Central Airlines
Encyclopedia
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
providing service in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
from 1949 to 1967. Central was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to operate charter and fixed base services in Oklahoma. Due to financing difficulties, it did not begin scheduled air service until September 15, 1949, just before its original certification expired. Central was then headquartered at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
.
Backers and members of the board of directors initially included Ft. Worth oilman F. Kirk Johnson, former City Councilman R.E. Harding, Jr., Don Earhart and actor James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
; Stewart remained on the board for many years. Lamar Muse was president before going to Universal Airlines
Universal Airlines (US)
Universal Airlines was a United States airline that operated from 1966 to 1972, based at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It initially grew out of Zantop Air Transport, starting with a small fleet of Lockheed L-188 Electra. In April 1968 Universal took delivery of two Douglas DC-8...
, Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. is an American low-cost airline based in Dallas, Texas. Southwest is the largest airline in the United States, based upon domestic passengers carried,...
and then founding Muse Air
TranStar Airlines
TranStar Airlines was a domestic U.S. carrier based in Houston, Texas from 1981 to 1987.-History:The company was first established as a Texas-based commuter called Muse Air, but much like Southwest Airlines, only flying larger mainline equipment. Muse Air's name originates from its founder and the...
.
Central started with a fleet of eleven Beechcraft Bonanza A35s
Beechcraft Bonanza
The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. , it is still being produced by Hawker Beechcraft, and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history...
. These aircraft didn't attract much business, so the airline turned to Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
s in 1950. The DC-3s were reinforced by Convair 240
Convair 240
The Convair CV-240 was an American airliner produced by Convair from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. While featuring a more modern design, the 240 series was able to make some inroads as a commercial airliner and also had a long development cycle...
s beginning in 1960. The 240s were eventually upgraded to turboprop Convair 600s starting in 1965. Central's 1955 network blanketed Oklahoma and reached beyond to Amarillo, Dallas-Fort Worth, Little Rock and Kansas City; when the airline merged into Frontier
Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)
Frontier Airlines was formed from a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. They established their headquarters at Stapleton Airport in Denver. However, the airline dated itself to November 27, 1946, when Monarch Airlines began service in Colorado,...
in October, 1967, service had been extended to 40 cities in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, in addition to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The route system then ranged from Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
to St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
and Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas.
In 1961, the head office was moved to the new Amon Carter Field (later re-named Greater Southwest Airport). By the mid-1960s Central operated to 40 cities throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas and Missouri.
At the time of the merger with Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)
Frontier Airlines was formed from a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. They established their headquarters at Stapleton Airport in Denver. However, the airline dated itself to November 27, 1946, when Monarch Airlines began service in Colorado,...
Oct. 1, 1967, Central operated sixteen DC3s. They were aircraft N15563 N15584 N15837 N17397 N18939 N19454 N19937 N285SE N286SE N287SE N39544 N49541 N7820B N88790 N88794 and N91003. At one time Central Airlines operated 16 DC3s
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
and 8 CV240s
Convair 240
The Convair CV-240 was an American airliner produced by Convair from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. While featuring a more modern design, the 240 series was able to make some inroads as a commercial airliner and also had a long development cycle...
. When the CV240s were converted to CV600s, an additional three CV600s were bought, to bring a total of 11 in the fleet - ship numbers being N74850 through N74860.
The Convair 600 was a turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
version of the CV240. It was sometimes called a CV240D. Central was the first customer for this aircraft. It first flew May 20, 1965 and only 39 were produced. It carried 40 - 44 passengers and a crew of three.
Central was sold and merged into Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)
Frontier Airlines was formed from a merger of Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines, and Monarch Airlines on June 1, 1950. They established their headquarters at Stapleton Airport in Denver. However, the airline dated itself to November 27, 1946, when Monarch Airlines began service in Colorado,...
on October 1, 1967.
External links
- Central Airlines photographs
- A large collection of Central Airlines memorabilia
- Old Frontier Airlines a website about the history of the old Frontier Airlines and its predecessor airlines.
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Central Airlines