enplanements pass the one-million mark for the first time (1,032,515). The year’s profits are a record $1,368,770 million.
Trans California Airlines begins to compete against PSA in July 1963 with Lockheed Constellations; however, it will fail within 18 months. To secure additional financing for the purchase of new flight equipment, Andrews’ company goes public. Another L-188C, left over at Lockheed when the Capital Airlines order is cancelled, arrives on May 17. For the first time in this company’s history (and perhaps the first appearance by the jolly elf on any airline), Santa Claus makes appearances on nearly every PSA flight between San Francisco and Los Angeles on Christmas Eve.
Passenger boardings shoot skyward to 1,305,058. Revenues total $17,432,534 and costs are $15,180,815. Profit doubles to $2,251,719.
As the 1960s progress, Pacific Southwest’s frequency, reliability, and low fares on its California routes comes to threaten other, larger competitors. Even giant United Air Lines is forced to take notice as the decade moves along, placing DC-8 and B-720-022 jetliners on the Los Angeles-San Francisco route in competition with PSA’s turboprops.
Airline employment in 1964 stands at 575 and the fleet includes 6 L-188 aircraft. On June 30, PSA makes a $27-million order for five B-727-14s.
Enplanements for the year are 1,532,243 and revenues are $20,897,000. Expenses are $17,509,414, allowing a profit of $3,387,586.
The workforce in 1965 is increased by 200 as service to Oakland is resumed in January. The initial B-727-14s are delivered on April 9 and are placed into service beginning in early May. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange on June 21. In October, the company inaugurates low-fare Los Angeles-San Jose flights.
At year’s end, the fleet includes 11 aircraft: 5 B-727-14s and 6 L-188Cs. Orders remain outstanding for two more Boeing “three-holers” and, late in the year, requests are made for two DC-9-30s.
A total of 1,863,088 passengers are originated as the carrier begins to drive its large local service rival Pacific Air Lines from several of its routes and hurt its traffic levels. Profits slip to $2,034.932.
Two more B-727-14s are acquired in 1966. Flights to San Jose from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Burbank are initiated in May and, in midyear, seven B-727-214s are requested for 1968 delivery. During the year, comedian Ronnie Schell begins a 10-year stint as the carrier’s television advertising spokesman.
Enplanements swell to 2,712,811 and revenues are $38,138,652. With costs of $28.6 million, the net profit is $4,307,289.
Air California becomes a competitor in January 1967 and Los An-geles-Sacramento service is initiated in February. Petitions are introduced seeking route approval to San Francisco and Sacramento from Orange County and Ontario Airports. Having flown for the company almost from the beginning, Capt. Michael Bogle now becomes chief pilot. Meanwhile, the new governor, Ronald W. Reagan, will become one of PSA’s highest profile frequent flyers, while his daughter, Maureen, will work for awhile in the company’s public relations department.
In May, the company begins training pilots for Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., employing initially Piper PA-24 Comanches, followed by PA-23 Aztecs featuring B-727 instrumentation.
In August, the company applies to the CAB for permission to launch interstate flights to Portland and Seattle; the request, however, is shortly thereafter withdrawn. The fleet now includes 8 B-727-14s, 2 DC-9-30s, and 6 L-188Cs.
In early December, a reindeer head and the words “Season’s Greetings” are painted on the fin of a B-727-14. The first two B-727-214s arrive later in the month, leaving orders outstanding for five B-727-214s and four B-737-214s. By now, phaseout of the L-188Cs is well underway.
Customer bookings climb to 3,346,484. Revenues jump to $48,824,936 and net earnings accelerate to $4,167,822.
The employee population numbers 1,800 at the beginning of 1968 and the fleet will be upgraded this year by the addition of five more B-727-214s and four B-737-214s. Having lost the intrastate local service war, the larger Pacific Air Lines is driven into a merger with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines, the three becoming Air West on April 9. By the year of the Air West merger, PSA is offering 73 different operations in the Los Angeles-San Francisco corridor and has extended service to Sacramento.
