On May 21, 1925, former Wall Street Journal financial editor Clement
M. Keys joins with airline investor Carl B. Fritsche and Col. Paul Henderson, the former head of the U. S. Post Office Air Mail Service, to form NAT. It is the first American company set up solely as an express airline. An effort is made to involve Henry and Edsel Ford, but to no avail. Hoping to open service from New York to Chicago, the company is incorporated under Delaware laws with initial shareholding of $2 million. Headquarters are established at Chicago.
Hudson Motor Car Company official Howard E. Coffin is named board chairman, Keys becomes chairman of the board’s executive committee with Fritsche as secretary; Col. Henderson becomes general manager. The first board action is to authorize total capitalization of $10 million. With the government sponsored route to Chicago unavailable, a bid for Contract Air Mail (CAM) Route No. 3, Chicago-Kansas City-Dallas is won on November 7. The next step is to find equipment and pilots. Orders are placed for 10 Curtiss Carrier Pigeons and a de Havilland DH 4M; eight ex-Army pilots are hired.
Initial service over the 995-mile route begins on May 12, 1926, with intermediate stops at Moline, St. Joseph, Wichita, Ponca City, and Oklahoma City. The second Ford Tri-Motor, 4-AT-2, is received on November 2 and on November 14, a contract is signed with the American Railway Express Company committing the carrier to the transport of air express packages over CAM-3.
In March 1927, NAT is awarded CAM-17, the “Graveyard Run” from New York via the Alleghenies to Chicago. In April, another contract is signed with American Railway Express covering this new route. Ten Douglas M-3 and nine M-4 mail planes are purchased and delivered in June, having been diverted from a group originally intended for the Post Office. The same month, eight Travel Air 5000s are acquired. Nine more pilots are hired, all from the Post Office Air Mail Service. In order of experience, 3 have over 4,000 hours in the air: Lawrence H. Garrison (5000+), Warren D. Williams (4,336), and William C. Hopson (4,043).
Employed at first to fly mail, the high-wing Travel Air cabin monoplanes begin flying passengers Chicago to Dallas in the fall. Meanwhile, following the termination of U. S. Air Mail Service flights on the New York-Chicago route on August 31, NAT steps in with its mailplanes (most M-3s have since been upgraded to M-4s) on September 1. Under the eye of a rifle-armed guard and with an American Railway Express agent on hand to make certain all forms are properly filled out, the first package is loaded—a 10-gallon stetson hat for Will Rogers. The 723-mile route to Illinois is flown from New York (actually, Hadley Field in New Jersey) with a stop at Cleveland and is considered the first air express flight made in the U. S.
Passengers are rarely flown and when they are, are given parachutes, helmets, and goggles, charged $200, and allowed a seat atop the mail sacks in the forward cockpit. For those flying west, a connection is available at Chicago with Boeing Air Transport’s San Francisco service. The inaugural flight signifies that the transcontinental mail route is no longer a government enterprise. On his first trip from Cleveland to
Chicago, pilot Edward Axberg is killed when his M-4 is forced down in a storm at Corunna, Indiana, on November 29-30.
The company flies over a million miles on the year and transports 173,000 pounds of mail over the New York-Chicago route in the last quarter, which exceeds the 110,000 pounds carried during the whole year between Chicago and Dallas. By year’s end, both routes are part of the system known as “lighted airways.”
On February 1, 1928, multistop and daily Travel Air 5000 passenger flights are inaugurated from Chicago to Kansas City at $62.50 per person one way. By this time, the New York-Chicago route is down to 9 hours flying time while the Chicago-Dallas run is less than 15 hours. On February 1-2, the carrier begins flying a 12-and-a-half hour night mail service from Chicago to Dallas. Board member Keys forms the air-rail Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) on May 28; NAT General Manager Paul Henderson becomes vice president-operations of that carrier as well.
A feeder route is stretched from Cleveland to Detroit on June 4 via Toledo and from Ponca City to Tulsa. On June 22, pilot Wayne Neville is killed when his M-4 crashes at Lebo, Kansas, during a storm. On July 4, a radiator leak forces Samuel J. Samson to land his Curtiss Carrier Pidgeon at Ottawa, Kansas; the pilot escapes when the plane crashes.
Operations continue apace and orders are placed for 5 Ford 5-ATs and 14 new Curtiss Falcons. Due to the heavy demand for mail service, passenger flights on CAM-3 are discontinued on October 1. Paul Collins escapes the crash landing of his Douglas M-4 in a storm a Brookeville, Pennsylvania, on November 18. Caught in the same storm over Polk, Pennsylvania, on November 18-19, the M-4 flown by William Hopson crashes; Hopson is killed but an express package containing $500,000 worth of diamonds is recovered. On November 25, giving Day, the company’s most experienced pilot, Lawrence Garrison, is killed when, having made a crash landing in a snowstorm alongside the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks at Bristolville, Ohio, his plane catches fire with him trapped inside.
The first Ford and first Falcon are delivered in mid-December. Lost in clouds a mile over Thompsonville, Connecticut, on December 17, pilot Jack Webster parachutes to safety from his M-4. On December 20, a 50-mph gale forces pilot Leo J. McGinn to crash into a barn at Huron, Ohio; the plane, pilot, mail and barn are destroyed in the ensuing fire. The tragedy is the carrier’s fourth fatal accident since January. During the year, the company flies a total of 1,256 passengers (almost all over the Chicago-Dallas route) plus 1.12 million pounds of mail and 72,830 pounds of express over 2.13 million miles.
The remainder of the Fords are received in January 1929 and all enter service on the New York to Chicago run carrying extra large mail shipments and not passengers. On January 20, a Travel Air 5000 mailplane is caught in a snowstorm near Davenport, Iowa; the pilot parachutes safely and the plane crashes. Expensive to operate over CAM-17, the Fords are all sold to Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) in March and April and replaced by the remaining Curtiss Falcons, delivery of which is completed in June. Meanwhile, on March 22, pilot S. J. Sampson leaps from his M-4 in heavy fog outside Cleveland. The same day, while en route to Chicago from Kansas City, the engine of Paul Kaniut’s Curtiss Falcon catches fire; the pilot jumps and 400 pounds of mail are lost.
On June 29, Earl Rockwood escapes the crash of his Pitcairn PA-5 at Skiatook, Oklahoma. In New Jersey, NAT transfers its operation from Hadley Field to Newark Airport on Septmeber 8. On November 6-7, pilot Thomas Nelson bails out when his Boeing 95 catches fire over Ring-town, Pennsylvania. Jack Webster escapes from his M-4 when it crashes onto Rattlesnake Mountain, Pennsylvania, in a storm on November 9. The year’s only fatality is not quick. Due at Cleveland just after 2 a. m. on December 2, pilot Thomas Nelson is found near the wreckage of his Douglas M-3 outside Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on December 5, dead of exposure.
