Texas Air
Encyclopedia
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...
holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
incorporated in 1980 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
created to hold and invest in airlines, starting with Texas International Airlines
Texas International Airlines
Texas International Airlines was a United States airline, known from 1944 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways, and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. It was headquartered near William P...
as its core. The company had its headquarters in the America Tower in the American General Center
American General Center
The American General Center is a complex of several office buildings in Neartown Houston, Texas located along Allen Parkway. It is owned by AIG American General....
in Neartown
Neartown Houston
Neartown is an area located in west-central Houston, Texas, United States and is one of the city's major cultural areas. Neartown is roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 59 to the south, Allen Parkway to the north, Bagby Street on the east, and Shepherd Drive to the west...
Houston, 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...
.
After passage of the Airline Deregulation Act
Airline Deregulation Act
The Airline Deregulation Act is a United States federal law signed into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to remove government control over fares, routes and market entry from commercial aviation...
in 1978, Texas International Airlines expanded significantly, reduced its costs by discontinuing unprofitable routes and replaced its outdated Convair
Convair
Convair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102...
turboprops with newer DC-9 aircraft. In 1982 Texas Air took over then debt-laden 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...
, retaining Continental's better-known and less regional name. Continental Airlines, in moribund financial condition, succeeded in negotiating concession packages with all of its unions except for the International Association of Machinists (IAM). Because of the refusal of the IAM to renegotiate its contract, the company ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which allowed Frank Lorenzo
Frank Lorenzo
Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is most famous for his leadership of Texas International Airlines and its successor holding company Texas Air Corporation between 1972 and 1990, through which he formed or acquired a number of major U.S...
(President and chief executive officer), to reject the collective bargaining agreements with its various unions. Many believe that Lorenzo wanted the strike to justify the bankruptcy filing, so that he could get rid of the unions.{Hard Landing. Thomas Petzinger, Jr. p 234} Continental Airlines would again file bankruptcy in 1991, one month after Lorenzo left his position as CEO.
In 1985, the company lost a bid to take over Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
to corporate-raider Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn
Carl Celian Icahn is an American business magnate and investor.-Biography:Icahn was raised in Far Rockaway, Queens, New York City, where he attended Far Rockaway High School. His father was a cantor, his mother was a schoolteacher...
. In 1986 the company acquired Eastern Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines was a major United States airline that existed from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...
and People Express, with its 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,...
included. By 1987 Texas Air Corporation had control of 20 percent of the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
airline market, even though the holding company only had 20 official employees.
By the early 1990s the company had been split up, with parts sold to Scandinavian Airlines System
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....
, Ross Perot
Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
's EDS
Electronic Data Systems
HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...
(Electronic Data Systems), and an Air Canada
Air Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
-led investment group.
Holdings at its peak
- Full-service mainlineMainline (flight)A mainline flight is a flight operated by an airline's main operating unit, rather than by regional alliances, regional code-shares or regional subsidiaries...
, legacyLegacy carrierA legacy carrier, in the United States, is an airline that had established interstate routes by the time of the route liberalization which was permitted by the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and was thus directly affected by that act...
, and major airlinesMajor carrierMajor carrier or major airline carrier is a designation given by the United States Department of Transportation to U.S.-based airlines that post more than $1 billion in revenue during a fiscal year.As of 2010, there were 19 major carriers....
- Continental AirlinesContinental AirlinesContinental 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...
1- Air MicronesiaContinental MicronesiaContinental Micronesia, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines. It operated daily flights to Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as international services to Asia, Micronesia and Australia from its base of operations at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Guam, a U.S. territory in...
3
- Air Micronesia
- Eastern Air LinesEastern Air LinesEastern Air Lines was a major United States airline that existed from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.-History:...
4 - Frontier Airlines1
- Texas International AirlinesTexas International AirlinesTexas International Airlines was a United States airline, known from 1944 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways, and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. It was headquartered near William P...
- Continental Airlines
- Low-cost carrierLow-cost carrierA low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...
s- New York AirNew York AirNew York Air was a 1980s startup airline owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York City.-History:...
1 - Peoplexpress AirlinesPeoplexpress AirlinesPeople Express Airlines, stylized as PEOPLExpress, also known as People Express Travel, was a U.S. no-frills airline that operated from 1981 to 1987, when it merged into Continental Airlines...
1
- New York Air
- Regional, Feeder, and Commuter airlines
- Bar Harbor AirlinesBar Harbor AirlinesBar Harbor Airlines was a comparatively large commuter airline headquartered at Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton, Maine and later in Houston, Texas.- Early history :...
2 - Britt AirwaysBritt AirwaysBritt Airways was a United States commuter airline based in Terre Haute, Indiana.In 1985, the founder and owner of Britt Airways, Bill Britt, sold the airline to People Express. Frank Lorenzo's holding company, Texas Air Corporation, acquired People Express, following Texas Air's acquisition of...
2 - Provincetown-Boston AirlinesProvincetown-Boston AirlinesProvincetown-Boston Airline , or better known as PBA, was an airline that operated between 1949 and 1989. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States before its purchase by People...
2 - Rocky Mountain Air2
- Bar Harbor Airlines
1 Merged into Texas International Airlines, which subsequently assumed the Continental
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...
brand.
2 Merged into Britt Airways, which subsequently assumed the ExpressJet
ExpressJet Airlines
ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Southeast Airlines which is in turn a subsidiary of the airline holding company SkyWest, Inc., parent company of the air carrier SkyWest...
brand.
3 Rebranded as Continental Micronesia
Continental Micronesia
Continental Micronesia, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental Airlines. It operated daily flights to Honolulu, Hawaii, as well as international services to Asia, Micronesia and Australia from its base of operations at Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport on Guam, a U.S. territory in...
.
4 Declared bankruptcy and liquidated.