Contracts are entered into or renewed with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2), All-Nippon Airways Company, Ltd., and Deutsche
Lufthansa, A. G. for the training of their pilots. A local auto rental firm, Val Car, is purchased with which to begin a Fly-Drive-Sleep service and in October regularly scheduled frequencies commence to and from Ontario, California. The low-fare, high-frequency strategy leads the intrastate to the enviable position of being among the world’s leaders in numbers of passenger boardings and the largest carrier in the country not regulated by the CAB.
Passenger boardings jump 19% to 3,997,524 and revenues advance by 17% to $57,167,767. With expenses of $52.2 million, the net gain is $4 million.
In 1969, the workforce totals 1,889. The carrier now begins to phase out its B-727-14s and DC-9-30s and replaces them with 9 B-727-214s and 6 B-737-214s for a fleet total of 26 aircraft. With the retirement of the last Electra during March, the company becomes a true “all-jet” carrier.
A new $3.75-million, 187,000-sq-ft. headquarters is opened, replacing the $3.80 1950 “latrine.” Destinations served now include San Diego, Ontario, Los Angeles, Hollywood/Burbank, San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, and Sacramento.
Over 100 daily frequencies are offered over the California corridor and enplanements reach 4.4 million. The profit slips to $3,747,016.
Airline employment in 1970 numbers 2,300 and the fleet includes 25 aircraft. In January, PSA offers to merge with its financially troubled rival, Air California; however, after five months of protracted hearings before the Public Service Commission, the bid is withdrawn. The company’s high frequency, commuter-oriented intrastate operations becomes the model for other operators. The basic red and white color scheme is replaced by fuchsia, orange, and red livery, while aircraft are also given painted “smiles,” becoming known as “Grinningbirds.” Female flight attendants add hot pants and go-go boots to their uniforms and crew members are encouraged to employ standup comedy routines to entertain passengers during flights.
Service is resumed to Long Beach in December and the company enters the hotel business by purchasing a most unique hostelry, the ocean liner Queen Mary. On Christmas Eve, President Andrews announces a firm order for two Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1s, plus three options, to be delivered beginning in 1972.
Enplanements this year swell to 5,163,000. Operating profit climbs to $3.6 million.
Emulating the PSA operation, Southwest Airlines begins its own low-fare service in Texas during 1971. At the same time, the “smile” becomes the airline’s all-encompassing logo, appearing on everything from paper plates to brochures to airliners. The Val Car subsidiary is sold and other diversified interests acquired over the past several years, such as hotels and radio stations, are unprofitable. As a result of engine difficulties, Lockheed must delay TriStar deliveries and, unable to achieve desired modifications, PSA cancels its order in December.
Meanwhile, the California-based carrier’s passenger boardings increase to 5,589,775. Revenues hit $86,182,885, while operating expenses are $81,943,550. A net profit of $4,239,335 is earned.
A. G. Sims, armed with a shotgun, and his female accomplice, I. P. Robinson, brandishing a pistol, hijack Flight 902, a B-727-214 with 151 aboard during a January 12, 1972, San Francisco-Los Angeles flight. The Boeing discharges its passengers in Los Angeles and later flies to Tampa, where the pirates demand a larger aircraft for a flight to Africa. When that demand is not met, the pair forces the aircraft to fly to Cuba. The man will make the mistake of returning to the U. S. 6 years later; he will be caught, tried, and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Given the company’s continued rapid growth, it is found beneficial for the air transport firm to change its corporate structure. In March, the company begins reorganization into a holding company, PSA, Inc., with the airline as principle subsidiary. Also in March, management of three hotels is given to the Hyatt Corporation.
Sh. H. Speck hijacks Flight 942, a B-727-214 with 92 aboard en route from San Diego to Oakland on April 9 and demands $500,000 in ransom and parachutes. He is arrested by FBI agents while leaving the plane at
Oakland. Upon examination, Speck will be found mentally unbalanced and sent to a psychiatric hospital for a year.
Two days later, the FAA files charges against the carrier for failing to screen passengers in accordance with its new regulations.