Late in the year, orders are placed for Curtiss Condor I passenger aircraft. For the year, no passengers are flown, but 2.02 million pounds of mail and 75,607 pounds of air express are carried over 2.64 million miles (1.27 million night miles).
On March 15, 1930, nine aircraft are destroyed when the former government airmail service hangar at Hadley Field, New Jersey, is destroyed in a fire; among the victims is an NAT Pitcairn PA-5 employed to shuttle mail to Newark. On March 31, United Aircraft and Transport Corporation purchases a one-third interest in NAT via a stock exchange avenue. Thereafter, United and Keys’ North American Aviation Corporation financing group engage in a board room battle for control of the airline.
On April 10, United acquires an additional 70,000 shares. Following additional maneuvers, including the sale of 300,000 additional shares to North American Aviation Corporation, United obtains 57% majority shareholding on April 17. The officers and directors of United and NAT meet on April 23 to work out details of the takeover.
Encountering dense fog near Clearfield, Pennsylvania, on April 26, pilot Henry Brown is forced to bail out of his Boeing 95.
The United takeover is completed on May 7, giving United the capability to offer transcontinental service, but initially, only so far as Chicago. En route to Chicago from New York on July 2, an M-4 hits telephone wires near Middleburg, Indiana, and crashes; the pilot escapes serious injury.
NAT and another United subsidiary, Stout Air Services, are merged on August 31, giving the former the aircraft (including Ford Tri-Motors 5-AT-26, 5-AT-51, 5-AT-52, 5-AT-53, and 5-AT-70) and personnel with which to gradually open its Chicago-New York half of the first cross-country system. Stout is paid $175,000 for his goodwill and consultation.
The engine of a Boeing 95 fails over Warren, Ohio, on September 21, causing the plane to crash; the pilot escapes. The new Ford 5-AT-73 is acquired on September 29 and on September 30 passenger service is initiated from Chicago to Cleveland. The ex-Ford test aircraft 5-AT-81, 5-AT-80, 5-AT-86, and 5-AT-87 are purchased on October 4 and 20, and November 26 and 28 and on December 1 they introduce customers on the Cleveland-New York segment. All remaining Douglas M-3s and M-4s are phased out during the fourth quarter. Ford 5-AT-96 is acquired on December 30.
Operations continue apace in 1931. On April 1, the NAT and Boeing Air Transport divisions combine operations under the marketing name “United Air Lines” to offer the first day and night airmail and passenger service from coast to coast. The westbound multistop flights require 31 hrs. 18 mins. and the eastbound 27 hrs. 39 min. A total of 18 stewardesses are now assigned to the transport aircraft.
An ice buildup claims a Boeing 95 on May 24, forcing it to crash into Nittany Mountain at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania (one dead). En route to Cleveland from Chicago on April 29, the Ford 5-AT-81 with 10 aboard and 2 engines out, crashes at Elyria, Ohio; the flight crew is injured. On July 1, the marketing title “United Air Lines” is made official as United Aircraft’s four divisions are combined into the “World’s Largest Air Transport System.”
NATIONALAIR TRANSPORT, LTD.: Canada (1932-1933). Established in the spring of 1932, the Canadian NAT begins scheduled flights from Toronto to Buffalo, New York, on May 23. There connections are made with Marta Lines for services on to New York City. The operation ceases in September 1933.
NATIONAL AIRLINES (1): United States (1934-1980). In late March 1934, in the wake of the “Airmail Scandal” and the abortive attempt by the U. S. Army Air Corps to fly the mails, the Post Office rebids all of the mail routes cancelled by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in February. At this time, George T. “Ted” Baker, proprietor of the largely unsuccessful, five-year old Chicago-based National Airlines Taxi System, seeks, together with short-term business partner Donald Franklin, to win Air Mail Route no. 31, a short run from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach segment. The paper carrier Gulf Airlines is outbid by 40 per pound and the two Midwesterners now have a prize thousands of miles from their home. A second route sought, between Cleveland and Nashville, is not achieved.
During the summer, the air taxi operation is transferred to Florida and is renamed National Airlines System. Revenue services are inaugurated on October 15 over AM-31 from Daytona Beach to St. Petersburg via Orlando, Lakeland, and Tampa, with the two Ryan B-5 Broughams flown down from Illinois. A Butler Blackhawk, used during Prohibition, is left behind to close out the last of the Chicago business.
An unnamed, but reportedly attractive, woman, becomes the airline’s first passenger on Saturday October 21, paying her fare with a single $100 bill. Unable to make change, owner Baker instructs pilot David Amos, his first Florida employee, to fly her to Daytona Beach and get change there. Amos must stay the weekend and cannot return until after the banks open on Monday.
A third Brougham is acquired and employed to extend service to Jacksonville, beginning on November 19, where passengers can connect with the major north-south route operated by Eastern Air Lines.
Early in 1935, the small-scale new entrant is making only about $50 per trip carrying the mail and is anxious to increase its revenues by adding passenger service. It now acquires two Stinson SM-6000Bs and a Model U Tri-Motor, purchased with borrowed money. These replace the Ryans and begin to offer passenger, mail, and express flights.
Enplanements reach 193 total by the end of March and, for the first complete year, total 400.
Flights between Fort Myers and Sarasota begin in 1936. Baker’s enterprise now attracts the attention of Eddie Rickenbacker’s Eastern Air Lines; the two companies and their leaders will develop one of commercial aviation’s greatest rivalries and, between these two CEOs, one of the most bitter.
In need of additional capitalization, Baker begins to court the stockholders of Gulf Airlines early in 1937. His initial inquiries are spurned; however, the Gulf board becomes more receptive following their rival’s acquisition of the airmail contract for the route between St. Petersburg and Miami.
An agreement is reached to create a Gulf National Airlines and on July 8, the two carriers are reformed, incorporated under the laws of the State of Florida, and renamed, at Baker’s order, National Airlines, Inc. The Gulf word is ignored. The Jacksonville-Daytona Beach service is now suspended in favor of the start up of flights from St. Petersburg to Miami via Sarasota, Bradenton, and Fort Myers. Two months later, it places an order for its first new aircraft, Lockheed Model 10 Electras, and the first of these to arrive is employed to inaugurate passenger service over the Miami route.
On May 28, 1938, the U. S. Post Office awards the company the mail contract for AM-39 from Jacksonville to New Orleans via Tallahassee and Mobile. Two more Electras (one from Northwest Airlines) and another, used Stinson Tri-Motor arrive. Services along the new route commence in October and provide connections to 10 Florida cities. The last Ryan monoplane is removed during the year.
Following an unsuccessful bid by the City of Miami, Jacksonville becomes the carrier’s major hub and company headquarters are moved to that city in 1939. During the year, Chairman Baker rejects a merger proposal from Eastern Air Lines and is, in turn, rebuffed when he offers the same arrangement to Delta Air Lines’ C. E. Woolman. It is at this time that a new marketing slogan is born. When, in a fit of pique, EAL President Rickenbacker refers to Baker and his people as “nothing but a bunch of pirates,” the National leader responds by making his company “The Route of the Buccaneers” and emblazoning “The Buccaneer Route” above the windows of all National aircraft.
