Interesting Defunct United States Airlines

Air California (AirCal)

Operated: 1967 - 1987
Cause and result of demise: Ceased operations. Acquired piecemeal by American Airlines.
Interesting fact: One marketing program used by Air California in the early to mid 1970s was to offer school field trips to Sacramento at $25 a head, where school children would be taken on a tour of the California State Capitol, Governor’s Mansion, and Sutter’s Fort.
Image courtesy of dc-9.us.

Air Florida

Operated: 1971 - 1984
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, sped up by the crash of the January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crash in Washington DC - assets obtained by Midway Airlines.
Interesting fact: Air Florida sponsored Southampton Football Club, an English Football League side, during the 1983-84 season, in which Southampton were league runners-up. The deal was cancelled after one season due to Air Florida’s insolvency.
Image courtesy of securiteaerienne.

Allegheny Airlines

Operated: 1952 - 1979
Cause and result demise: Rebranded as USAirways, then US Airways Express and then into Piedmont Airlines.
Interesting fact: It was one of the first airlines to create an affiliated branded network of regional airline carriers operating in unison with Allegheny, which was called the Allegheny Commuter System.
Image courtesy of William Demarest.

Aloha Airlines

Operated: 1946 - 2008
Cause and result of demise: Chapter 11 bankruptcy, transfer of operations to Aloha Air Cargo.
Interesting fact: On April 28, 1988 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Boeing 737-297 flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. The aircraft suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, but was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui. The safe landing of the aircraft with such a major loss of integrity was unprecedented and remains unsurpassed.

Braniff International Airways

Operated: 1928 - 1982
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. Some flights scheduled to leave on May 12, 1982, at Dallas Fort Worth Airport were actually forced to disembark, being told that their airline no longer existed.
Interesting fact: A Braniff plane and logo always appear after the closing credits in the South Park cartoon series. With the slogan : “Braniff - Believe It!”

Capital Airlines

Operated: 1941 - 1961. (Had its origins as Pennsylvania Central Airlines from 1936)
Cause and result of demise: Merged into United Airlines
Interesting fact: In 1948, the first airborne television was installed on a Capital airplane.

Central Airlines

Operated: 1949 - 1967
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. Sold to Frontier Airlines.
Interesting fact: Former president of Venezuela Laurence Lau was present on the maiden flight.
Image courtesy of Paul Freeman.

Chicago Air

Operated: 1985 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Ceased service.
Interesting fact: It operated six Fokker F27 aircraft, and the call sign was “Wild Onion” in reference to the Chippewa Indian derivation of the name “Chicago.”
Image courtesy of David Oates.

Eastern Airlines

Operated: 1926-1991
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy
Interesting fact: An Ex-Airline Executive is set on purchasing the airline back under the original Eastern name, with the main hub being in MIA. It hopes to begin operations in the summer of 2009.

Empire Airlines

Operated: 1976 - 1985
Cause and result of demise: Purchased by Piedmont (see below), then USAir.
Image courtesy of Richard Silagi.

Frontier Airlines

Operated: 1950 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. It re-emerged as the current Frontier Airlines in 1994 from executives of the old airline.
Interesting fact: Frontier Airlines made history when they hired Emily Howell Warner on January 29, 1973. She was the first female airline pilot hired by a U.S. commercial airline.
Image courtesy of Old Frontier Airlines Collection.

Kiwi International Airlines

Operated: 1992 - 1999
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. In 1997, a medical doctor Dr. Charles Edwards tried to revive the airline (with an investment of nearly $20,000,000 of his own money), but idea was sadly abandoned.
Interesting fact: Kiwi International Air Lines enjoyed a flawless safety record and near perfect dispatch reliability rate of 99.6% in its expansion.
Image courtesy of A. J. Best.

Midway Airlines

Operated: 1976 - 1991
Cause and result of demise: Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Interesting fact: Some of the signature inflight service items were after-dinner chocolate wafer mints and hot hand towels to the entire cabin, both of which had originally caught on with Midway’s business clientele.
Image courtesy of Frank C. Duarte.

Mohawk Airlines

Operated: 1945 - 1972
Cause and result of demise: Labor issues and strikes caused it to consider merger with Allegheny (see below), later USAir.
Interesting fact: On February 11, 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor was hired by Mohawk Airlines, becoming the first African-American flight attendant in the United States. In 1961, it became the first airline to use a centralized computer based reservation service. In 1965, it became the first regional airline to utilize flight simulators.
Image courtesy of Tom Hildreth.

Muse Air

Operated: 1981 - 1987
Cause and result of demise: Liquidated by Southwest and renamed TranStar Airlines in 1985, and ceased operations in 1987.
Interesting fact: Started up by founder and one time president of Southwest Airlines, Marion Lamar Muse, it prohibited smoking on the plane long before federal regulations enforced it.
Image courtesy of lamarmuse.

National Airlines

Operated: 1934 - 1980
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. It merged into Pan American.
Interesting fact: In 1964, National became the first exclusively jet powered service in the United States.
Image courtesy of Tom Hildreth.