En route from Sacramento to Los Angeles via San Francisco on July 5, Flight 710, a B-737-214 with 86 aboard is commandeered just after takeoff from the intermediate point by D. Alexlev and M. D. Azmanoff, who demand $800,000 in ransom and parachutes, plus maps for a flight to Siberia. Back on the ground at San Francisco, two FBI agents board the plane (one covertly) and a gun battle erupts during which the hijackers and a passenger, 66-year-old S. Carter, are killed and three passengers are wounded. The family of Carter, the airline’s first passenger fatality, will receive a $100,000 air travel insurance payment on July 22.
The next day, AWOL U. S. Army soldier F. Goodell hijacks another B-727-214, Flight 389 with 58 aboard en route from San Diego to Sacramento, and diverts it to Oakland. There he demands and receives $455,000 in ransom, parachutes, and handcuffs and after detaining 5 of the 57 passengers as hostages, orders the plane to takeoff. When faced down by determined FBI agents who refuse to grant clearance, the 21-year-old surrenders. He will be tried and given a prison term of 30 years.
Service to Fresno and Stockton begins in July. Also during the summer, a joint fare program is undertaken with San Francisco-Oakland Helicopter (SFO-1) which assists both carriers in increasing their share of the San Francisco-Los Angeles market. During the year, Westgate California Corporation, which had purchased Air California, announces its intention to seek a merger with PSA. The DOJ threatens an antitrust injunction and the plan is abandoned.
During the fall, a short-lived Fly-Drive-Sleep total transportation package promotion is initiated. On December 1, a new order is placed for two L-1011 TriStar 1s, with three options.
Customer bookings are boosted 7.5% to 6,356,875. Net income grows 28% to $5,957,485 million.
The holding company’s creation is completed on February 28, 1973 by a transfer of stock. When J. Floyd Andrews becomes chairman/CEO early in the year, the presidency goes to one of the company’s original pilots, William R. Shimp. A new color scheme is adopted and four B-727-214s, painted in new livery and with wide-body interiors, are delivered.
Approximately 600 maintenance and operations personnel stage a bitter six-week strike over wages between mid-November and December
23. Before a pact can be signed with the Teamsters Union to end the company’s first-ever job action, the airline operates 60% of its schedule with nonunion employees and a B-727-214 is vandalized at Los Angeles.
Enplanements for the year advance 5.2% to a record 6.356,875 million. Although revenues exceed $100 million for the first time, costs associated with the strike leave a net profit of only $627,123.
The workforce in 1974 is 2,670. One of the two YS-11A-200s employed for training purposes with four crew makes a forced landing in the desert 14 km. E of Borrego Springs, California, on March 5 while on a training flight; there are no injuries, but the aircraft is damaged beyond repair. Another B-727-214 is delivered on March 15.
The first two of four Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1s arrives in July and is christened Mother Grinningbird. The new jetliner begins the company’s premier wide-body Los Angeles (LAX)-San Francisco service on August 1.
The second TriStar 1 arrives in October, during which month the 50 millionth passenger (cumulative) is boarded, a highpoint for the company’s twenty-fifth anniversary year.
The Arab oil embargo has a dramatic impact and the California air travel market declines by a full 10%.
Customer bookings, as a result of the economy, grow only 0.9%, to 6,381,197. Revenues climb to $123.4 million and costs reach $120.1 million. The profit improves to $1,589,627.
Two hundred additional workers join the company in 1975. The fleet now includes 23 B-727-214s and 1 B-727-14. Having decided to standardize on the less-expensive “three-hole” Boeing as a result of the national economic and energy situation, the two newly delivered TriStar 1s are placed into storage during the last week of March and the company refuses acceptance of three more ready at the manufacturer’s Palmdale plant. An abortive effort is made to lease the two parked wide-bodies to Air Siam, Ltd.; prior to their final disposal a decade hence, the L-1011s will cost the company $4 million per year to maintain.
