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West Coast Airlines First Flight Portland Oregon - Chehalis Washington RARE 1946
West Coast Airlines First Flight Portland Oregon - Chehalis Washington RARE 1946
West Coast Airlines First Flight Portland Oregon - Chehalis Washington RARE 1946

West Coast Airlines First Flight Portland Oregon - Chehalis Washington RARE 1946

$ 7.92

  • Certification: Uncertified
  • Country: United States
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Event: First Flight
  • Exact Topic: Aviation History
  • Exact Type: Postal History
  • Grade: Ungraded
  • Modified Item: No
  • Place of Origin: United States
  • Quality: First Flight Cover
  • Topic: Aviation
  • Type: Transportation

Description

In May 1946, the Civil Aeronautics Board authorized West Coast Airlines to operate feeder air mail service in Oregon and Washington. The Seattle to Portland segment of Air Mail Route 77 was inaugurated on December 5, 1946, with service deferred at Tacoma and Kelso, Washington. There were actually two separate routes flown between the terminals of Seattle and Portland — the first from Seattle - Olympia - Aberdeen / Hoquiam - Astoria - Portland, and the second from Seattle - Olympia - Chehalis - Portland. Aberdeen and Hoquiam were both served through the Moon Island Airport. No cachet was provided for the few pieces of mail dispatched from Portland. This cover was carried on the Air Mail Route 77 inaugural flight from Portland, Oregon to Chehalis, Washington (where it was backstamped) and is listed in the Contract Air Mail Flights (CAM) Section of The American Air Mail Catalogue as 77S4. Perry Nahl, a former Editor-in-Chief of the American Air Mail Catalogue, prepared the cover. 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.