There are no mishaps on the new Buccaneer Route until September 9, 1940, when an Electra makes a wheels-up landing at Jacksonville; no injuries are reported. Nonstop service is initiated from Miami to both Tampa and St. Petersburg. The company’s first large new aircraft are purchased during the year, when an order is placed for 14 Lockheed Model 18 Lodestars. The first of these machines begin to enter service on the Gulf Coast and Florida routes, but are not competitive with EAL’s Douglas DC-3s. The last SM-6000 Tri-Motor is now retired.
A total of 34,846 passengers are flown in 1941, during which year the company has the dubious honor of taking in the smallest revenues from operations in the U. S. airline industry. On December 9, two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Baker agrees to an ALPA-inspired contract with his pilots. By 1942, the fleet includes two Electras and three Model 18 Lodestars. On March 14, permission is sought from the CAB to commence service to Havana from Tampa, Miami, and Key West.
On February 19, 1944, after eight years of Buccaneer service, the CAB awards National a route between Jacksonville and New York City. Key West joins the route network in March. On June 7, a Lodestar proving flight is made over the new pathway. A stock offering is completed the next day. The only major U. S. airline never to fly a Douglas DC-2 or DC-3, the carrier at this time still possesses a fleet of two Electras and three Lockheed Model 18s.
Miami to New York (LGA) service is opened on October 1; President Baker is greeted coming off the plane by Mayor La Guardia and now signs the first airline lease for space at Idlewild Airport, which is still under construction. Encouraged by the new authority to consider growth, Baker places orders for war surplus Douglas C-54s on October 25, to be financed through the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
The company leases a Lockheed Lodestar to San Juan-based Caribbean-Atlantic Airlines (Caribair) in April 1945, while simultaneously (and unsuccessfully) proposing to expand its own Atlantic and Gulf coast route network into the Caribbean through the company’s purchase. Charleston, South Carolina, and Philadelphia are added as stops on the New York route on July 1.
When, on its third attempt to land in bad weather on September 13, a Lodestar is looped, Chairman Baker personally fires the aircraft’s pilot. ALPA files a grievance. A Lockheed L-18 misses the airfield and plunges into a lake at Lakeland, Florida, on October 6 (two dead). A Lodestar, with 16 aboard, is forced to make a crash landing in the Banana River, Florida, on October 12; no serious injuries are reported. Service to Norfolk, Virginia, starts on December 1.
Converted to DC-4 civil standard, the company’s first four-engine Douglas transport is delivered on February 10, 1946. It is employed four days later to commence six-hour, nonstop, over-water Great Circle Route service from Miami to Newark (replacing La Guardia Airport as the New York terminus)—in direct competition with Eastern Air Lines. The flight, which reduces flying time from five to four hours, is the first postwar DC-4 service, the first commercial four-engine flight between Miami and New York, and the first scheduled nonstop commercial flight between the two communities.
Miami now becomes the headquarters for the “Route of the Buccaneer.” On May 22, the CAB awards the carrier a route from Miami and Tampa to Havana, while, in mid-June, corporate headquarters are transferred to Miami (MIA), where a new maintenance base, begun the year before, is now completed. On July 15, Savannah stops are initiated. The company’s premier international service from Miami and Tampa to Havana is inaugurated on December 15. The next day, Newark to Havana via Miami or Tampa flights are started.
On March 2, 1947, the company announces plans to add 46 DC-4s to its Newark-Jacksonville-New Orleans service. As the route rivalry with Eastern Air Lines intensifies, National takes delivery of the first of eight DC-6 Buccaneer 400s on June 4 and introduces it on the Newark run on July 1, offering six daily frequencies. Eastern Air Lines counters with the Lockheed L-649 Constellation.
As a result of accidents at other airlines, in November, all of the DC-6s in service in the U. S. are temporarily grounded. Still, profits are made as both the Florida and Cuba routes begin to bring tourists attracted by superior cabin and food services.
Company members of the lAM strike the company in January 1948 over aircraft loading and salary concerns. When, after 18 months, the ALPA grievance filed on behalf of the pilot fired back in September 1945 has not been resolved, the airline’s pilots strike on February 3, joining members of the lAM on picket lines.
On February 19, the company is granted authority to challenge Eastern Air Lines in the Washington-New York corridor, with flights beginning on February 25. At the end of the first quarter, three Curtiss C-46F Commando freighters are leased from the USAF and are placed into service on daily all-cargo flights between Idlewild Airport in New York and Havana via Miami.
National’s greatest effort is now placed into attempts to resolve its first major pilot job action (supported as the flyers are by ALPA), the longest such strike in airline history to that date. The struggle is very bitter; one pilot instructor will be murdered. Although full service is restored with replacement pilots by June, company cash reserves begin to fail. Striking pilots retaliate not only with the normal ground picketing, but with air picketing over key markets, by distributing matchbooks imprinted with “Don’t Fly National,” and with demonstrations from sailboats in Biscayne Bay.
Simultaneously, the carrier and its larger EAL rival square off in a corporate battle for control of Colonial Airlines. Perhaps the most interesting noncorporate event of the year is a fistfight. On August 4, passengers D. Cordova and B. Santano battle aboard a crowded San Juan to New York DC-4 flight. Upon landing, the two are arrested under U. S. admiralty laws for federal crime on the high seas and charged with interfering with the plane’s navigation and resisting the crew.
To avoid an adverse scheduled CAB certificate hearing (the only one of its kind in history that is referred to as the Docket 3500 case) based on the company’s alleged poor finances and a finding of unfair labor practices, Baker settles the labor dispute on November 24. He credits the settlement decision to his conversion by Dr. Frank Buchman’s “Moral Rearmament” crusade and not pressures generated by the reelection campaign of President Harry S. Truman, a friend of ALPA leader David Behncke.
On March 30, 1949, a four-way agreement is inked between Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), Pan American Airways (PAA) , W. R. Grace, and National. Under its terms, subject to CAB approval, National would increase its share issue, with PAA taking 30% and Grace 18%. Additionally, a one-plane American flag line route would be established from New York to Buenos Aires via Miami and Panama.
This pact not only helps Chairman Baker to fend off the CAB and a takeover bid by Juan Trippe, but also provides an interchange agreement with the leading American airlines on the Caribbean and South American scene.
New York to Havana via Miami inclusive-tour flights begin on June 18. Beginning on July 9, the company offers a Miami to Havana package flight with the return by ship. Rebounding from the fiscal downturn of the previous year, National shows the first of two straight years of profits.
