This collection consisted of miscellaneous material, including annual reports, for companies that were later acquired by Republic Airlines.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consisted of miscellaneous material, including annual reports for all companies that eventually came under Republic Airlines: route maps, photographs of various aircraft used, and publicity stickers, stamps, and notices. Press releases and newsletters are held for some of the companies. Much of the collection of press releases, progress reports, and information packets centers on the Boeing 727 series, the Boeing 747SP series, and the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 series. This collection also includes Bonanza Air Lines negatives.
Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
Biographical / Historical:
This collection consist of various materials belonging to a group of airlines that eventually came under Republic Airlines. The product of mergers, this airline found its start in the small, postwar feeder airlines of the Mid- and Southwest. The nine small companies that became Republic include: West Coast Airlines, Wisconsin Central Airlines, North Central Airlines, Southwest Airways, Southern Airways, Bonanza Air Lines, Pacific Air Lines, Air West, and finally, Hughes Air West.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
United States - Commuter Airlines (Including Scheduled Air Taxis) (F5150000)
Collection Creator:
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Scope and Contents:
Davies arranged commuter dossiers into thirteen numeric geographic regions (please note that these do not correspond to FAA regional offices).
Biographical / Historical:
Air taxis arose when small airlines began to provide short flights between areas that didn't have service from a trunk or local service airline (often to small islands). Initially, the flights were like taxis, hirable from a fixed point to anywhere within range, but as service expanded, the schedules became more fixed. The initial term for these airlines was "Third Level," with the CAB rule exemptions allowing them to operate schedule services with aircraft lighter than 12500 lbs. As these airlines expanded, with the aircraft becoming larger, in 1969, the CAB created a new category of scheduled airline—Commuter Air Carriers—airlines which provided at least five round trips per week between two or more points. Davies notes in his book Commuter Airlines of the United States that his list of commuter airlines includes scheduled air taxis, third-level carriers, and commuter airlines. He also states, "the more recent term 'regional airlines,' though widely used is not strictly appropriate, as it includes many airlines that are neither short-haul carriers no operators of small equipment—essential elements in any definition of commuter airlines."
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
United States - Local Service (Regional) Airlines (F5130000)
Collection Creator:
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Biographical / Historical:
In 1944, the CAB established a new airline classification, "feeder," to specialize in shorter, sparser traffic routes between minor cities, and which could provide feeder or branch lines to the main trunk routes of certified trunk domestic trunk airlines. With the expansion of post-war service, more feeder companies began service by the end of 1946. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the use of permanent certificates for these airlines, now designated as "local service." By the late 1960s, the term "regional" came into common use as the local service airlines were vying for a larger portion of the air routes, competing with the big trunks, but were also vulnerable to takeover bids and mergers. Davies marks 1971 as the "symbolic end of the true Local Service era" when Allegheny, the largest, merged with Mohawk, the former largest.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Arrangement:
Davies divided local services/regional airlines geographically: Continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaiian and Trust Territories. Within these regions, dossiers are organized alphabetically by airline and by Davies' original order inside the binders.
Biographical / Historical:
In 1944, the CAB established a new airline classification, "feeder," to specialize in shorter, sparser traffic routes between minor cities, and which could provide feeder or branch lines to the main trunk routes of certified trunk domestic trunk airlines. With the expansion of post-war service, more feeder companies began service by the end of 1946. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the use of permanent certificates for these airlines, now designated as "local service." By the late 1960s, the term "regional" came into common use as the local service airlines were vying for a larger portion of the air routes, competing with the big trunk airlines, but were also vulnerable to takeover bids and mergers. Davies marks 1971 as the "symbolic end of the true Local Service era" when Allegheny, the largest, merged with Mohawk, the former largest.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
United States - Commuter Airlines (Including Scheduled Air Taxis)
Collection Creator:
Davies, R. E. G. (Ronald Edward George) Search this
Type:
Archival materials
Arrangement:
Davies arranged commuter dossiers into thirteen numeric geographic regions (please note that these do not correspond to FAA regional offices). Within each region, Davies usually placed a regional map and timeline at the front of the dossier. Then airlines are sometimes arranged by state, sometimes alphabetically by airline. Materials are in Davies' original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Air taxies arose when small airlines began to provide short flights between areas that didn't have service from a trunk or local service airline (often to small islands). Initially, the flights were like taxis, hirable from a fixed point to anywhere within range, but as service expanded, the schedules became more fixed. The initial term for these airlines was "Third Level," with the CAB rule exemptions allowing them to operate schedule services with aircraft lighter than 12500 lbs. As these airlines expanded, with the aircraft becoming larger, in 1969, the CAB created a new category of scheduled airline—Commuter Air Carriers—airlines which provided at least five round trips per week between two or more points.
Davies notes in his book Commuter Airlines of the United States that his list of commuter airlines includes scheduled air taxis, third-level carriers, and commuter airlines. He also states, "the more recent term 'regional airlines,' though widely used is not strictly appropriate, as it includes many airlines that are neither short-haul carriers nor operators of small equipment—essential elements in any definition of commuter airlines."
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Collection Citation:
R. E. G. (Ron) Davies Air Transport Collection, Acc. NASM.XXXX.0604, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Helicopter Air Service Program: Hearings before the Aviation Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-Ninth Congress, First Session on Helicopter Air Service Program, March 8-11, 1965, US Government (Washington, DC) Serial No. 89-4.
Collection Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Collection Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
New York Airways Collection, Acc. NASM.1992.0052, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