New services are started between Los Angeles/Hollywood and Burbank in April. Following the demise of Holiday Airlines, PSA acquires that defunct carrier’s southern routes into Lake Tahoe from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Burbank. As the resort community of South Lake Tahoe will not allow noisy jetliners to fly into its airport, PSA, which had planned to begin immediately operating its new prize, leases three L-188As, previously operated by American Airlines, and one of the L-188As it had previously owned. The first Electra is available in time to begin Lake Tahoe service in April, with the others joining in during August and October.
Enplanements this year rise only slightly, up 0.76% to 6,436,436. Although the $152,521,000 raised in revenues are sufficient to generate a $131-million operating profit, a $16.67-million net loss is absorbed. The latter is due to penalties invoked upon refusal to take the L-1011s as well as losses taken upon divestiture of certain radio and hotel investments.
The employee population is increased by 1.2% in 1976 to 1,529. The last B-737-214 service is flown on January 29 and the final two machines are sold to Frontier Airlines (1). President Shimp succeeds Floyd Andrews as chairman/CEO in March upon the latter’s resignation; Paul Barkley becomes president. The company continues to seek a buyer for its TriStars and sells all of its remaining radio stations and two of the four hotels.
Passenger boardings accelerate 2.4% to 6,951,000 while FTKs grow much more, rising 30.6% to 3.3 million. Revenues advance to $155,874,000 and profits total $3,501,000.
A new computerized reservations system comes on-line in 1977. Application is made to the CAB for authority to begin service to Reno and Las Vegas, as well as to the intrastate destination of Monterey. PSA representatives now join a few other upstarts and many consumer advocates in lobbying Congress for passage of airline deregulation legislation.
Two B-727-200s are received from their manufacturer and five B-727-100s are purchased from Northwest Airlines. All are given wide-body interior refurbishment and new exterior liveries. An L-188A route is opened from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco, along with another to Monterey, together with a deep discount service to Los Angeles and Burbank. The California Public Utilities Commission grants permanent authority in December for flights into South Lake Tahoe from San Francisco and points in southern California.
Enplanements total 7,194,000 and a $2.09-million net profit is reported on income of $191.85 million.
In both U. S. commercial aviation and PSA history, 1978 is an important year. In May, the company becomes the first to introduce automated ticket vending machines. In the year airline deregulation becomes law, the CAB allows PSA to become an interstate airline by awarding it authority to commence flights to Reno from Oakland and to Las Vegas from San Diego. Airline employment is consequently increased by 2.7% to 3,800.
Simultaneously, the carrier’s early orders on September 28 for 10 units make it launch customer for the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-80 (MD-80); its two L-1011 TriStars are leased back to Lockheed, which subleases them to AeroPeru (Empresa de Transportes Aereos de Peru, S. A.).
On September 25, a Cessna 172 of Gibbs Flite Center collides with PSA Flight 182, a Boeing 727-214 en route from Sacramento via Los Angeles over San Diego during the jetliner’s landing approach to Lindbergh Field; they crash into a residential area. Among the 144 killed are 37 PSA employees.
The first fatal mishap in company history results in a certain amount of adverse publicity and renewed attention to the question of lightplane flights in heavy commercial travel areas. The story is reported by Robert
P. Chapman in his Pilot Fatigue: A Deadly Cover-Up (Smithtown, N. Y.: Exposition Press, 1982).
The nation’s twelfth largest airline commences Bright Lights Flights to its new Nevada destinations on December 15. Late in the year, low-cost, late night services are suspended.
During the year, passenger traffic increases by 7.8% as 7,802,000 customers are carried. Revenues increase 19.8% to $229.88 million, and net income zooms upward 452% to a record $11.6 million.
The workforce is increased by 1% in 1979 to 3,837. Three L-188As are retired from the South Lake Tahoe service in February.
The route system is increased to 14 cities in March when San Diego to Phoenix service is added. As the result of increased maintenance costs, both the final Electra and the Lake Tahoe and Monterey services are concluded at the end of April. The withdrawn turboprop aircraft are sold to Evergreen International Airlines.