In 1950, NA-1 becomes the first East Coast operator to offer low-cost day and night coach service. On February 9, Coach Club flights are initiated from New York to Miami via Washington, D. C. At this time, the company slogan is changed from its previous pirate theme to “Airline of the Stars”; among those receiving early red carpet treatment (actually laid on passageways from terminals to planes) is Senator Joseph McCarthy.
An equipment exchange is started with Capital Airlines on the Miami run beginning on March 8; three days later, weekend tour flights are offered to Miami from New York with leased Pan American World Airways (1) Constellations. The company joins with four banks on April 15 to establish a plan for vacations on credit.
A summer vacation program, designed to make Miami a year-round tourist attraction, is started; dubbed “A Millionaire’s Vacation on a Piggy Bank Budget,” the plan is promoted by thousands of free piggy banks given away to prospective travelers by travel agents.
At the beginning of December, National terminates the interlocking four-party agreement with Pan American Airways (PAA), Pan
American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA), and W. R. Grace & Co., cancelling the stock options held by PAA and Grace to purchase unissued National stock.
While landing on an icy runway at Philadelphia on January 14, 1951, Flight 83, a DC-4 with 3 crew and 25 passengers, skids and crashes (7 dead); stewardess M. F. Housley saves 10 passengers, but dies trying to save a trapped child.
Impressed with the record-breaking Toronto-Chicago-New York-Toronto flight of the Avro Canada C-102 prototype on January 21, the airline signs a letter of intent to purchase four of the $500,000 Jetliners, with options for six others. When the Canadian government shortly thereafter mandates that the manufacturer stop its civil work, the order is cancelled.
On March 16, a one-plane interchange service links the company’s service to Miami with the Washington, D. C. route west to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit flown by Capital Airlines. Never prosecuted, the CAB’s Docket 3500 case is formally dismissed, also in March.
A three-way interchange begins with Delta Air Lines and American Airlines on May 1; from the West Coast, an AA aircraft arrives at Dallas, where they are transferred to a Delta plane that flies them on to a meeting with National at New Orleans.
The airline now gains the responsibilities of an international airline as the CAB grants it a route to Havana. National’s merger discussions with Colonial Airlines proceed to the point where the latter’s board of directors recommends the takeover to stockholders, only to learn that competing Eastern Air Lines has quietly purchased 21% shareholding, sufficient to defeat the merger.
On May 4, NA-1 joins with New York’s Industrial Bank of Commerce to offer loans for vacation trips. W. R. Grace & Co. sells its share in National on July 21 and on August 12, daylight coach flights are begun from New York to Miami. Package tours over the same route are extended, on September 20, to December 15. The fleet now includes 28 aircraft (8 DC-6s, 6 DC-4s, 11 L-18s, and 2 C-46Fs) and net profit improves to $2.5 million.
National is taken off government mail subsidy on January 1, 1952, and during the year, merger talks will also fail with both Northwest Airlines and Northeast Airlines. National begins five-hour nonstop coach service between New York and Miami on February 2.
Minutes after taking off from Newark on February 11, a Miami-bound DC-6—the one that had inaugurated company DC-6 service—with 4 crew and 59 passengers, suffers a No. 3 propeller reversal and a No. 4 propeller feathering failure just after takeoff. It crashes into an apartment building at Elizabeth, New Jersey (33 dead). Four of the dead from this third crash of the new Douglas type in two months are apartment tenants.
In late March, Colonial Airlines President Branch T. Dykes recommends that his carrier merge with Eastern Air Lines; in hearings before the same government regulators in October, Baker’s attorneys successfully oppose the competitor’s takeover. Meanwhile, low-cost summer tours are offered between Memorial Day and Labor Day from New York to Panama, Jamaica, San Juan, and Mexico City. A DC-4 safely lands on two wheels at Norfolk, Virginia, on August 3. During the year, the first of nine DC-6Bs are acquired.
Nonstop frequencies are initiated on January 1, 1953, from New York (Idlewild Airport) to Havana. A DC-6 with 5 crew and 41 passengers disappears into the Gulf of Mexico, 35 km. SE of Mobile, Alabama, on February 14; the wreckage is found the next day and there are no survivors.
The first of 12 new Convair 340 Cosmopolitans is delivered on September 9. In October, the company vastly assists in the growth of Southern Pines, North Carolina-based Resort Airlines by selling it three DC-4s with which to augment its fleet of Curtiss C-46s.
With the beginning of the winter schedule, the interchange with Capital Airlines is extended to the Capital cities of Milwaukee and Minneapolis (MSP).
In the New York-Florida competition, National now introduces Douglas DC-7 service in an effort to overcome the success of Eastern Air
Lines’ Lockheed Constellations. On November 20, a new Douglas travels from Santa Monica, California, to Miami in a record 5 hrs. 50 min. delivery flight. Seven days later, it makes a Miami to New York test flight in 3 hrs. 10 min.
The company initiates rotary-wing service on December 10 from Miami Beach to Tropical Park Racetrack employing a Sikorsky S-55. Regularly scheduled 3 1/2-hour Miami to New York roundtrip service is inaugurated with DC-7s on December 14 and on Christmas Eve the carrier sets a one-day company record of 1,197 passengers boarded. During the year, the fleet is also increased by the addition of eight DC-6Bs.
Beginning on February 1, 1954, National offers scheduled S-55 helicopter service from Miami (MIA) to West Palm Beach via McArthur Causeway, Bal Harbour, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Delray Beach. It is the first such intercity helicopter service offered by a major U. S. airline. A 1/2-fare family plan for helicopter flights throughout south Florida is unveiled on March 15. The experiment in support of a helicopter airline does not last out the year. From the time of the inaugural landing when the helicopter is given a ticket for illegal parking through the noise complaints of residents and the lack of traffic (read also financial) support, the service is doomed.
Meanwhile, pilot Capt. Charles H. Ruby, a militant striker five years earlier, is brought into management as chief pilot and New York to Miami DC-7 tourist services commence on May 19.
Two men are hurt on July 1 when the nosewheel of a DC-6 collapses at Idlewild Airport. Newark to Orlando coach flights begin on July 17 and, after sometime earlier having switched its route from New York to Havana via Jacksonville and Miami, the C-46F all-cargo service is ended. A New York to St. Petersburg run is initiated on December 15.
By January of 1955, the National versus Eastern battle for control of Colonial Airlines appears to be drifting in favor of the latter due to its willingness to pay $7.1 million more than President Baker’s $2.5-million bid.
On August 4, the airline joins with Pan American World Airways (1) and Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) in an equipment exchange agreement for one-plane New York-Miami-Latin America service, thus ending the CAB’s “Balboa” case. The joint Latin America service with the two pioneers begins on August 15 via the South American west coast.
Still there are some defeats. In the face of growing competition from Northwest Airlines in late fall, the interchange service with Capital Airlines is withdrawn from Milwaukee, Minneapolis (MSP), Detroit, and Cleveland. The only points the two companies jointly serve north of Washington, D. C. are Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
A contract is signed with Lockheed on December 9 for the purchase of 12 (later 14) turboprop L-188 Electras, with 23 options (which will not be exercised).
