Description: West Coast Airlines inaugurated jet services on September 26, 1966 with new DC-9 flights in the Pacific Northwest. This cover was carried on the Air Mail Route 77 inaugural jet flight from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, California (where it was backstamped) and is listed in the Jet Age Flights Section of The American Air Mail Catalogue was J-1247. The Civil Aeronautics Board and President Lyndon Johnson approved the simultaneous merger of three airlines for the first time in early 1968. Pacific Air Lines, Bonanza Airlines, and West Coast Airlines were combined to form Air West. Air West provided service to eight Western states, Canada, and Mexico within its 8,800-mile system. In 1970 Howard R. Hughes and his Hughes Air Corporation acquired Air West and the name of the carrier was changed to Hughes Air West in April. In 1971 the name was changed to Hughes Airwest. Effective on October 1, 1980, Republic Airlines, Inc. purchased Hughes Airwest and made the carrier a wholly-owned subsidiary known as Republic Airlines West, Inc. On January 23, 1986, Northwest Airlines announced an $884 million purchase of Republic Airlines, which was the biggest merger in U.S. civil aviation history to date. The two carriers filed a merger application with the Department of Transportation on January 27. The Justice Department opposed the merger because it would “substantially lessen competition” in violation of antitrust laws. Full hearings regarding the merger were held and on July 31 the Department of Transportation approved Northwest Airlines’ takeover of Republic Airlines. On August 12 the acquisition of Republic was completed as officials from both airlines transferred ownership of Republic to Northwest. On October 1, 1986, the operations of Republic were fully integrated with a single Northwest flight schedule. On April 15, 2008, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines announced a merger agreement. The merger of the two carriers formed what was then the largest commercial airline in the world, with 786 aircraft. Delta Air Lines' brand survived, while Northwest's brand officially ended in 2009.
Price: 2.5 USD
Location: Cranford, New Jersey
End Time: 2024-10-22T00:42:37.000Z
Shipping Cost: 1.35 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Type: Transportation
Place of Origin: United States
Quality: First Flight Cover
Country: United States
Event: First Flight
Grade: Ungraded
Exact Topic: Aviation History
Exact Type: Postal History
Topic: Aviation
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Certification: Uncertified
Modified Item: No
