National Airlines was a trunk carrier, a scheduled airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with Pan Am in 1980.Information about National Airlines at the Aero Transport Data Bank For most of its existence the company was headquartered at Miami International Airport, Florida. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast" flights, linking Florida and Gulf Coast destinations such as New Orleans and Houston with cities along the East Coast as far north as Boston as well as with large cities on the West Coast, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.National Airlines 1964 timetable, at timetableimages.com From 1970 to 1978, National, Braniff International Airways, Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), and Trans World Airlines (TWA) were the only U.S. airlines permitted to operate scheduled passenger flights to Europe.Image collection of National Airlines timetables, at timetableimages.com
History 1930s George T. Baker and D. K. Franklin created a partnership called National Airlines Taxi System to fly an airmail route from Daytona Beach to St. Petersburg, Florida, pursuant to a contract with the Post Office dated August 2, 1934. The route was operated continuously from October 15, 1934. On January 6, 1935, Franklin signed over his rights to Baker, and on March 1, 1935, Baker took over the contract as a sole proprietor, operating under the name National Airlines System until September 30, 1937. On that day, Baker's rights to the airmail contract and all property used to operate the contract were transferred to National Airlines, Inc., under a contract signed July 12, 1937. The new entity, National Airlines, was incorporated in Florida on 8 July 1937.
National Airlines was founded by George T. Baker (1899–1963) in 1934. Its headquarters were in St. Petersburg, Florida, and it was based at the city's Albert Whitted Airport. On October 15 of that year, revenue flights were launched, transporting passengers and mail from St. Petersburg to a few destinations within Florida using a fleet of two Ryan ST monoplanes.Photos of National Airlines timetables and route maps, at airtimes.com In 1935, the Stinson Trimotor was introduced with National Airlines, which were soon replaced by the Lockheed Model 10 Electra.1937 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com In 1939, the company headquarters were moved to Jacksonville. By the end of the decade, the National Airlines network spanned from Miami to New Orleans,National Airlines 1938 timetable, at timetableimages.com on what it called the Buccaneer Route.
1940s
In 1940 the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar became the backbone of National's fleet. National was awarded rights from Florida to New York City and other cities along the East Coast in 1944, with flights starting in 1945.Airline to the playgrounds of the world. The Boeing Magazine, January 1964 page 3 , page 4 , page 5 In 1946 National got approval to fly to Havana, Cuba, which coincided with the introduction of the Douglas DC-4. The DC-4 allowed non-stop flights between Miami and New YorkNational Airlines 1947 timetable, at timetableimages.com that started on February 14, 1946. Later that year National relocated its headquarters to Miami International Airport; a maintenance base opened at Miami in 1950.National Airlines 1952 timetable, at timetableimages.com
The Douglas DC-6, National's first pressurized airliner, began flights on July 1, 1947 and reduced New York to Miami flight time from five to four hours. Flights on the DC-6 were marketed as Star Service. National ran the Piggy Bank Vacations campaign, promoting low-fare flights to Florida during the off-peak summer season.National Airlines 1954 timetable, at timetableimages.com
1950s This decade saw the introduction of the Convair 340/440, the Douglas DC-7, and the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation.National Airlines 1958 timetable, at timetableimages.com On December 10, 1958, National became the first airline to operate domestic jet flights, using a Boeing 707 leased from Pan American World Airways between Miami and New York. In 1959 the Lockheed L-188 Electra was introduced into the fleet. It was the only turboprop aircraft type ever operated by the airline.Image of National Airlines 1959 advert, at airtimes.com At the end of the decade, Houston and Boston were the ends of the network, with heavy emphasis on service between Florida and the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.
1960s With the award of traffic rights on the southern transcontinental route on March 11, 1961, National Airlines gained access to California and began operating new Douglas DC-8s between Florida and Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a number of flights stopping in Houston and/or New OrleansMarch 2, 1962 National timetable (previously, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and National had together operated Douglas DC-6s and DC-7s between Miami and California). In March 1962, National scheduled one round trip transcontinental nonstop flight: National flights 34 and 35 between Miami and Los Angeles on DC-8s. Concerning international destinations in Central and South America, a cooperation involving interchange flights with Pan Am was set up.1962 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com
In the early 1960s, National started a new service with the Lockheed Electra propjet to Las Vegas and San Diego. Eastbound coast to coast routes flown with the Electra included San Diego-Los Angeles-Houston-New Orleans-Miami and San Francisco-Las Vegas-Houston-New Orleans-Tampa-Orlando-Jacksonville. National had other long, multistop routings with the Electra ,such as Boston-New York City-Jacksonville-Orlando-Tampa-New Orleans-Houston-Las Vegas-San Francisco. National fFight 223 departed Boston at 7:30am and arrived in San Francisco at 8:42pm.
