Батыс Эйрлайнз: АҚШ тарихындағы әуежол компаниясы (1925-1987)

Defunct airline of the United States (1925–1987)
the defunct California based airline that operated from 1925 to 1987

Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D. C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and Nassau. Western had hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver. Before it merged with Delta Air Lines in 1987 it was headquartered at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Throughout the company's history, its slogan was "Western Airlines The Only Way to Fly!"

In 1925, the United States Postal Service began to give airline contracts to carry airmail throughout the country. Western Airlines first incorporated in 1925 as Western Air Express by Harris Hanshue. It applied for, and was awarded, the 650 mile long Contract Air Mail Route #4 (CAM 4) from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Los Angeles. On 17 April 1926, Western's first flight took place with a Douglas M 2 airplane. It began offering passenger services a month later, when the first commercial passenger flight took place at Woodward Field. Ben F. Redman (then president of the Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce) and J. A. Tomlinson perched atop U. S. mail sacks and flew with pilot C. N. "Jimmy" James on his regular eight hour mail delivery flight to Los Angeles. By the mid 1930s, Western Air Express had introduced new Boeing 247 aircraft. Western Air Express built and owned Vail Airport in Montebello, CA from 1926 to 1930 and the Alhambra Airport in southern California from 1930 to 1931. Western Air Express operated a seaplane route out of Hamilton Cove Seaplane Base on Catalina Island, California from 1928 to 1930

The company reincorporated in 1928 as Western Air Express Corp. In 1930 it purchased Standard Air Lines, a subsidiary of Aero Corp. of Ca., founded in 1926 by Paul E. Richter, Jack Frye and Walter Hamilton. WAE with Fokker aircraft merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA, later known as Trans World Airlines).

In 1934 Western Air Express was severed from TWA and changed its name to General Air Lines, returning to the name Western Air Express after several months. In a 1934 press release by the company, it called itself the Western Air Division of General Air Lines. Its route map ran San Diego to Los Angeles to Salt Lake City.

In the early 1980s Air Florida tried to buy Western Airlines, but it was able to purchase only 16 percent of the airline's stock. On September 9, 1986, Western Airlines and Delta Air Lines entered into an agreement and plan of merger. The merger agreement was approved by the United States Department of Transportation on December 11, 1986. On December 16, 1986, shareholder approval was conferred and Western Airlines became a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta. The Western brand was discontinued and the employee workforces were fully merged on April 1, 1987. All of Western's aircraft were repainted in Delta's livery, including twelve McDonnell Douglas DC 10s. Delta eventually decided to eliminate the DC 10s from its fleet as it already operated Lockheed L 1011 TriStars, a similar type. Delta retained Western's hubs in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City; both remain major gateways and hubs for Delta.

This mainline destination list is taken from Western's March 1, 1987, timetable shortly before the merger with Delta Air Lines. In 1987 the airline had four round trip flights a day between Boston and New York LaGuardia. This new corporate identity was the subject of litigation by Winnebago Industries, which contended the new "Flying W" was too similar to its own stylized "W" logo. In the 1980s Western Airlines slightly modified the scheme by stripping the white fuselage to bare metal, retaining the red "Flying W" (with a dark blue shadow). This color scheme was known as "Bud Lite" due to its resemblance to a popular beer's can design. Western Airlines was a favorite first class carrier for Hollywood movie stars and frequently featured them in its on board magazine, "Western's World". Marilyn Monroe and many other silver screen actors were frequent flyers and the airline capitalized on it. Western had a famous flyer out of Seattle: Captain "Red" Dodge. Red worked previously as a helicopter test pilot, and got involved with flying for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in his later years when he wasn't flying as captain on the DC 10. The movie Breakout starring Charles Bronson was based on his daring airlift of a CIA operative out of the courtyard of a Mexican prison. The Mexican government tried to extradite Dodge back to face charges. Red became wealthy leasing government storage units with unlimited government business but never again flew to Mexico. The airline was promoted in the Carpenters promotional video for the track "I Need to Be in Love", released in 1976. The video shows exterior footage of a DC 10 in takeoff and landing shots, as well as seating promotions for Western's FiftyFair seating product, with shots of a cabin setting depicting what looks like business class of the DC 10. During the 1980s, destination flights aboard Western Airlines were featured as prizes on televised game shows, including The Price Is Right and The $25,000 Pyramid.