Daily nonstop Miami-Havana coach service begins on December 10. Also during the year, a $36-million order is placed for six DC-8-21s.
The Electra order is announced to the press on January 3, 1956. National thus becomes the first airline to purchase the L-188, beating the American Airlines request by six full days.
On June 1, Eastern Air Lines wins control of Colonial Airlines. A month later, on July 1, the first of six new Convair CV-440 Metropolitans is placed into service on National’s New York-Miami run. The company is partially shut down in August by a dispute with its pilots; rival Eastern Air Lines is able to add eight daily New York-Miami flights to take up the slack.
The New York-Florida route battle intensifies in September when a newcomer, Northeast Airlines, enters the arena. Orders are placed for four Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellations and Boston and Providence to Miami flights are inaugurated on December 15. Flights are also inaugurated from Houston to New Orleans and Tampa.
In 1957, maintenance workers begin painting the motto “Airline of the Stars” on aircraft fuselages. Ticket, reservations, and operations personnel go out on strike between September 23 and October 24.
On March 20, 1958, a DC-7 with 58 aboard narrowly averts a midair collision with a company CV-440 over New York City. The four Super
Constellations are delivered in September and October and launch Imperial Club Coach service. The airline scores its greatest coup on December 10, when, with two Boeing 707-121s leased from Pan American World Airways (1), it inaugurates U. S. domestic jetliner service with thrice-daily Jet Star Service flights between New York and Miami. Comedian Bob Hope is among the first group of passengers transported as Capt. Roger Whitaker pilots Clipper America, Jet Star Flight One, south at 9:25 a. m.
Five days later, a Boeing jets between New York and Miami in a record 2 hrs. 34 min. Juan Trippe and George Baker now also exchange 400,000 shares of stock with the former given an option to purchase another 200,000 shares. The owned fleet at year’s end comprises 12 DC-6Bs, 8 DC-7s, 4 Lockheed L-1049 Constellations, 10 Lodestars, and 18 Convairs.
The interchange agreement with Capital Airlines is terminated on December 14.
The first of 14 new Lockheed L-188A Electras is delivered on April 1, 1959 and begins direct Jet Prop Electra return service on the New York to Miami route on April 26. It having earlier been decided not to employ jetliners during the summer, the leased PAWA-1 units are returned on May 15.
During the year, the last L-18 Lodestar is retired. For the second year in a row, National, in October, acquires Stratoliners under charter from PAWA-1; this time, six planes are employed. Eight-times-per-day New York-Miami jetliner flights begin on November 1.
On November 16, Flight 967, a DC-7B with 6 crew and 36 passengers en route from Miami via Tampa suddenly plunges into the Gulf of Mexico 107 mi. ESE of its New Orleans destination; there are no survivors. With the wreckage in waters over 200 ft. deep, it is impossible for CAB investigators to determine the cause of the disaster.
Speculation concerning sabotage and an insurance swindle will begin two months later when a naturopathic doctor, Robert Vernon Spears, arrives alive in Arizona, telling his wife that he had given his seat on Flight 967 to another gentleman. Although fingers will point to Dr. Spears until his death in 1969, no proof of wrongdoing on his part is ever produced.
Fidel Castro’s successful Cuban revolution now brings an end to the company’s only international route and the cost of starting jetliner service brings a $7.2-million loss on the year.
In 1960, the company serves not only New York and Florida, but Louisiana, Texas, California, and Nevada as well.
En route from New York to Miami with 5 crew and 29 passengers on January 6, Flight 967, a DC-6B, explodes in midair 18,000 ft. over Bolivia, North Carolina, and crashes into a field 1.5 mi. from the town with no survivors. On January 15, it is learned that passenger Julian A. Frank, an attorney whose body has been located at a distance from the main crash scene, had recently insured himself for $887,500. Two days later, investigators report metal fragments found in Frank’s body indicate he had set off a dynamite bomb near his seat, a fact confirmed by the CAB on February 24.
C. Cyrus Merrill publishes a compendium of information on the case in The Death of a DC-6B: A Textbook of Selected Legal Evidence from the Julian Frank Case (Brooklyn, N. Y.: Central Book Co., 1968, 1972) after Brad Williams examines the event in his Flight 967 (New York: William Morrow, 1963).
Meanwhile, the first DC-8-21 is accepted on February 7; later christened Kathleen, it begins Miami to New York (Idlewild Airport) service on February 18. Philadelphia-Miami DC-8-21 service begins on March 16.
On April 1, bomber Frank’s wife takes a job as a model. The Pan Am Stratoliner lease ends on April 24.
Under the interchange agreement with Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA) and Pan American World Airways (1), the company, beginning on May 2, operates the Miami to New York segment of the joint service from South America to Idlewild Airport employing the new PANAGRA DC-8-31.
On June 1, Occidental Life Insurance Company holds that passenger Frank’s January death is a suicide and his policy void.
In late spring, two of the L-1049H Super Constellations are converted into pure freighters and are employed to open all-cargo service from Miami to Philadelphia and New York’s Idlewild Airport. On July 2, the number of Miami and Tampa to Havana flights is cut. Nonstop Philadelphia to Jacksonville DC-8-21 flights commence on August 30. All of the CV-340s are phased out during the year and by December 31 three DC-8-21s have been delivered, with the remainder of the order cancelled.
National is one of seven airlines struck by the Flight Engineers International Association (FEIA) on February 18, 1961. President Kennedy ends the job action six days later by naming a fact-finding commission under Professor Nathan Feinsinger. As the result of CAB route awards, National, having won the southern route, becomes a transcontinental carrier in March; Electra service will be inaugurated from Miami to Los Angles and San Diego via Houston. On March 11, L-188A flights commence from Houston to San Francisco via Las Vegas. Service to Havana is, meanwhile, indefinitely suspended.
An L-188A is badly damaged at New Orleans on April 11 as the result of its inability to halt its landing roll on a slick runway and the subsequent crash.
On May 1, a passenger on a Miami to Key West flight forces the pilot to fly to Havana; the CV-440, pilot, crew, and seven other passengers are allowed to return to Miami. Fourteen years later, the pirate will be captured when he returns to Miami. Since he cannot be tried under air piracy laws because there were none on the books at the time he made the first successful U. S. skyjacking, the man will be convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to a prison term of 20 years.
Orders worth $39.8 million are placed for seven DC-8-51s during the summer.
On November 15, Flight 429, a DC-6B with 5 crew and 25 passengers, begins takeoff without clearance and collides with a Northeast Airlines Viscount at Boston; 15 aboard are injured, but there are no fatalities.
Also in November, President Baker surrenders his office to his nephew, Robert Weiland; the founder’s control is retained through the corporate chairmanship. Late in the year, the remaining two-passenger L-1049H Super Constellations become freighters and are employed to add Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Los Angeles, and Houston to the company’s all-cargo network.