In 1962 Louis Bergman "Bud" Maytag, Jr. (grandson of Maytag Corporation founder Frederick Louis Maytag I), who had previously led Frontier Airlines bought a majority share in National Airlines and replaced George T. Baker as CEO. In 1960 the airline modernized its fleet with new Douglas DC-8s, followed by ten new Boeing 727-100 trijets, the first of which was delivered in 1964.
After the retirement of the Electras in 1968, National became an all-jet airline with the DC-8 and 727. The airline introduced the first jet service into Key West, FL, in 1968 with the Boeing 727-100. The Douglas DC-8 fleet included the stretched Super DC-8-61, which was the largest aircraft type operated by the airline until the introduction of new wide-body jetliners such as the Boeing 747 and McDonnell Douglas DC-10. In 1969 National flew the Super DC-8 nonstop between Miami and New York JFK airport and nonstop between Miami and Los Angeles, flights having names such as "The Royal Biscayne," "The Royal Dolphin," "The Gotham," and "The Manhattan" between Miami and New York, and "The Californian" and "The Caribbean" between Miami and Los Angeles.July 15, 1969 National timetable
On July 26, 1969, the Atlanta-San Francisco nonstop route was awarded to National, and service began on October 1, 1969. It was National's only route out of Atlanta.
1970s
A $17 million IBM electronic computer reservation system, called Res-A-Vision, was completed and put into operation in 1970.
On June 16, 1970, National Airlines reintroduced international flights, when their Miami-London route opened (flights to Cuba were suspended in 1961 after the Cuban Revolution). With the London route, they became the third U.S. transatlantic passenger carrier, after Pan Am and TWA.
In the fall of 1970, the Boeing 747-100 jumbo jet, at that time the largest commercial airliner, entered service with National on the Miami-New York nonstop route on October 1, 1970, and the Miami-Los Angeles transcontinental nonstop route on October 25, 1970. National sold its 747s in May 1976. Also in 1970, National Airlines opened their own terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which was dubbed the Sundrome.Information about the Sundrome by its architects, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
Following an order for ten aircraft in 1969, the widebody McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 was put in service on the Miami-New York route on December 15, 1971. A 1971 publicity campaign designed by F. William Free promoting National's flight attendants was criticized by the National Organization for Women as being sexist due to the slogan "I'm (flight attendant's name). Fly me. Fly National," or similar. Seeing one of these posters in Manchester inspired Eric Stewart of 10cc to write the band's 1976 hit song "I'm Mandy Fly Me".
A proposed merger of National Airlines and Northwest Orient Airlines was announced on September 23, 1971, as an effort to combine National’s Florida, East Coast, and southern transcontinental network with Northwest’s Upper Midwest, western U.S., and trans-Pacific system, creating a geographically complementary national and international airline. Under the agreement, National would be absorbed into Northwest, with National shareholders receiving 0.85 Northwest shares for each National share; shareholders of both companies overwhelmingly approved the transaction in December 1971. The airlines argued that the merger would generate operating economies, improve aircraft utilization, connect complementary seasonal traffic flows, and provide passengers with expanded through-service while eliminating relatively little direct competition. However, the proposal faced opposition from labor unions and the Department of Justice and Civil Aeronautics Board staff, who argued that both airlines were financially viable independent competitors and that eliminating one major trunk carrier could reduce competition. After CAB hearings in early 1972, examiner Robert L. Park recommended against approval on May 22, concluding that the claimed benefits did not justify the loss of an independent airline. Although the decision was only an examiner’s recommendation rather than a final CAB rejection, prolonged regulatory uncertainty weakened support for the transaction, and on November 28, 1972, National’s board unilaterally terminated the merger agreement before the full board issued a final decision.
In May 1973, the front cover of the airline's system timetable proudly proclaimed, "National has daily nonstop 747s from Miami to London". By early 1976, the airline was operating scheduled wide body DC-10 service to Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New Orleans (MSY), Orlando (MCO), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), Tampa (TPA), West Palm Beach (PBI) and all three airports in the New York City area: John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), and Newark (EWR).February 1, 1976 Official Airline Guide (OAG), National Airlines flight schedules for EWR, IAH, JFK, LAS, LAX, LGA, MIA, MSY, MCO, PBI, SAN, SFO and TPA. With the advent of the intercontinental McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, National Airlines then expanded their European network by adding Paris (inaugurated on June 22, 1977), as well as Frankfurt, Amsterdam (both in 1978) and Zürich (in 1979). National began the very first nonstop flights from New Orleans to Europe (to Amsterdam) on July 2, 1978. National then began nonstop New York Kennedy (JFK)-Amsterdam flights on December 13, 1978, taking the route over from Pan Am.
National was criticized in 1974 by the Civil Aeronautics Board for giving preferential treatment to Rudy Vallée, allowing him to travel between Los Angeles and Florida with more than 20 bags without charges for excess baggage.
In 1975, National was forced to shut down for several months due to a strike by flight attendants.