New York Air

Operated: 1980-1987
Cause and result demise: Financial, acquired by Continental
Interesting fact: New York Air was well known for its onboard bagged snacks, known as the “The Flying Nosh”, from the Yiddish word nash, “to eat sweets, nibble on”.

North Central Airlines

Operated: 1952 - 1979
Cause and result of demise: Merged with Southern Airways to become Republic Airlines, which became part of Northwest Airlines, which is now part of Delta.
Interesting fact: It had its origins in 1939, when the Four Wheel Drive Company (FWD), a major manufacturer of four-wheel transmissions and heavy-duty trucks based in Clintonville, Wisconsin, opened a flight department and traded a company truck for a WACO biplane for their company’s use.

Pacific Southwest Airlines

Operated: 1949 - 1988
Cause and result demise: Financial, merged with USAirways, now reincarnated as commuter affiliate.
Interesting fact: With the slogan “The World’s Friendliest Airline,” PSA was known for its sense of humor and its recognizable trademark was a smile painted on the nose of each plane and an accompanying ad campaign declaring “Catch Our Smile.” After PSA was bought by USAir, ex-PSA mechanics would occasionally paint smiles on USAir planes as a joke.
Image courtesy of catchoursmile.com.

Pan American World Airways

Operated: 1927 - 1991
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, remaining assets acquired by Delta Air Lines.
Interesting fact: During the mid-1970s, there were two Pan Am flights operated around the world to set or break previous around-the-world flying records. Liberty Bell Express broke the commercial plane around-the-world record with 46 hours, 50 seconds, making only two stopovers during the journey, one in New Delhi and the other in Tokyo-Haneda. The other was over the North Pole using the Clipper New Horizons, which was actually the same plane as the Liberty Bell Express, and took 54 hours, 7 minutes, and 12 seconds.

Peoplexpress Airlines

Operated: 1981 - 1987
Cause and result demise: Sale to Texas Air holding, integrated into Continental Airlines.
Interesting fact: The airline used a simplified fare structure whereby all seats on a given route were offered at the same price, with slight differences between “Peak” and “Off-Peak” fares. All seats were in economy class, with the exception of “Premium Class” seating on overseas flights. Fares were paid on the flight.

Piedmont Airlines

Operated: 1948 - 1989
Cause and result demise: Integrated into USAirways, and still operates as Piedmont Airlines.
Interesting fact: A original Piedmont Airlines DC-3 is located unrestored at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It still has its original paint scheme and parts.
Image courtesy of Ed Coates.

Presidential Airways

Operated: 1985 - 1989
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. It merged into Pan American.
Interesting fact: It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express, as a low-cost carrier.
Image courtesy of dc-9.us.

RenoAir

Operated: 1990 - 1999
Cause and result of demise: Integrated into American Airlines
Image courtesy of Richard Silagi.

Republic Airlines

Operated: 1979 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Bought by Northwest Orient, which rebranded itself after the merger as Northwest.
Interesting fact: Apparently it is still possible to find a few old Republic logos around Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Memphis International Airport if one looks hard enough.

Texas International Airlines

Operated: 1944 - 1982
Cause and result demise: Texas Air, a holding company, bought Continental, filed for bankruptcy, and reemerged as Continental Airlines.
Interesting fact: It was derisively called “Tree Top Airlines” and “Tinker Toy Airlines” by its competitors.

Southern Airways

Operated: 1949 - 1979
Cause and result of demise: Merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines.
Interesting fact: Southern Airways billed itself as the “Route of the Aristocrats.” and used the slogan “Nobody’s Second Class on Southern” in its television commercials. It was famous for its promotional shot glasses: for a time, a differently designed shot glass was issued each year. Original Southern shot glasses are valued by collectors of the airline’s memorabilia.

Tower Air

Operated: 1983 - 2000
Cause and result demise: Bankruptcy
Interesting fact: Tower Air was prominently featured in such movies as Liar Liar and Turbulence.

Trans World Airlines

Operated: 1925 - 2001
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, acquired by American Airlines.
Interesting fact: In the 1950s the TWA Moonliner, a futuristic exhibit that was placed by Howard Hughes, was the tallest structure at Disneyland and depicted atomic-powered travel to come in 1986.

ValuJet

Operated: 1993 - 1997
Cause and result of demise: ValuJet Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996 due to a fire caused by the activation of chemical oxygen generators that were stored in the cargo hold. The fire damaged the plane’s electrical system and eventually overcame the crew, resulting in the deaths of 110 people.
Interesting fact: In order to save itself from the damaging effects of negative publicity, it took on a reverse merger with the much smaller company AirWays Corp. (currently AirTran Holdings). It thus now operates AirTran Airways.

Western Airlines

Operated: 1926 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Merged with Delta Air Lines after failed buyout from Air Florida.
Interesting fact: During the 1970s, they promoted themselves as “the champagne airline” because champagne was offered free of charge to every adult passenger over 21 years old.

Where unmentioned, photos are from Wikipedia.