List of airlines by foundation date - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a list of airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

s by foundation date, founded before December 31, 1929

1929 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1929:- Events :* Greatest number of fatal civil aircraft crashes in US history.* Cubana de Aviación begins service.* Pan American World Airways begins service.* The Canadian Siskins aerobatic team is formed....

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The date of the first airline service may differ from the foundation date.

Airline	Established	Ceased operations	Notes
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line was the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft.The airline provided service between St. Petersburg, Florida and neighboring Tampa.-Overview:...

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| First winged airline. See Thomas Reilly, Jannus: An American Flyer
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DELAG

DELAG, an acronym from was the world's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service. It was founded on November 16, 1909 with government assistance, and operated airships manufactured by Zeppelin Corporation...

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|Operated Zeppelin

Zeppelin

A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...

s, aircraft taken over by state-sponsored airline.
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Aircraft Transport and Travel

Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited was a British airline formed during the First World War, a subsidiary of Airco. It was the first airline to operate a regular international flight .-History:...

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|The first international scheduled service in 1919.
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Chalk's Ocean Airways

Chalk's International Airlines, formerly Chalk's Ocean Airways, was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in unincorporated Broward County, near Fort Lauderdale. It operated scheduled seaplane services to the Bahamas...

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|Became Chalk's International Airlines.
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Det Danske Luftfartselskab

Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S, or DDL, was Denmark's flag carrier airline since 1918, and is the oldest airline still in existence...

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|Services started August 7, 1920. Part of SAS

Scandinavian Airlines System

Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....

since 1946.
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Société des lignes Latécoère

Aéropostale (aviation)

Aéropostale was a pioneering aviation company. It was founded in 1918 in Toulouse, France, as Société des lignes Latécoère, also known as Lignes Aeriennes Latécoère or simply "The Line" .- History :Aéropostale founder Pierre-Georges Latécoère envisioned an air route connecting France to the...

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|Rebranded as Aéropostale

Aéropostale (aviation)

in 1927. In 1933 its assets were incorporated into Air France

Air France

Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...

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Svenska Lufttrafik

Svensk Luftrafik was a Swedish airline. The company was founded on 7 February 1919, its first flight running on the 7 August 1920. Operations ran for 1 year. The airline operated regular passenger services between Copenhagen–Malmö–Warnemünde. Hermann Göring, later Reichsmarschall...

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Lignes Aériennes Farman
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|Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France

Air France

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Grands Express Aériens

The Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens was a pioneering French airline established 20 March 1919 and operating until merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes to form Air Union on 1 January 1923....

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|Merged with Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes

Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes

Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes was a pioneering French airline which was in operation form 1919 - 23, when it was merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union.-History:...

to form Air Union

Air Union

Air Union was a French airline established 1 January 1923 as the result of a merger between the airlines Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes and Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens...

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Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes

Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes was a pioneering French airline which was in operation form 1919 - 23, when it was merged with Grands Express Aériens to form Air Union.-History:...

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|Merged with Grands Express Aériens

Grands Express Aériens

to form Air Union

Air Union

Air Union was a French airline established 1 January 1923 as the result of a merger between the airlines Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes and Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens...

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| Daimler Airway

Daimler Airway

Daimler Airway was an airline subsidiary of BSA group's Daimler Motor Company created to use some of the assets of the failed ventures Airco and its subsidiary Aircraft Transport and Travel acquired by BSA in February 1920.-History:...

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|Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East...

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KLM
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|Still in operation
|Operations stopped during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

apart from the operations in the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean. Merged with Air France

Air France

in 2004. Currently the oldest airline to exist.
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SCADTA

The Colombian-German Air Transport Society , or SCADTA, was the world's second airline, and the first airline of the American continent, operating from 1919 until World War II. After the war, SCADTA merged with Colombian regional carrier Colombian Air Service , or SACO. Together, SCADTA and SACO...

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| - However still operates under the name of Avianca

Avianca

Avianca S.A. is the flag carrier airline of Colombia since December 5, 1919 when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Bogotá, D.C. with its hub at the El Dorado International Airport...

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|Merged with SACO to form Avianca

Avianca

on June 14, 1940 (no disruptions, kept providing services under another company name and trademark).
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Handley Page Transport

Handley Page Transport Ltd was an airline company founded in 1919 by Frederick Handley Page in the new era of civil flying after the First World War....

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|Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways

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| Instone Air Line

Instone Air Line

Instone Air Line was an early British airline from 1919 to 1924. Along with other private airlines of the time, it was absorbed into Imperial Airways.-History:...

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|Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways

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Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne
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|Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France

Air France

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Qantas
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...

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|Still in operation
|World's oldest continuously operating airline.
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Aerotarg

Poznań Airline Society Aerotarg was the first Polish airline. It was founded in Poznań on 21 May 1921 mainly in order to serve participants and visitors of the first Poznań International Fair...

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|Operated only on the route between Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

and Poznan

Poznan

Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...

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Mexicana

Mexicana de Aviación

Founded in 1921, Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. was Mexico's oldest airline, before ceasing operations on August 28, 2010. The group's closure was announced by the company's recently installed management team a short time after the group filed for Concurso Mercantil and US Chapter 15...

