West Coast is incorporated at Portland, Oregon, early in 1928 to offer scheduled passenger and cargo flights over a multistop route from Seattle down to San Francisco. The initial fleet comprises 2 trimotor Bach
3-CT-6 Air Yachts designed by Californian Mort Bach and the only U. S.-certified civil transport whose frame was made entirely of wood. Revenue services commence on March 5 from Seattle to San Francisco via Tacoma, Chehalis, Portland, Medford, and Corning.
The Bachs, of which only 21 will be built, prove to be extremely quiet and fast; the Seattle-Portland segment is flown in 1 hr. 15 min. while the Portland-San Francisco takes only 5 hrs. One Bach must be written off at Seattle on June 28. Two more Air Yachts are delivered in August and one is christened Cherokee. (Although all WCAT Bachs are named for Indian tribes, only the name of this one is known for certain.)
During the remainder of the summer, company aircraft transport 903 passengers over 26,326 miles in 240 hours flight time.
In the fall, two aircraft are committed to sight-seeing flights from Portland to nearby Mount Hood.
En route to San Francisco from Portland on November 2, a Bach
3-CT-6, piloted by Louis Goldsmith with six passengers, crashes while making an emergency landing at De Sabla, California; pilot skill prevents a tragedy, although all six customers are hurt. The company is now acquired by Sacramento-based Union Air Lines.
For the 10 months of operation, a total of 4,946 passengers are flown over 210,604 miles.
The successful carrier is incorporated (under Delaware laws) on July 27, 1929 and late in the year it is purchased by Western Air Express. The new owners, who operate their prize as a subsidiary, are pleased to have the route, although the mail contract is owned by Union.
In need of additional revenues following the July 16, 1930 “Shotgun Marriage” with Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) that forms Transcontinental and Western Air (T&WA), WAE sells its West Coast route to Pacific Air Transport on March 16, 1931.
WEST COAST AIRLINES (WCA): United States (1941-1968). Organized by Nick Bez at Seattle on March 14, 1941, WCA receives a CAB feeder certificate on May 22, 1946 and inaugurates scheduled Seattle-Portland Douglas DC-3 service on December 5. The company adopts as its mascot no less a figure than Paul Bunyan, legendary Northwest lumberjack. The CAB renews the company’s feeder permit on July 1, 1949.
Flights from Bellingham, Washington, to Klamath Falls, Oregon, commence in 1950. Other stops are added at Yakima, Wenatchee, Medford, and Spokane. On August 4, 1952, the company absorbs Empire Airlines. Having grown in size, the company, in 1953, is required by the government to begin hiring flight stewards. The millionth passenger (cumulative) is boarded in 1955.
By the late 1950s, West Coast is maintaining a lock on a northwestern route network that stretches from San Francisco in the south to Calgary in the north and Billings in the east. The airline’s major claim to historical fame appears to rest upon the aircraft it chooses to replace its aging DC-3s.
On September 22, 1958, the company becomes the first local service airline in America to introduce a turbine-powered aircraft and, indeed, is the first scheduled carrier to place a turbine-powered airliner into service in the U. S. (Eastern Air Lines will take delivery of its first Lockheed L-188 Electra in October, the same month Pan American World Airways (1) begins Boeing 707 flights across the Atlantic.)
The aircraft in question is a turboprop F-27A Friendship built under license from the Dutch airplane builder Fokker by Fairchild at Hagerstown, Maryland. The first, certified on July 16, is handed over to President Bez in August and a much-publicized delivery flight is made back to Seattle. There, company pilots, who have been working without a contract since spring, refuse to fly the aircraft and threaten to strike unless their wage demands are met. The dispute goes to arbitration and is settled (in favor of the flyers) before the start of service. Meanwhile, a proving flight is made to Portland, where the new aircraft encounters landing gear problems.
Four more Fokkers are delivered in September, followed by two more on October 23 and December 12, respectively. Incidentally, the September 28 inaugural service by the F-27A derivative is actually flown over two months before the first Netherlands-built Fokker F.27-100 enters service, with Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd. in December.
Service continues apace during 1959-1962. On January 1, 1963, the first Fokker F-27A, delivered back in 1958, crashes into the Great Salt Lake, Utah, during a training exercise (three dead).
Another F-27A with 3 crew and 13 passengers crashes a mile short of the runway at Calgary on August 24. After the wing breaks off, the fuselage slides 780 feet, but, miraculously, no injuries are reported.
A DC-3 is unable to recover from a bounced landing at Kalispell, Montana, on December 11 and crashes; the six aboard receive slight injuries.
The year’s enplanements reach 337,917, but West Coast is the only local service airline to report an operating loss: $320,000.
Airline employment in 1964 stands at 867 and the fleet includes 19 aircraft. With 34% interest in Pacific Air Lines, President Nick Bez now attempts to takeover that carrier; the tactics employed are found unworthy and the CAB requires Bez to cease and desist his efforts. The minority interest in the competitor is thereafter sold. Late in the year, the government regulators authorize the start of scheduled F-27A nonstop Jetbus Service between Spokane and Seattle.
Orders are placed for three (later four) DC-9-14s as passenger boardings jump 28% to an all-time company high of 469,328. Revenues advance 17.6% to $13.59 million. Still, operating costs are high and another $53,240 loss is taken. Again, West Coast is the only local service carrier to report a fiscal downturn.
The workforce in 1965 is 875. The fleet now includes 17 aircraft: 7 DC-3s and 10 F-27As; the DC-9-14 order remains outstanding. A total of 506,636 passengers are originated and revenues advance by 18%.
The well-received Jetbus Service is successfully expanded from Seattle to Spokane on September 26, 1966. The F-27As are now supplemented on longer runs by the carrier’s first DC-9-14, beginning on September 16.
En route from San Francisco to Portland via Eugene on October 1, the jetliner, operating as Flight 956 with 5 crew and 13 passengers, descends below its cleared 9,000-ft. altitude and disappears into the Cascade Mountains near Squaw Valley, Oregon. The wreck, which has sheared trees and slammed into Salmon Mountain, is found the next day and there are no survivors. The plane is the first of its type to crash anywhere.
The company’s second DC-9-14 is delivered in mid-October and enters service without incident. Revenues total $18,155,585.
In an effort to improve its fortunes, West Coast voluntarily joins in 1967 merger discussions with Pacific Airlines and Bonanza Air Lines.
Just two minutes after takeoff from Klamath Falls on March 10, Flight 720, an F-27A with three crew and one passenger, crashes into the NW side of 6,525-ft. Stukel Mountain; there are no survivors.
The workforce now totals 1,086 and at year’s end the company operates 3 DC-9-14s and 4 F-27As.
Passenger boardings climb to 716,000 and revenues are $18,392,251. A loss of $274,000 is suffered.
Plans to retire the last DC-3 in July are announced in early 1968. With approval from both the CAB and President Johnson, West Coast joins its two partners on April 9 to form Air West.
WEST COAST AIRLINES, LTD.: Ghana (1982-1985). Organized at Accra in May 1981, WCA obtains a Boeing 707-320C freighter and begins scheduled all-cargo services in July 1982. Destinations visited include nations in West Africa and Rotterdam in Europe. The company is unable to achieve viability and folds in 1985.
World History