Meanwhile, in little over a year, Harold C. Simmons’s Dallas-based Valhi, Inc. has acquired 21% shareholding, worth $12 million; Valhi now makes a takeover bid. Construction is started on a flight training center at the San Diego base, near where a $2.8- million computer reservations complex is occupied at the Scripps Ranch Business Park.
Los Angeles to Phoenix service is inaugurated in September. Employing a fake bomb, John Everett Gray hijacks Flight 784, a B-727-214 with 108 aboard en route from Los Angeles to San Diego on October 30 and diverts it to Tijuana, Mexico, where he is arrested by police. Gray will be extradited back to the U. S. where he will be tried and given a 16-month prison term.
Also in November, new service is initiated from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. Throughout the year, fuel prices accelerate as a national energy crisis grows.
On the year, passenger bookings rise 11% to 8,657,000, revenues accelerate 27.5% to $335,838,000 million, and another record profit ($23,097,000 million) is posted.
The employee population is cut by 26% in 1980 to 3,283. PSA settles with Valhi, Inc. in February, following the failure of its takeover attempt. The subsidiary JetAir Leasing and $16 million form the settlement with raider Simmons; in effect, he is given cash plus four B-727-214s, which he will sell to Eastern Air Lines a year later.
PSA becomes an international airline in April with the inauguration of flights from Los Angeles to the Mexican cities of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan.
Steven W. Bilson seizes Flight 818, a B-727-214 at Stockton, California, on May 1 and frees all of his hostages except the flight engineer. He then demands to be flown to Salt Lake City, but, as the plane has no pilot, it cannot lift off. Frustrated, the man surrenders. Bilson will be tried and given a 15-year prison sentence.
Concerned with the two-man cockpit of the new aircraft, as well as such other issues as wages and working conditions, the pilot members of the Southwest Flight Crew Association (SFCA) go on strike, beginning on September 28. Although the job action has significant impact upon traffic and income, replacement pilots and non-striking senior personnel are initially able to maintain schedules. During the 52-day job action, replacement service is provided on the Burbank to San Francisco route by Aspen Airways.
The pilots strike is settled by mediated agreement on November 15. With no helpful gains made by SFCA, the membership will elect to leave that group and sign on with ALPA.
The airline acquires the first of its MD-80 order (now increased to 20 units), also in November. This “Dash-80” enters service on December 17, the same day the pilots ratify their new contract, and is the first of its type to begin operations in the U. S.
Enplanements for the year dip by 30% to 6,053,000. While revenues jump 10.2% to $370 million, expenses increase by 21.1% to $358 million, leaving a net profit of $12.1 million, a 28.6% drop in 12 months. Still, the carrier’s financial position allows it to move into the CAB’s new airline classification schedule as a “National.”
The number of workers grows by 24.5% in 1981 to 4,087. Housing the nation’s first MD-80 simulator, the company’s new multimillion-dollar training center opens at the Scripps Ranch Business Park in San Diego. As 12 more MD-80s come on-line and the rivalry with AirCal (the new name of Air California adopted in March) intensifies, MD-80 service is initiated to John Wayne-Orange County Airport in October and to Seattle and Tucson in December. Entry into John Wayne comes as the result of victory in a legal suit.
Largely unnoticed during the year is the appointment of Sari Schneph to the right seat of a B-727-214; she is the company’s first female pilot.
The PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike and attendant FAA flight restrictions hold down traffic growth to only 1.6% for the year as 6,152,000 passengers are carried and 4.3 million FTKs (a 30% decline) are operated. Revenues, however, are elevated by 18.2% to $438.8 million and net profits, partially generated from aircraft sales and proceeds from safe harbor leasing and viable subsidiaries, climb to $28.6 million.
Airline employment is reduced by 11.9% in 1982 to 3,600. A B-727-214 is leased to Air National, which that charter operator employs to open domestic passenger flights. Otherwise, 21 of the 23 requested MD-80s are delivered during the year, making PSA the first airline in the U. S. to fly mostly Next Generation aircraft.