The first DC-8-51 is delivered on February 23, 1962, four months behind schedule and just about the time an unsuccessful bid is made to sell the company to Continental Airlines. The four L-1049H Super Constellations are retired, beginning during the first quarter. Finally, on April 26, after years of crisis survival and up-and-down fortunes, owner Baker sells NA-1 to former Frontier Airlines (1) owner Lewis B. “Bud” Maytag Jr., heir to the Maytag Appliance Corporation fortune, for $6.5 million. Maytag had resigned from Frontier in March.
Maytag replaces Baker as chairman, president, and CEO, ending the era the founder had started three decades earlier. The same year, recently retired chief pilot Charles H. Ruby is elected ALPA president. Dudley Swim, of Carmel, California, is elected chairman of the executive board on September 12.
A DC-8-51, later named Carolyn, is delivered on October 23, and is followed into service by three L-188As purchased from American Airlines in November. Chairman Maytag introduces a fleet rationalization program and by mid-December all piston-engine aircraft (minus four DC-7Bs employed in South America) have been retired.
The crew of an L-188A freighter fails to extend the plane’s landing gear prior to landing at Miami on May 15, 1963; none of the three men is hurt in the ensuing crash.
Late in the second quarter, four DC-8-32s are purchased from Northwest Airlines. The first is delivered on September 15, followed by two more, one each on October 14 and 27.
During the fall, Chairman Maytag accepts an invitation to address the Newcomen Society at a dinner in New York City; as is the Society’s custom, Maytag’s remarks are published as a small pamphlet, Palmetto-Hopper: The History of National Airlines, Inc.
While visiting Vienna on November 4, founder George T. Baker dies of a heart attack.
Enplanements for the year total 2,080,378.
Airline employment in 1964 stands at 4,669 and the fleet includes 34 aircraft. That number is cut by four during the first quarter as the L-1049Hs, retired two years earlier, are sold to Montreal-based Nordair, Ltd. The Airline of the Stars advertising logo on company aircraft is replaced with the new “Coast to Coast to Coast” theme; a red and blue stylized “N” replaces the star on tails, although the original red and blue fuselage colors are maintained.
The last of four DC-8-32s purchased from Northwest Airlines the previous year arrives on June 30, but is involved in an accident while trying to find a place to park at New York’s international airport. The first of 13 B-727-35s is delivered on October 23 and when it enters service on November 1, National becomes the first exclusively jet-powered airline in the U. S.
Passenger boardings jump 20.3% to 2,610,260. Revenues accelerate 12.3% to $111.1 million, allowing the company a record net profit of $7.86 million, 21.6% greater than the year before.
The workforce in 1965 grows to 5,409. Ten B-727-35s are added during the year bringing the fleet total to 40; 3 more of the type are ordered. Jetliner service is launched to Sarasota, Bradenton, Norfolk, Orlando, and Fort Myers. The CAB is petitioned for authority to fly to Nassau, San Juan, Jamaica, and Panama. A $6 million promotion and advertising program is unveiled aimed at increasing ridership to Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas.
Just after takeoff from San Francisco on June 9, the No. 1 engine of a DC-8-32 with 78 aboard catches fire; the jetliner is able to make a safe emergency landing back at its starting point. A $3-million expansion and improvement program is started at Miami (MIA) and ground is broken for a new terminal building at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York.
On October 26, Cuban exile L. Medina Perez is subdued after threatening to kill the crew of Flight 209 and blow up the L-188A en route to Key West from Miami unless he is taken to Cuba to rescue his family. Although Perez is indicted, he will later be acquitted of all charges on the grounds of mental incompetence.
On November 17, Ted Robinson, 16, tries to hijack Flight 30, a B-727-35, shortly after its takeoff from New Orleans for the continuation of a Los Angeles to Melbourne, Florida, flight. The youth tries to shoot NASA official Christopher Kraft and fires six shots through the plane’s floor. After he is subdued by passenger Edward C. Haake, the pirate states that he had wanted to fly the plane to Havana “to free Cuban political refugees.” He will be convicted of assault and sent to a juvenile facility.
The No. 1 engine of a B-727-35 with 60 aboard disintegrates on the plane’s takeoff from Tampa on December 7; a safe emergency landing is made.
Bookings increase 29% during the 12 months to 3,398,323 and cargo tonnage is up by 24.2%. Revenues climb 26% to $166 million and profits jump 65% to $18.41 million.
In early 1966, orders are placed for 25 B-727-235s and 1 DC-8-61. On June 24, a federal court at Miami acquits Cuban exile Perez of his attempt to hijack a company airliner. Beginning on July 8, National is one of 5 airlines shut down for 43 days because of a job action launched by the IAM. The combined effect is to halt 60% of U. S. passenger service and 70% of airmail operations.
After several weeks of negotiations, President Lyndon B. Johnson announces a strike settlement on national television on July 29. On August 1, the lAM membership votes 2 1/2 to 1 to reject the proposed settlement. Talks resume and on August 15 tentative agreement is reached on a new three-year contract. The membership votes to ratify the contract by a 2-1 margin, thus ending the longest and costliest strike in U. S. commercial aviation history to date.
Enplanements are 3,897,600 and revenues are $205.69 million.
The employee population in 1967 stands at 6,694. The fleet now includes 44 aircraft: 13 B-727-35s, 13 DC-8s, 1 DC-8-61, and 17 Lockheed Electras. The total does not include two B-727-172QCs leased during the day, beginning on October 23, from Airlift International. The first of three B-727-235s to be delivered by year’s end arrives on December 13 and enters service a week later on December 20.
Passenger boardings accelerate 30.4% to 5.6 million and a total of 33.3 million freight ton-miles are flown. Revenues top the $200-million mark for the first time at $211 million, a jump of 25.6%.
The employee population in 1968 numbers 7,514. The first of the L-188As are withdrawn from service in January.
On March 12, San Francisco-originating Flight 28, a DC-8 with 7 crew and 51 passengers en route from Tampa to Miami, is hijacked and forced to land in Havana by two gunmen, who disembark there with a hostage. The plane is allowed to return to Miami and the “hostage” is identified as an associate of the hijackers, who apparently lost his nerve as the plane was preparing to land.
Following the completion of Flight 221 from Boston to Miami via Newark, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers, on April 21, the last turboprop L-188A is retired and National becomes the first all-jet major U. S. airline.
Flight 1064, a B-727-35 with 64 passengers en route from Los Angeles to Miami on July 17, is hijacked just after takeoff from Houston. The pilot is able to talk the armed Cuban hijacker, who is heard to mutter that “Fidel ordered me back,” into landing at New Orleans for refueling. After arrival at Havana, the passengers are driven to Veradero, where they are allowed to fly back to the U. S. aboard an aircraft chartered by the U. S. Department of State. The crew is able to fly out the trijet from Jose Marti Airport.