West Australian Airways

West Australian Airways was an Australian airline based out of Geraldton, Western Australia. Established on 5 December 1921 as Western Australian Airways by World War I pilot Norman Brearley it was the first airline in Australian history to establish a scheduled air service. The first service left...

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|Became part of Australian National Airways

Australian National Airways

Australian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...

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Aeromarine West Indies Airways

The original Aeromarine West Indies Airways, was formed by a merger between Florida West Indies Airways and Aeromarine Sightseeing and Navigation Company and was one of the first international airlines in the United States...

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Aerolloyd
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|Merged with other privetely-owned airlines in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

and eventually formed LOT Polish Airlines

LOT Polish Airlines

Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. , trading as LOT Polish Airlines, is the flag carrier of Poland. Based in Warsaw, LOT was established in 1929, making it one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation. Using a fleet of 55 aircraft, LOT operates a complex network to 60 destinations in Europe,...

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Malert

Malert was a Hungarian airline, founded on November 19, 1922. The airline folded in 1944, and was a fore-runner of MALÉV Hungarian Airlines....

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|Fore-runner of Malev Hungarian Airlines.
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Air Union

Air Union was a French airline established 1 January 1923 as the result of a merger between the airlines Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes and Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens...

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|Merged with 4 other airlines to form Air France

Air France

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Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...

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|Still in operation
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SABENA

Sabena

SABENA was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001, with its base at Brussels National Airport. After its bankruptcy in 2001, the newly formed SN Brussels Airlines took over part of SABENA's assets in February 2002, which then became Brussels Airlines...

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|Succeeded by SN Brussels Airlines

SN Brussels Airlines

SN Brussels Airlines was a national airline of Belgium, which mainly operated from Brussels Airport. SNBA was the trading name of the Belgian airline Delta Air Transport. SNBA was a full-service airline, connecting Brussels with the rest of Europe. It also flew to Africa, continuing Sabena's...

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| British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd

British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd

British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd was a short-lived British airline operating flying boats across the English Channel in 1923 and 1924. It merged with three other airlines in 1924 to form Imperial Airways.-Formation:...

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|Merged with 3 other airlines to form Imperial Airways

Imperial Airways

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Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines
Czech Airlines j.s.c. , trading as Czech Airlines , is the national airline of the Czech Republic and temporary in Slovakia with its head office on the grounds of Ruzyně Airport in Ruzyně, Prague...

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|Still in operation
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Finnair
Finnair
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest...

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|Still in operation
|Founded as Aero O/Y

Osakeyhtiö

Osakeyhtiö, literally a "stock company", is the Finnish equivalent of a limited company or Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung . It is abbreviated to Oy and is used either before or after the company's name, sometimes with the addition of the Finland-Swedish equivalent Ab...

, name changed to Finnair in 1968.
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Zakavia

Zakavia was an airline in Georgia formed in 1923 and ceased in 1925....

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Imperial Airways

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|Amalgamated to form British Overseas Airways Corporation

British Overseas Airways Corporation

The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

- itself merged to found British Airways

British Airways

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

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AB Aerotransport

AB Aerotransport was a Swedish airline, that is today part of the SAS Group.ABA was established in 1924 under the name Aktiebolaget Aerotransport by Carl and Adrian Florman. The first flight was on 2 June 1924 between Stockholm and Helsinki with a Junkers F.13 aircraft...

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|Formed SAS.
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| Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

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|Still in operation
|Founded as Huff Daland Dusters.
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CIDNA

CFRNA , later CIDNA CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; Compagnie franco-roumaine de navigation aérienne in French; Compania franceză - română pentru navigaţia aeriană in Romanian), later CIDNA CFRNA ("The French-Romanian Company for Air Transport"; Compagnie franco-roumaine de...

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|The former company - CFRNA (French-Romanian Company For Air Navigation) was the first international transcontinental company. Incorporated into Air France

Air France

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Aero

Aero (Polish airline)

The Society of Air Transportation Aero SA was a Polish airline founded in Poznań in February 1925 by the members of the Association of Polish Pilots and based entirely on the Polish seed capital. It operated until 1928 and on 1 January 1929 it was incorporated into the newly founded Polish flag...

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|Merged with other privetely-owned airlines in Poland and eventually formed LOT Polish Airlines.
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Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano S.A. was an airline serving as flag carrier of Bolivia. It operated domestic and international flights, aiming at passenger as well as cargo transport. LAB was active for more than 80 years, having been based in Cochabamba most of the time, with Cochabamba Airport being an...

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|Airline is going to be replaced with Boliviana de Aviación

Boliviana de Aviación

Boliviana de Aviación or simply called BoA is the state-owned national flag carrier airline of Bolivia along with private airline AeroSur. It was established by the Bolivian Government under the president Evo Morales, replacing the troubled Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano as flag carrier.The airline is...

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Western Air Express
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|Merged with Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...

in 1986.
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Deutsche Luft Hansa

Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...

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|Name styles as Deutsche Lufthansa from 1933. Operations suspended following the German defeat in World War II

World War II

. There is no legal connection to Lufthansa

Lufthansa

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...