Midnight Flyer, deep-discount, late-night flight service is resumed in June. Frequencies are increased on services to Phoenix and Burbank.
On October 18, following the collapse of Braniff International Airways in May, PSA officials announce that they have agreed with the executors of the onetime major to lease 24 Braniff B-727s, repaint them in PSA colors, and begin flying them the following spring on routes from Dallas (DFW). The move is opposed in court by American Airlines, another Dallas (DFW) homesteader and in November is rejected by the Braniff unions, the members of which do not wish to accede to a PSA demand that they be junior to those pilots flying with PSA. Meanwhile, service to Puerto Vallarta is abandoned in September and, simultaneously, after losing a fare war with Western Airlines, the company pulls out of Salt Lake City.
In December, another plan is put forward to employ the assets of bankrupt Braniff International Airways. PSA agrees to open a Texas division at Dallas (DFW), to lease 28 B-727-227s, and to fly to 16 cities using Braniff slots. Special efforts would be made to hire ex-Braniff personnel before an agreement deadline of February 1.
On its existing routes, the company experiences a 15.7% boost in enplanements to 7,119,000; cargo increases a significant 47.5% to 6.33 million FTKs. Operating income jumps 12.26% to $378.13 million while expenses rise 12.62% to $395.58 million. Although a $17.43-million operating loss is suffered, PSA is able to generate a net profit of $18.6 million.
The payroll is increased a significant 10.1% in 1983 to 3,965. The deadline for an agreement to open a Texas operation based at Dallas (DFW) passes on February 1 and is later killed by a U. S. Court of Appeals, which rules that aircraft from the bankrupt major cannot be leased to the California-based national. Now the “Official Airline of Disneyland” under a new 12-year agreement with the entertainment giant, PSA also introduces new flight attendant uniforms, an Executive Flyer frequent flyer program, a new advertising campaign (“Our Smiles Aren’t Just Painted On”), complete with slogan buttons worn by flight attendants, and to match AirCal, snack service and assigned seating.
When AirCal and United Airlines increase frequencies in the Los Angles-San Francisco corridor in September, PSA finds itself engaged in a two-front fare war. In response, it introduces hourly flights for a total of 17 daily roundtrips. Seat assignments on all flights are not initiated and the last B-727 is sold at the beginning of October.
In an effort to reach smaller markets, PSA orders 20 British Aerospace BAe 146-200s with 25 options, worth $300 million, to complement its fleet that now consists of 21 MD-80s and 4 DC-9-32s, the latter acquired from Air Canada, Ltd. Meanwhile, competing AirCal takes aim on PSA’s markets and makes considerable and costly inroads.
Still, the addition of Spokane, Portland, and Albuquerque to the route system allows a 13.7% increase in passenger traffic to 8,099,000 customers carried and freight traffic to 7.33 million FTKs, a 15.7% boost. Revenues move upward 11.6% to $530.8 million, but expenses are up 29.24% to $453.94 million. The financial reversal brings an operating loss of $9.3 million and a net loss of $12.6 million, the first significant fiscal downturn suffered in years.
Employment falls 2.1% in 1984 to 3,628. Company gates are opened in January at Terminal One at Los Angeles (LAX). Automatic check-in machines are turned on at all PSA destinations and the Executive Flyer frequent flyer program is linked to the loyalty program offered by Trans World Airlines (TWA).
Paul Barkley succeeds William Shimp as CEO in March, with the latter becoming board chairman. Shimp will die of a heart attack on May 11. PSA also begins to take delivery of the first six BAe 146-200As, dubbed “Smileliners.” The premier British 100-seater, called a Smile-liner by company publicists, arrives in May and is placed into service between Burbank and Oakland on June 20; the six-abreast seating arrangement is not popular with customers and will be reconfigured to five-abreast. The 26th MD-80 is also acquired and systemwide frequencies are boosted.
Company officials negotiate cost-saving agreements, estimated to be worth $20 million every year, in new three-year labor contracts with employees. The arrangements include profit sharing plans equal to 15% of the airline’s pretax profits.
