Texas International Airlines
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Founded | 1944 (as Aviation Enterprises) | ||||||
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Ceased operations | October 31, 1982 (merged into Parent company Texas Air Corporation (1980–1982) | | |||||
Headquarters | Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||
Key people | Frank Lorenzo |
Texas International Airlines Inc. was a
Trans-Texas Airways originally operated in Texas and surrounding states.[3] In August 1953, it scheduled flights to 36 airports from El Paso to Memphis; in May 1968, TTa flew to 48 U.S. airports plus Monterrey, Tampico and Veracruz in Mexico. The airline changed its name to Texas International and continued to grow.
When Texas International was merged into Continental Airlines in 1982, it had grown to reach Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Hartford, Kansas City, Los Angeles,Ontario CA., Mexico City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Omaha, Phoenix, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Tucson, and Washington, DC, and had an all-
.History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Welcome_Aboard%21_A_Typical_Trans-Texas_Airways_Hostess_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Welcome_Aboard%21_A_Typical_Trans-Texas_Airways_Hostess_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Year | Pax-Miles |
---|---|
1951 | 17 |
1955 | 35 |
1960 | 70 |
1965 | 209 |
1970 | 659 |
1975 | 580[6] |
In 1949, all Trans-Texas Airways flights were operated within the state of
The network expanded to Memphis and Marshall in 1953, Lafayette in 1956, New Orleans and Jackson in 1959, into Mexico in 1967, and to Denver in 1969. In late 1963 the carrier added 13 new cities by taking over service formerly operated by Continental Airlines. These cities included Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs, Roswell, and Santa Fe in New Mexico as well as Abilene, Amarillo, Big Spring, College Station, Lubbock, Temple, and Waco in Texas.[9]
About April 1961,
In October 1966, Trans-Texas Airways introduced the
Trans-Texas was derisively called "Tree Top Airlines," "Tinker Toy Airlines", and "Teeter-Totter Airlines"
In 1970, Texas International served: Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Beaumont/Port Arthur, Big Spring, Brownwood, Bryan/College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Ft. Worth, El Paso, Galveston, Harlingen, Houston, Laredo, Longview, Lubbock, Lufkin, McAllen, Midland/Odessa, San Angelo, San Antonio, Temple, Tyler, Victoria, Waco, and Wichita Falls, Texas.[16]
Outside of Texas in 1970, Texas International flew to
After suffering annual losses of up to $3 million, Texas International was acquired in 1972 by Jet Capital Corporation headed by 32-year-old Frank Lorenzo. The airline quickly realized a $6 million profit, largely due to wage cuts spearheaded by Lorenzo and sharp marketing efforts.
In the mid-1970s, in response to competition from
The first modern frequent-flyer program was created at Texas International Airlines in 1979.[20] Lacking the computer resources of their larger competitors, Texas International was overtaken by American's introduction of AAdvantage in May 1981.
On June 11, 1980, Lorenzo established a holding company, Texas Air Corporation, for Texas International and New York Air[21] Texas Air then acquired Continental Airlines in 1982 and merged Continental and Texas International on October 31, 1982, under the former's name. The last Texas International aircraft were seen in 1983.
Today's successor to Trans-Texas Airways and Texas International is
Fleet
Over the years, Texas International Airlines operated the following aircraft:[23][24]
Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Beechcraft Model 99 | 5 | 1969 | 1978 | |
Convair CV-600
|
27 | 1961 | 1979 | Turboprop conversion from the piston-powered Convair CV-240 |
Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 9 | 1948 | 1968 | |
Douglas DC-3 | 14 | 1947 | 1969 | |
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10
|
20 | 1966 | 1982 | |
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10MC | 5 | 1967 | ||
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
|
30 | 1969 |
Livery
Following the name change to Texas International, the airline's early livery consisted of a dark purple
Accidents
- On February 6, 1969, Douglas DC-9-15MC N1304T collided in midair with a small, single engined Piper PA-28 aircraft over Harlingen, Texas; the Piper crashed, seriously injuring the pilot; the DC-9 landed safely with no casualties to the 59 on board.[25]
- On September 27, 1973, Flight 655, a Convair 600, crashed in Arkansas while on a scheduled passenger/cargo flight from El Dorado, Arkansas, to Texarkana, Arkansas; all 11 on board died. This accident was the only fatal accident involving the airline, as well as the only fatal accident involving the Convair 600.
- On November 16, 1976, Flight 987, a Douglas DC-9-14 (N9104) overran the runway and crashed on takeoff from Denver Stapleton International Airport (DEN) due to an unexplained malfunction of the stall warning system; all 86 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[26]
- On March 17, 1980, Douglas DC-9-14 N9103 overran the runway while landing in rain at Baton Rouge Ryan Airport (BTR) due to pilot and ATC errors; all 50 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.[27]
See also
References
- ^ "Aviation Enterprises". Airline History. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 20, 1975. "505. "Head Office: PO Box 12788. 8437 Lockheed, Houston, Texas 77017, USA."
- ^ timetableimages.com, August 1968 Trans-Texas Airways system timetable
- ^ departedflights.com; April 1, 1981 Official Airline Guide (OAG), North American edition
- ^ departedflights.com, June 1, 1982 Continental/Texas International joint timetable
- ^ Shut down by strike until 4 April; sched RPMs were 947 million in 1976.
- ^ timetableimages.com, Nov. 1, 1949 Trans-Texas timetable
- ^ timetableimages.com, Nov. 1, 1949 Trans-Texas route map
- ^ Trans Texas Airways timetable, October 15, 1963
- ^ Time Tables
- ^ timetableimages.com, Oct. 20, 1966 Trans-Texas timetable
- ^ timetableimages.com, August 1968 Trans-Texas timetable
- ^ Texas International June 1, 1977 timetable
- ^ Michelle C (March 23, 2014). "Trans Texas Airlines service (1949)". Retrieved May 11, 2016.
- ^ Nock Komos (August 1989). Air Progress: 76.
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(help) - ^ a b departedflights.com, July 1, 1970 Texas International route map
- ^ Feb. 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide, North American edition
- ^ departedflights.com, July 15, 1981 Texas International route map
- ^ a b http://www.departedflights.com, March 15, 1978 Texas International timetable
- ^ David M Rowell (August 13, 2010). "A History of US Airline Deregulation Part 4 : 1979 - 2010 : The Effects of Deregulation - Lower Fares, More Travel, Frequent Flier Programs". The Travel Insider. Archived from the original on August 16, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
- ^ Thomas Petzinger (1995). "Hard Landings: the epic contest for power and profits that plunged the airlines into chaos". Times Business.
- ^ departedflights.com, July 15, 1981 Texas International timetable map
- ^ "Texas International". Aerobernie.bplaced.net. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ "Texas International Airlines Fleet Details and History". Planespotters.net. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2014-12-11.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2014-12-11.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 2014-12-11.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "Trans Texas Airlines, no. 13620; Aircraft." Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Bailey (Bob) Studios. May 24, 1949.