Mid-Continent Airlines

Mid Continent Airlines was a trunk carrier, a scheduled airline which operated in the central United States from the 1930s until 1952 when it was acquired by and merged with Braniff International Airways. Mid Continent Airlines was originally founded as a flight school at Rickenbacker Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, during 1928, by Arthur Hanford Jr., a dairy operator. The Hanford Produce Company was the largest creamery in the United States with over 100 trucks in operation. The company was primarily a dairy but also sold ice cream and poultry. The Hanford's also founded and built the new Rickenbacker Airport and operated eight gas stations and several service repair garages under the name Hanford's, Inc. The airport was a division of Hanford's, Inc., but the service stations and garages were later sold to finance airline operations. Mid Continent was based in Kansas City, Missouri at the time of its acquisition by Braniff.

The company was founded in 1928 at Rickenbacker Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, as a small flight school by Arthur S. Hanford Sr and his son Arthur S. Hanford Jr. Soon the company became known as Hanford's Tri State Airlines, which offered charter service and scheduled flights from Sioux City to Omaha, Nebraska, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Bismarck, North Dakota. The fleet consisted of Stearmans, American Eagles, Ryans, Travel Airs, Eagle Rocks and one Sikorsky amphibian, which was used for operations in the Northern lake country. In 1934 it was awarded Air Mail Route 16 for runs from Chicago to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Intermediate routings included Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin; Rochester, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fargo, Grand Forks and Pembina, North Dakota, and finally Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The company was also awarded Air Mail Route 26 from Minneapolis to Kansas City with intermediate stops at Sioux Falls, Sioux City and Omaha, and finally between Sioux Falls and Bismarck/Mandan with enroute stops at Huron and Aberdeen. Service began over Route 16 in June 1934 and over Route 26 in July 1934. At this time, the company moved its headquarters to Minneapolis. However, when the Chicago to Winnipeg route was sold in December 1934 to Northwest Airlines, general offices were moved back to Sioux City. Its fleet included four four passenger Lockheed Vegas and three Ford Tri Motors. Route 26 required three engine equipment, which Hanford's did not initially have and therefore, leased the route to Rapid Air Lines for a brief period from June 1, 1934 until December 1, of the same year. The two carriers had merged in 1933 to form Hanford Rapid Airlines but were operated as separate entities.

On June 11, 1951, Mid Continent ordered six new Convair 340 twin engine 46 passenger luxury aircraft from Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Company of San Diego, California. The aircraft were scheduled for delivery beginning in 1953 and the order was taken up by Braniff Airways, which was the first airline to put the model in service on November 1, 1952. Also during 1953, the DC 3 fleet was increased by four and a fleet modernization program was commenced. The upgrade program included the installation new integral steps to the entry doors and increased passenger capacity from 21 to 24 passengers.

Before the airport opened, Mid Continent Airlines was acquired by Braniff International Airways on August 16, 1952. According to Braniff Airways corporate files housed at Braniff Airways Foundation in Dallas, Texas, the merger between Mid Continent and Braniff was first reviewed in 1940. At the time of the merger, Mid Continent featured a strong route system throughout the central Midwest of the United States stretching from as far north as Minot, North Dakota, and as far south as New Orleans, Louisiana. The short haul route system complimented the Braniff Airways network and added what became Braniff strongholds such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Kansas City, Des Moines, St. Louis, Shreveport and New Orleans. Oklahoma service would now include McAlester and Muskogee with Paris added in Texas, connecting Tyler and Houston. The merger gave Braniff more of a presence east of a Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Dallas line whereas Braniff was prevalent on the western side of that line. The presence switched north of Kansas City with Braniff more predominant on the east side of a Kansas City to Chicago line and Mid Continent the predominant carrier on the Western side. The amalgamation of the two carrier's created a solid north and south flow to feed Braniff's Latin American route system. Braniff began official negotiations with Mid Continent on January 16, 1952, when a letter of application was filed with the CAB for the merger on January 24, 1952. However, Braniff had been studying a possible merger with Mid Continent since 1940. The Civil Aeronautics Board approved the merger on May 26, 1952, with an effective date of August 16, 1952. Mid Continent Chairman Thomas Ryan and President J. W. Miller became officers of Braniff Airways, Inc., at that time. On August 16, 1952, Mid Continent Airlines operated over 6200 route miles to 35 cities in the Midwest United States. The fleet consisted of 23 Douglas DC 3 aircraft, four Convair 240 aircraft as well as six Convair 340's that were on order.

By 1952, Mid Continent had entered into a "through plane" interchange agreement with Eastern Air Lines which enabled single plane service between Kansas City and Miami, Florida, via intermediate stops in St. Louis, Atlanta, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida.

Mid Continent Airlines celebrated its 90th anniversary during 2018. This anniversary coincided with the 90th Anniversary Celebration of Braniff Airways, which also began service during the same year on June 20.

When they merged on August 16, 1952, Mid Continent had a fleet of Douglas DC 3s as well as five Convairliners including Convair 240 and Convair 340 aircraft. The DC 3s were operated for several more years while the Convair 240s were retired during 1953. The new Convairs continued flying for Braniff Airways until the mid 1960s. The airline had six Convair 340s on order at the time of the merger.

February 27, 1951, Convair CV 240 2 (N90664) crashed on climbout from Tulsa International Airport after the flaps were retracted at a too low air speed following engine problems; all 34 passengers and crew survived, but the aircraft was written off. The aircraft was operating a Minneapolis Houston service with intermediate stops. March 2, 1951, Mid Continent Airlines Flight 16, a Douglas DC 3A (N19928), stalled and crashed at Sioux City, Iowa while making a turn to land, killing 16 of 25 on board. The aircraft was operating a Kansas City Minneapolis service with intermediate stops. June 11, 1941, just after midnight, Mid Continent Airlines Flight 8, a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, registered as NC16058, originated at Tulsa, Oklahoma, at 7:30 p. m., with Minneapolis, Minnesota, as its terminating destination. Intermediate stops at Kansas City, Missouri, Omaha, Nebraska, Sioux City, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, Huron, and Watertown, South Dakota, were scheduled to be made on the route. On approach to Sioux City, the aircraft made a downwind approach and landing and subsequently landed to far down the runway to prevent exiting the runway end across a road and into a field in an upright position. The probable cause was determined to be inaccurate weather observation made by the Company radio operator and reported to the flight crew, resulting in pilot making a downwind landing. A contributing factor was failure of the airport lighting system appropriately and accurately light the runway area.

The trademarks, logos, likenesses, slogans and copyrights of Mid Continent Airlines are currently owned by Braniff Airways, Inc. Braniff Airways Foundation administers Mid Continent's intellectual property for Braniff Airways, Inc. Mid Continent's name and Native American Chief Wapello logo are registered trademarks of Braniff Airways, Inc.