Pacific Air Lines

Pacific Air Lines was a regional airline (known at the time as a "local service" air carrier) serving the West Coast of the United States which began operations during the 1940s under the name Southwest Airways. The company operated as a feeder airline, linking smaller communities primarily in California and Oregon with major cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Founded largely with money from wealthy investors from the Hollywood motion picture industry, the airline was noted for employing cost-saving operational procedures and safety practices that were innovative for the time. The traveling public responded positively, and as passenger volume increased and more locations were served, a need for bigger and faster planes eventually resulted in adding modern aircraft to the fleet during the 1960s. However, the mid-60s were a troubled period for the company; a fatal crash in 1964 caused by a suicidal gunman was followed by a sharp decline in net income two years later, and in 1967 an unconventional ad campaign caused discord between stockholders and executives. The controversy subsided after a management shake-up, but the name Pacific Air Lines passed into history in 1968 when market conditions resulted in a merger with Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines, forming Air West which subsequently became Hughes Airwest.