Western used a variety of piston powered airliners including Boeing 247Ds, Convair 240s, Douglas DC 3s, DC 4s, DC 6Bs and L 749 Constellations. The Constellations had been operated by Pacific Northern Airlines and served smaller Western Airlines destinations in Alaska such as Cordova, Homer, Kenai, King Salmon, Kodiak and Yakutat from Anchorage or Seattle in the late 1960s.

December 15, 1936: Seven died when a Western Air Express Boeing 247 crashed just below Hardy Ridge on Lone Peak near Salt Lake City, Utah. The major parts of the aircraft were hurled over the ridge and fell over a thousand feet into a basin below. November 13, 1946: Western Airlines Flight 23 crashed into the mountains 12 miles south of Gorman, California, while descending towards Burbank Airport. All 11 on board were killed. December 24, 1946: Western Air Lines Flight 44 crashed into the Laguna Mountains while descending towards San Diego. All 12 on board were killed. The CAB investigation determined that the pilot misjudged his position relative to the mountains, and flew too low to clear terrain. April 20, 1953: Western Air Lines Flight 636, flying in the night, on the last leg of a Los Angeles San Francisco Oakland itinerary, descended below the prescribed minimum altitude of 500 ft and crashed into the waters of San Francisco Bay, killing eight of ten people aboard the Douglas DC 6. February 25, 1971 – Western Air Lines Flight 329, a Boeing 737, was hijacked by a passenger, demanding to be taken to Cuba but instead landed in Canada. March 31, 1971 – Western Air Lines Flight 366, a Boeing 720 047B flying from Los Angeles to Ontario, California, on a pilot proficiency check flight, yawed and rolled out of control, and crashed while in the process of executing a 3 engine missed approach from a simulated engine out instrument approach. The five crew members and only occupants died in the crash. May 5, 1972 – Western Airlines Flight 407, a Boeing 737, was hijacked by a man demanding to be taken to North Vietnam. After refueling in Tampa, Florida, the plane went to Cuba. June 2, 1972: Western Airlines Flight 701 from Los Angeles to Seattle was hijacked by Willie Roger Holder, a Vietnam War veteran, and his girlfriend Catherine Marie Kerkow. The hijackers claimed they had a bomb in an attaché case and demanded $500,000 and that Angela Davis, who was then on trial, be freed. After allowing half the passengers to get off in San Francisco and the other half to get off in New York on a re fueling stop, they flew on to Algeria, where they were granted political asylum, joining the International Section of the Black Panther Party. It was and still remains the longest distance hijacking in American history. Later, $488,000 of the ransom money was returned to American officials. March 31, 1975: Western Flight 470 was landing at Casper Airport when it overshot the runway, and struck a shallow irrigation ditch before stopping about 800 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. Weather conditions at the time were at minimum visibility with light snow. The Boeing 737 200 was written off beyond repair. Four passengers suffered various injuries. July 31, 1979: Western Airlines Flight 44 departed Los Angeles International Airport en route to Denver, Colorado, and Billings, Montana, via several other intermediate stops and then mistakenly landed at Buffalo, Wyoming, instead of Sheridan, Wyoming, which was the intended destination. No injuries occurred and the only damage was to the ramp at the airport, which was not designed to support the weight of the Boeing 737 200 jetliner. The incident prompted a legal battle and subsequent landmark aviation ruling of Ferguson v. NTSB. October 31, 1979: Western Airlines Flight 2605 crashed while landing at Benito Juarez International Airport in Mexico City, killing 73. The crew landed the DC 10 on a closed runway and it collided with construction vehicles during the attempted go around.