Maddux Air Lines - Further History

Further History

In the remaining few months of 1927 Maddux carried 1400 passengers. For the following few years Maddux expanded its fleet of Ford Tri-motors and its routes. The airline’s hubs were in Los Angeles and San Diego.

In April, 1928 Maddux started passenger service from Los Angeles to San Francisco, California, with scheduled stops in Fresno and Oakland and, by reservation, in Visalia and Bakersfield. It competed with Western Air Express on this route. Service also began from San Diego to Agua Caliente Casino, in Mexico, in November. 9440 passengers were transported that year.

In February 1929 passenger service to Phoenix, Arizona began. Other local short-hop flights were also added. On August 26, 1929 a Maddux Tri-motor, along with other aircraft, escorted the famous LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin airship to Mines Field (now part of Los Angeles International Airport) where it stopped during its around the world flight.

Among the famous aviators who were involved with Maddux were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Maddux also had a publicity department that advertised the celebrities who flew with the airline. These included Will Rogers, who rode on the inaugural flight, and Hollywood actors Arthur Edmund Carewe and Dolores del Río.

Maddux Air Line, established in 1927 was the California teminus for TAT when it started New York to California operations in July 1929. For six months the Maddux and TAT airplanes carried a combination logo of their two companies until TAT bought out Maddux in November 1929. Lindbergh helped establish TAT but had nothing to do with the Maddux operation.