In September, nonstop roundtrips are begun between Stockton and Los Angeles; the frequencies are the only nonstop all-jet services between the two communities.
The last B-727-214 service is flown on November 26, after which the type is now withdrawn from company service. The type has given PSA 300 million miles and carried over 92 million passengers for it during 20 years.
Although passenger bookings dip 2.7% to 7,880,327, due largely to a fare war with AirCal and freight is down 0.5% to 7.29 million FTKs, revenues earned are up 15.7% to $538.1 million and expenses are kept in hand with a 7.1% increase to $507.2 million. The year’s net loss is slimmed to $4.8 million, and comes on top of a $30.81-million operating profit.
The payroll is increased a healthy 23.1% in 1985 to 4,800. PSAcon-tinues to compete with AirCal for the lucrative California market, committing $1 billion for its new fleet of 20 BAe 146-200As, 14 more of which arrive during the year. Flights to Albuquerque are temporarily suspended in April so that the capacity employed on that route may be diverted. Much of the Golden State traffic lost by United Airlines during its midyear strike is retaken over by PSA and frequencies up and down the California corridor accelerate to 180 per day.
In July and August, two MD-80s are leased from Hawaiian Airlines; the L-1011s, long on lease to AeroPeru, S. A., are sold to Worldways Canada, Ltd. Russell L. Ray Jr. is appointed president during the latter month. In September, Continental West Airlines invades PSA’s California markets, setting off a fare war. During the last quarter, the carrier is restructured.
Chairman/CEO Paul Barkley and new president (as of August) Russell L. Ray realign the route system in hopes of dominating the “California Corridor,” upgrade the fleet, and make arrangements for a $100-million senior note. Flights to Bellingham, Washington, commence in October and a new terminal is opened at San Francisco in November, along with a curbside terminal at Oakland. A second reservations center comes on-line at Reno.
In the company’s largest single day expansion ever, service is initiated on December 19 from California to the northwestern cities of Boise, Pasco, Eureka, Yakima, Medford, and Eugene.
Simultaneously, the carrier begins flying south of the border once more with a frequency to Cabo San Lucas. On the same day, PSA Expressway, an every-half-hour 6:30 a. m. to 10 p. m. shuttle, is launched between Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco, while the super quiet
BAes allow service in and out of Orange County to be tripled. Late in the month, a blanket of fog forces cancellation of many flights to various Pacific Northwest destinations. PSA is now the 13th largest airline in the U. S., serving 30 cities in the western part of the country and Mexico.
Customer bookings jump 15.6% to 9,040,000. Revenues advance 18.1% to $635.38 million, costs grow 18.6% to $601.44 million, and a $33.93-million operating profit is created. Although still a loss, the net failure improves to minus $648,000.
Airline employment rises 16.3% in 1986 to 5,000. In January, the $100-million senior note offering is made. In addition, Intra-Mail, a same-day, small-package delivery service, is introduced. During the spring, a BAe 146 simulator arrives from England. The sales staff is increased to 18 and aircraft interiors are redone in tones of gray, with magenta, pink, and rose accents.
In late March, a Northwest Airlink marketing agreement is signed with Northwest Airlines, allowing the two carriers feed each other’s flights at Los Angeles (LAX), Seattle, and San Francisco. A sum of 15$ million is provided to newly retained advertising agency Travisano & Partners. At this point, the company begins to name its aircraft Smile of.. . .
In May, service begins to Monterey and is resumed to Albuquerque. Other new destinations initiated during the spring include Concord, California, Bend, Oregon, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado; destinations dropped include Boise and Eureka.
The 31st MD-80 arrives in June and in July a strategic marketing agreement is signed with Air Canada, Ltd. During August, PSA boards in excess of one million passengers in a month for the first time.
Hourly frequencies are begun in September, on business days, between John Wayne Airport and San Francisco. At the same time, new service is introduced from Burbank to San Francisco and from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, while flights to Eureka and Boise are suspended.