, which was founded in 1953.
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Western Canadian Airways

Canadian Airways

Canadian Airways was an airline formed when Western Canadian Airways bought out Commercial. It operated through the 1930s until it was purchased by Canadian Pacific Air Lines in 1941, carrying passengers on mail planes into smaller communities.-History:James Armstrong Richardson established WCA in...

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|Amalgamated with several Eastern Canadian carriers forming Canadian Airways

Canadian Airways

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Varney Airlines

Varney Air Lines was an airline company that started service on April 6, 1926 as an air-mail carrier. Formed by Walter Varney, the airline was based in Boise, Idaho, United States.-Historical background:...

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|Merged with National Air Transport

National Air Transport

National Air Transport was a large airline. In 1930 it was bought by Boeing. The Air Mail Act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella, so Boeing split into 3 smaller companies, one of which is United Airlines, and it is this that included what had...

to form United Airlines

United Airlines

United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...

following the Air Mail scandal

Air Mail Scandal

The Air Mail scandal, also known as the Air Mail fiasco, is the name that the American press gave to the political scandal resulting from a congressional investigation of a 1930 meeting , between Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown and the executives of the top airlines, and to the disastrous...

in 1933 and the Air Mail Act of 1934. In 1934 Varney Speed Lines was established becoming Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...

in 1936 when Robert Six

Robert Six

Robert Forman Six was the CEO of Continental Airlines from 1936 to 1981. Six's career began in the earliest days of U.S. commercial aviation. His determined, scrappy, risk-taking nature paid off for Continental Airlines, the company that would for forty-five years be forged in his image...

took over control.
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| Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines, Inc. was a major United States airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines by a merger approved on October 29, 2008, making Delta the largest airline in the world...

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|Merged with Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

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Colonial Air Transport

Colonial Air Transport was founded in 1926 in New York, NY by Juan Trippe, and moved their HQ to Boston in 1927. In 1930, it was acquired by AVCO to become American Airlines.Colonial acquired rights to fly the early U.S...

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|Formed American Airlines

American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

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Varig

VARIG was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990 it was Brazil's leading and almost only international airline...

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|New airline formed with the same name in 2006 and eventually sold to Gol Transportes Aéreos

Gol Transportes Aéreos

Gol Transportes Aéreos is a Brazilian airline based in Comandante Lineu Gomes Square, São Paulo City, Brazil....

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Jat Airways
Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national airline of Serbia and the former national airline of Yugoslavia, and has its head office in the Jat Airways Business Center in Belgrade. It was established in 1927 as Aeroput, making it currently one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation...

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|Still in operation
|formed as Aeroput

Aeroput

Aeroput was the national airline of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was founded on 17 June 1927 in the palace of the Adriatic and the Danube bank in Belgrade as Drustvo za Vazdusni Saobracaj A D – Aeroput ...

in 1927, then re-named JAT - Jugoslovenski aerotransport in 1947, and then Jat Airways
Jat Airways
Jat Airways is the national airline of Serbia and the former national airline of Yugoslavia, and has its head office in the Jat Airways Business Center in Belgrade. It was established in 1927 as Aeroput, making it currently one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation...

in 2003
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Cruzeiro do Sul

Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul

Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...

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|Founded as Syndicato Condor. Name changed to Cruzeiro do Sul in 1943. Merged with Varig

Varig

VARIG was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990 it was Brazil's leading and almost only international airline...

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ETA
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|Ceased operations due to administrative difficulties.
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LOT Polish Airlines
LOT Polish Airlines
Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. , trading as LOT Polish Airlines, is the flag carrier of Poland. Based in Warsaw, LOT was established in 1929, making it one of the world's oldest airlines still in operation. Using a fleet of 55 aircraft, LOT operates a complex network to 60 destinations in Europe,...

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|Still in operation
|Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT created by the Polish government to replace Aerolloyd, Aero, and Aerotarg.
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LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines
LAN Airlines S.A. is an airline based in Santiago, Chile. LAN is currently positioned amongst the largest airlines in Latin America, serving Latin America, United States, the Caribbean, Oceania, and Europe. It is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance...

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|Still in operation
|Began as Línea Aeropostal Santiago-Arica. It took the name Línea Aérea Nacional de Chile (LAN Chile) in 1932. In September 1989, the Chilean government privatized the carrier.
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Aeropostal
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|Still in operation
|Founded as Linea Aeropostal Venezolana LAV

LAV

LAV or Lav may refer to:* Light armoured vehicles** LAV-25, used by the United States Marine Corps** LAV III, in service with the Canadian and New Zealand armed forces...

, name changed to Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela

Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela

Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela, normally referred to as just Aeropostal, is a flag carrier and the national airline of Venezuela also an airline based in Torre Polar Oeste in Caracas, Venezuela. It operates domestic services and international services in the Caribbean...

in 1997 after privatization.
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Panair do Brasil

Panair do Brasil is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.-NYRBA do Brasil :...

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|Founded as Nyrba do Brasil. Name changed to Panair do Brasil in 1930. Bankruptcy forced by the Brazilian Government.
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