Also in July, the last unit of the 25-strong B-727-235 fleet is delivered. When additional DC-8 arrivals are factored in, the fleet total rises to 53 airplanes.
Plans are now announced for further expansion of the Miami facilities and ground is broken for a $45-million headquarters and maintenance base. Construction continues on the new $30-million terminal at Kennedy Airport.
On November 4, a self-styled Black Nationalist freedom fighter hijacks Flight 186, a B-727-235 with 65 passengers, just after takeoff from New Orleans (an intermediate stop on a service from Houston to Miami) and forces it to fly to Cuba. In a new twist, the passenger adds robbery to his crime by requiring that a stewardess collect all of the passengers’ valuables in a sack. Upon landing, the pirate is taken in hand by Cuban police and the stolen items are all returned. The crew is allowed return the Douglas to the U. S. as a special plane is sent to Havana to pick up the 57 passengers.
On December 3, Cuban exile Eduardo Canteras hijacks Flight 1439, a DC-8-21 with 21 passengers en route to Miami from New York and orders it to Havana, after a refueling stop at Key West. The passengers return to Miami on a chartered flight four days later, while the crew returns the jetliner.
Five days later, on December 6, actor Marlon Brando is removed from a B-727-235 at Los Angeles after asking a stewardess if the flight was bound for Cuba.
During the year, the red and blue colors of the livery are replaced by a new color scheme combining orange and grapefruit yellow. New stewardess uniforms are also available in either color, with lime green added later. A new logo, officially known as the “Sun God,” but unofficially as the “National Sunburst,” is also unveiled. These changes are part of the “Instant Florida” campaign that coincides with facility expansion at Miami and are accompanied by a “Watch Us Shine” advertising campaign featuring a give-away LP album of songs concerning National destinations.
Customer bookings jump 13% to 4,981,398 and 44.88 million freight ton-miles are flown. On record revenues of $248,652,000, net income is $21 million, the second highest earnings yield in company history.
The fleet in 1969 comprises 21 Boeing 727-235s, 13 B-727-35s, 3 DC-8-21s, 4 DC-8-32s, 6 DC-8-51s, 2 DC-8-54Fs leased from Airlift
International, and 2 DC-8-61s. Orders worth $160 million are placed for 9 DC-10-11s.
Another strike begins on January 17 when machinists walk off their jobs. On January 24, Flight 414, a B-727-35 with 47 passengers en route from Key West to Miami is forced to fly to Havana by a young USN deserter threatening a stewardess with a knife.
Four days later, two men, claiming to be fugitives from the California Institute for Men, seize Flight 64, a DC-8-61 with 32 passengers en route from Los Angeles to Miami, just after an intermediate stop at New Orleans and divert it to Cuba.
A few hours later, Flight 121, another DC-8-61 with 113 passengers en route from Philadelphia to Miami is taken over by 3 armed men and ordered to Cuba. Like the plane earlier in the day, this one will also be allowed to return to Florida without passengers, who go back on a chartered jet. Incidentally, one of the pirates will be captured in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975 and receive a five-year suspended prison sentence. His partners are not so lucky; when they return in 1978, they each get seven years.
Establishing something of a record for diverted flights south in a month, National suffers another skyjacking on January 31. This time, Flight 44, a DC-8-61 en route from San Francisco to Tampa with 63 passengers is taken over by an armed gunman who orders the plane to Havana. He will be extradited to California from Yugoslavia in 1976, tried, and sent to prison for 15 years.
On February 3, M. A. Peparo and his 18-year-old girlfriend Terry Fitzgerald, armed with a knife and an aerosol can of insecticide, are seized at Miami after unsuccessfully attempting to force Flight 11, a B-737-235, coming in on a flight from New York, to proceed to Havana. The sweethearts will be tried on the lesser charge of interfering with an aircrew and sent to jail for 19 months.
On February 5, a “grubby-looking” gunman, as witnesses later describe him, forces Flight 97, a B-727-235 with 26 passengers en route from New York to Miami to fly to Cuba, robbing the passengers en route. Before they return to Miami later in the day, Cuban authorities return the stolen money and items to the passengers. When the pirate returns to the U. S. in 1981, he is tried and given a five-year probation.
En route to Miami from New York on May 5, two armed Canadians force Flight 91, a B-727-235 with 75 passengers, to Cuba. Ten years later, both men will return to Canada, where one will receive a six-month prison term for a bombing committed before the piracy. Ottawa will deny U. S. requests for extradition.
The new $30-million terminal is occupied at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport during the summer. On August 30, Flight 183, a B-727-235 with 55 passengers en route from Miami to Houston, is diverted to Havana just after takeoff from an intermediate stop at New Orleans by a Cuban, accompanied by his wife and three children.
Flight 411, a B-737-235 with 60 passengers, is commandeered by a lone gunman while on a domestic service from Charleston, South Carolina, to Miami on September 24 and ordered flown to Havana. Believing all has been forgotten, the pirate will return to the U. S. as part of the Cuban boatlift in 1980. Found out during processing, he will be tried and sentenced to a five-year prison term.
New nonstop DC-8-51 service is inaugurated on October 1 from Atlanta to San Francisco. On October 9, the final airliner of the year to be skyjacked is Flight 42, a DC-8-61 with 70 passengers en route from Los Angeles to Miami; the hijacker is a homesick Cuban exile.
Late in the year, National is granted the first Miami-London route, but cannot immediately service it. Still, enplanements are 4,573,800 and a $15-million net profit is reported on revenues of $260.40 million.
The employee population in 1970 is 7,830 and the fleet includes 53 aircraft: 38 B-727s and 15 DC-8s. Having worked without a contract since the previous spring, 3,500 ground workers (clerical, general office, and station workers), members of the Air Line Employees Association (ALEA), strike for higher wages on January 29; these labor difficulties force Maytag’s carrier to completely shut down. The joint day and night B-727-172QC arrangement with Airlift International ends in April.
On May 5, the ALEA strike becomes the longest work stoppage in the history of the U. S. domestic airline industry. On May 18, 115 days after its start, the job action ends when the carrier agrees to a mediated settlement providing a 33% pay increase over the next 3 years. The agreement is ratified on May 26.
En route from San Francisco to Miami via New Orleans and Tampa on July 1, Flight 28, a DC-8-61 with 39 passengers, is captured just after takeoff from New Orleans and diverted to Havana. Four passengers, all U. S. servicemen, are allegedly beaten by Cuban authorities.
Some $34 million worth of new facilities are occupied at Miami during the summer, including a $15.4-million hangar. The first of two B-747-135s arrives on September 8 and the company becomes a Jum-bojet operator on October 2, flying its newly delivered aircraft, christened Jacquelyn, nonstop between New York (JFK) and Miami. The Jacquelyn is the first regularly scheduled B-747 to utilize Miami.
The second B-747-135, Linda, arrives on October 20; it, too, is painted in a yellow and orange livery with the Sun King symbol of Florida on its tail. It enters service on October 25 between Miami and Los Angeles.