On December 8, USAir announces that it is acquiring PSA for $397 million. The move, which is designed to increase the major’s West Coast presence, surprises the entire airline industry.
Passenger boardings leap upward by 18.5% to 10,721,000 and revenues ascend 20.9% to $768 million. Expenses, led by repair bills for the Avco-Lycoming engines of the BAe 146-200As, jump 23.5% to $742 million. The operating profit falls to $26 million and the net loss worsens to $3 million.
Following approval of the merger by the DOT in January 1987, the San Diego-based company continues to operate as a USAir subsidiary during a period of integration. In February, hourly service, between 6:30 a. m. and 8:45 p. m., is started between San Francisco and San Diego. Later in the spring, a daily nonstop schedule is introduced between Los Angeles and Bellingham/Seattle and four daily nonstops commence between San Jose and Los Angeles.
PSA officially becomes a USAir division on May 29.
On December 4, the BAe-146-200A Smile of Disneyland is damaged in a ground collision at Los Angeles (LAX) with an Eastern Air Lines L-1011; although no injuries are reported, the plane must be written off.
On December 7 former USAir passenger agent David A. Burke takes a 44 magnum pistol aboard Flight 1771, a BAe 146-200A with 5 crew and 37 passengers. Burke, estranged from his girlfriend and angry over his November 19 dismissal for theft, seeks vengeance on his former boss and fellow passenger Raymond Thomson. Once the British-made jetliner is en route from Los Angeles to San Francisco, shooting begins and a report of gunfire on board is radioed to ATC before the flight crew is killed.
The murders/suicide is completed when the aircraft smashes into a Templeton, California, cattle ranch; there are no survivors. The tragedy leads to a number of new FAA security rules still in effect and effective December 21, all employees of airlines, including flight crews, must pass through security screening before boarding aircraft.
Customer bookings advance by 4.2% to 11,172,000 and freight climbs 24.3% to 13.91 million FTKs. According to USAir sources, the onetime terror of California commuter skies earns revenues of $420 million during the year’s first half. Losses on that income total $23.1 million (operating) and $2.2 million (net).
In early 1988, a BAe 146 is sold to Atlantic Airways, A. S. of the Faeroe Islands. The integration process is completed on April 9 and the last service, Flight 1486, is completed that day between San Diego and Las Vegas.
PSA, a pioneer in low-cost, no-frills service, disappears within its new owner, its aircraft all repainted from their famous smiling livery into USAir' s conservative hues. During its final quarter of life, PSA transports a total of 2.4 million passengers, down 10.7% over the same period during the previous year. The airline’s memory will later be fostered when, in November 1995, the “USAir Express” carrier Jetstream International Airlines is renamed PSA Airlines. An unofficial PSA Web site is Http://www. CatchOurSmile. com.
PACIFIC SPIRIT AIR, LTD.: South Terminal Building, #111, 4440 Cowley Crescent, Richmond, British Columbia V7B 4B9, Canada; Phone (800) 665-2359; Http://www. pacificspiritair. com; Year Founded 1997. Hanna Air, Ltd. is purchased by Mark Sager, owner/ operator of the Silva Bay Resort and Gabriola marina, and Chris Holmes in 1997 and renamed. Employing several de Havilland Canada DHC-2 float-equipped Beavers, the concern maintains regularly scheduled flights between Gabriola and the Gulf Islands and Vancouver International Airport. Thetis Air, Ltd. is purchased and merged in May 1999 and in September, Robert Conconci, owner/operator of The Timbers on North Pender Island, purchases Holmes’s ownership.
To celebrate the company’s combined 15-year history, Pacific Island introduces special seat sale prices in January 2000 designed to benefit the residents of the Gulf Islands. During the spring, the route network is reorganized into two divisions. The northern Gulf Islands system covers Silva Bay on Gabriola and Telegraph Harbour on Thetis, while the southern Gulf Islands system includes Ganges on Salt Spring, Port Washington on North Pender, Miners Bay on Mayne, and Lyall Harbour on Saturna.
World History
