Hughes Airwest - History

History

On July 1, 1968 three local service carriers merged to form Air West:

• Pacific Air Lines, originally known as Southwest Airways when it was founded in 1941, was based in San Francisco and flew along the coast and also served California's Central Valley, linking communities from Portland, Oregon, to Southern California.

• Bonanza Air Lines, served communities from its Phoenix base westward through Southern California and northward to Las Vegas, Reno and Salt Lake City.

• West Coast Airlines, based at Boeing Field in Seattle, served the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Utah, Montana and northern California.

The airline's initial fleet included the Boeing 727-100, Douglas DC-9-10, Fairchild F-27, and Piper Aztec aircraft. The carrier went on to become an all jet airline operating Boeing 727-200, Douglas DC-9-30 and Douglas DC-9-10 jetliners.

Hungry for another adventure in the airline industry, TWA's former owner Howard Hughes bought the airline in 1970. The airline was then renamed Hughes Airwest. Its new call sign became "Hughes-Air." Howard Hughes saw his new airline expand to several other cities in the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. The airline participated in some movies in the 1970s, most notably The Gauntlet with Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in 1977. At the Las Vegas airport, Locke's character sarcastically called the airline, "Air worst."

Like other U.S. local service carriers in the 1970s, Hughes Airwest gradually eliminated many of the smaller communities served and opened new, longer-haul routes. Service was expanded to resort areas in Mexico. New domestic destinations included cities further east such as Denver, Des Moines, Milwaukee, and Houston, with the latter being served via Hobby Airport (HOU).

In 1980, Hughes Airwest was purchased by Republic Airlines, which had been formed in 1979 via the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways. Republic was in turn acquired by Northwest Airlines in 1986. Northwest was then merged into Delta Airlines.