On October 30, a Miami to San Francisco via Tampa and New Orleans, DC-8-61 service, Flight 43 operating with 58 passengers is taken over by an armed man, accompanied by his wife and 5 children, and diverted to Havana.
A $17-million IBM computerized reservations system, Res-A Vision, is turned on at Miami before year’s end.
As might be expected, the ALEA strike has a catastrophic impact upon the year’s traffic and financial results. Customer bookings drop 38.6% to 3.3 million and freight traffic is off 36%. Revenues decline 29% to $192 million and expenses of $203 million bring a $6-million net loss.
Flight 36, a DC-8-61 with 96 passengers and en route from Los Angeles to Miami on January 3, 1971, is captured by two pistol-waving couples, one of which has four children in tow; the aircraft is diverted to Cuba. Both couples leave Cuba in 1975, with one pair traveling to San Juan and the other to Chicago. Both are caught and both men will receive 20-year prison terms; charges against the mother with children will be dropped, however, the other woman will receive a sentence of five years.
T. K. Marston, a 16-year-old, brandishes a pistol and takes over Flight 745, a B-727-235 with 46 passengers, at Mobile, Alabama, on March 8 as it prepares to depart for New Orleans. After forcing the plane to Miami, the lad is taken into custody by the FBI, but is released into his father’s custody. He will be sent to a juvenile correctional facility.
Daily B-747-135 summer-only, nonstop roundtrips commence on June 15 between Miami (MIA) and London (LHR); National has now become America’s third transatlantic carrier.
En route from Miami to Jacksonville on July 24, Flight 183, a DC-861 with 83 passengers, is taken over by an air pirate who shoots a stewardess and a passenger in the process of diverting the Douglas to Havana.
On September 3, National is offered a merger by Northwest Airlines, itself having almost acquired Northeast Airlines seven months earlier.
A major $9.5-million marketing and advertising campaign, still discussed years after its end, the purposefully double entendre “Fly Me-Fly National” theme, is begun in October under the direction of Public Re-lationas Vice President Robin Matell. The November 15 issue of Time carries a story on a part of the reaction generated, including a photo of demonstrators picketing a company ticket office in New York City.
Following receipt of the first DC-10-11, christened Barbara, in November, National now becomes the third U. S. airline to inaugurate Douglas wide-body service, placing its initial machine into operation on the New York to Miami, Palm Beach, and Tampa run on December 15. The three DC-10-11s that will join it are christened Dorothy, Frances, and Phyllis.
Also in December, stockholders of both National and Northwest Airlines approve the merger of the two companies; the CAB hearing examiner will recommend against the amalgamation and it will not occur.
Enplanements for the year total 5,297,032 and a net loss of $4 million is suffered.
The airline population in 1972 totals 7,608. En route from Miami to Los Angeles on January 4, a B-747-135 encounters heavy turbulence near Lake Charles, Louisiana, that injures 25 passengers; the Jumbojet is able to land safely at Los Angeles (LAX).
Chairman Swim dies at his Carmel home on January 31; he is succeeded by owner Maytag on February 11.
New York City National Organization of Women (NOW) members now begin to picket and demonstrate against the carrier’s “Fly Me” advertisements. The proposed merger with Northwest Airlines is terminated early in the spring and shortly after this process collapses, National orders seven additional DC-10-11s.
Brandishing a pistol, 14-year-old E. M. McKee Jr., nearly 15, attempts to hijack Flight 67, a B-727-35 at Tampa on March 7 and force it to fly to Sweden. He is overpowered by a sky marshal and arrested. Criminal charges against the lad will later be dismissed.
On April 30, NOW begins an even more-determined campaign to halt the airline’s “sexist attack against women,” noting that the carrier’s ads, which depict stewardesses encouraging male travelers to “Fly Me,” could be changed to depict male pilots or copilots offering women similar invitations. The controversy continues to keep National’s name in the news, a not altogether undesired result. M. S. Green and L. Tesfa commandeer Flight 496, a B-727-35 with 120 passengers en route from Philadelphia to New York on July 12, forcing it to return to Philadelphia, where a demand is made for a $600,000 ransom and three parachutes. After receiving $501,600, the two require the pilot to fly to Houston where, having chosen not to bail out, they surrender to FBI agents next morning. Both will be tried and will receive prison terms of 50 and 60 years, respectively.
An unidentified man, claiming to posses nitroglycerin, is subdued by airline ticket agents and federal sky marshals at New York (JFK) on October 31 during his unsuccessful attempt to hijack a DC-10-11 to Greece. At year’s end, nine Douglas wide-bodies are in service with orders outstanding for nine others.
The DC-8-51 Carolyn is leased to Air Jamaica, Ltd. in late December.
The year’s passenger boardings jump 19.4% to 6,572,000 and freight traffic climbs by 9.6%. Revenues improve to $367,348,000 and expenses are contained at $324,000,000, allowing a turnaround on the bottom line. Operating profit is $43.34 million and net profit is $9.18 million.
The workforce in 1973 is 7,997. During the year and for the next several, a number of older aircraft have the names of show business people and stars painted just aft of their flight deck windows, complete with stars. As additional DC-10-11s join the fleet, the Jumbojets and DC-8-21s are removed.
On November 3, 39,000 feet over Albuquerque, New Mexico, passenger G. F. Gardener is sucked through the window of a DC-10-11 after an engine explodes, ripping a hole in the fuselage and causing the window to blow out as a result of decompression.
The company announces on December 4 that it will cancel daily roundtrip service between Miami and London during five days late in the month in order to conserve fuel. The DC-8-51 Carolyn is purchased by Air Jamaica, Ltd. on December 15.
For the year, freight traffic is up by 12.7% and customer bookings grow 4.4% to 6,863,000. On revenues of $413.84 million, expenses are $363.27. The operating profit accelerates to $50.67 and the net gain advances to $20.62 million.
Only six new employees are hired in 1974. Eight tires of a DC-8-51 with 107 aboard blow out during its landing at Boston on March 22; no injuries are reported.
A shotgun-armed assailant boards an unoccupied B-727-235 parked at Sarasota, Florida, on March 30, shouting his demands to be flown elsewhere. The only other person on the aircraft is a maintenance man, who adroitly disarms the would-be pirate and turns him over to police. Tried, the failed perpetrator receives a 15-year prison term.
The July 1 flight of a DC-10-11 from Miami to Los Angeles with 191 aboard is almost a tragedy; a wing engine cowling comes loose and smashes into the wing while also disabling the plane’s tail engine. A safe emergency landing is made at Tampa.
Beginning on July 15, the company is subjected to another of the periodic job actions that have hurt it so often during its history. This time, mechanical and related stores workers, members of the lAM, shut the company down for three-and-a-half months. A mutual agreement between the parties is finally reached on October 12 and the new contract is ratified on November 1.
World History
