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panader0

(25,816 posts)

49. Air America

Mon Oct 6, 2014, 10:16 PM

Oct 2014

Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline established in 1950 and covertly owned by the United States Government and was initially a CIA project for intelligence operations in China. The CIA did not have enough work to keep the asset afloat and the National Security Council farmed the airline out to various government entities that included the USAF, U.S Army, USAID and for a brief time the French Republic. Essentially, Air America was used by the U.S. Government covertly and clandestinely to conduct military operations, posing as a civilian air carrier, in areas the U.S. Armed forces could not go due to treaty restraints contained in the 1954 and 1962 Geneva Accords.

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Former major airlines that don't exist anymore: [View all] trof Oct 2014 OP

You forgot Northwest Airlines. Jenoch Oct 2014 #1

Yeah, there were more. trof Oct 2014 #3

Add Piedmont and Chalks... A HERETIC I AM Oct 2014 #2

Piedmont and Eastern were my family airlines when I was a kid... Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #28

From Charlotte? JanMichael Oct 2014 #39

Norfolk, VA Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #40

I think I used to fly on Piedmont from Charlotte to Asheville... Rhiannon12866 Oct 2014 #45

I miss PSA.......it was a local California airline that is no more, either. CaliforniaPeggy Oct 2014 #4

I traveled PSA, too. They were great and cheap. kwassa Oct 2014 #14

I remember them! DFW Oct 2014 #36

Southwest bought them out KamaAina Oct 2014 #37

USAirways bought PSA pink-o Oct 2014 #50

Must have been USAir back then KamaAina Oct 2014 #51

They sold their routes to a lot of carriers. pink-o Oct 2014 #74

They had a promotional hot-air balloon too. cemaphonic Oct 2014 #42

I loved PSA. We flew from the Bay Area to SoCal on it. Arugula Latte Oct 2014 #63

I never had a chance to fly on PAN-AM MrScorpio Oct 2014 #5

You could have taken TWA to the moon. El Supremo Oct 2014 #61

Midway is gone too. NRaleighLiberal Oct 2014 #6

I loved Eastern shenmue Oct 2014 #7

North Cenrtral Airlines was the airline co. that served the area where I lived Kaleva Oct 2014 #8

B-O-A-C IcyPeas Oct 2014 #9

Is that Pete Best on the right side of the picture? Art_from_Ark Oct 2014 #56

no, it's Jimmie Nicol who stood in for Ringo when he was sick... IcyPeas Oct 2014 #57

Western Airlines, 1926-1987 lutefisk Oct 2014 #10

Umm, the entire airplane was a smoking section when I was a child Brother Buzz Oct 2014 #13

I loved those commercials. hifiguy Oct 2014 #59

Oh, wow, what a blast from the past. Arugula Latte Oct 2014 #62

Indeed! I'm guessing we must have heard it a million times over the thirty-forty year run Brother Buzz Oct 2014 #66

Their commercials featured the voice of Jim Backus, begin_within Oct 2014 #52

Found a couple: Arugula Latte Oct 2014 #65

Thanks begin_within Oct 2014 #68

Hughes Airworst madamesilverspurs Oct 2014 #11

Continental, America West, Air Tran, Northwest Initech Oct 2014 #12

Air Tran is still around. kwassa Oct 2014 #15

They pretty much existence in name only. Initech Oct 2014 #19

Southwest is in the process of dismantling them Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #29

is delta still running? n/t orleans Oct 2014 #16

Flew Delta to SFO from DTW last week, so yeah :) auntAgonist Oct 2014 #25

Delta's the one that swallowed up Northwest Art_from_Ark Oct 2014 #27

Delta is doing well Marrah_G Oct 2014 #55

Agony Airlines, er, Allegheny Airlines kwassa Oct 2014 #17

Didn't Allegheny replace Mohawk? Rhiannon12866 Oct 2014 #44

and that was when 'deregulation' went public. elleng Oct 2014 #18

Air Atlanta. The whole plane was first class. n/t RebelOne Oct 2014 #20

Don't forget Northwest Airlines. The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2014 #21

My sis worked NW and made the transition to Delta. Misses the f/a's union. Used to be Teamsters. Sognefjord Oct 2014 #22

I took NWA all the time once I got to grad school... Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #30

I hated flying Northwest. They owned Detroit Metro. kwassa Oct 2014 #31

My only problem with NWA Blue_Tires Oct 2014 #41

1966 my sister flew National back from Germany csziggy Oct 2014 #23

I still have a National dog toy from JFK in 1971 Skittles Oct 2014 #24

Ozark Sherman A1 Oct 2014 #26

Canadian Airlines sharp_stick Oct 2014 #32

I remember a bunch of them DFW Oct 2014 #33

This really hurt. El Supremo Oct 2014 #34

I'll bet! DFW Oct 2014 #35

Aloha KamaAina Oct 2014 #38

I flew Aloha from Honolulu to Kahului, Maui a few times back in the day. panader0 Oct 2014 #48

The first time I flew as a kid, it was on Mohawk. Rhiannon12866 Oct 2014 #43

People's Express tinymontgomery Oct 2014 #46

World Airways shut diwn in March. I flew with them as a service member. bluesbassman Oct 2014 #47

Air America panader0 Oct 2014 #49

Air California, 1967-1987 begin_within Oct 2014 #53

American Trans Air aka ATA AwakeAtLast Oct 2014 #54

There is no longer any such thing as customer service hifiguy Oct 2014 #58

Tree Top Airlines! El Supremo Oct 2014 #60

Tinkertoy Airlines! Manifestor_of_Light Oct 2014 #73

To me the saddest one is PanAm. That always seemed the epitome Arugula Latte Oct 2014 #64

For me the saddest was TWA. But that's a personal story. trof Oct 2014 #67

Same for me and NWA. The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2014 #71

people express Danmel Oct 2014 #69

Western Air Express El Supremo Oct 2014 #70

Pan Am and Eastern were my two favorites. Glorfindel Oct 2014 #72

Air Illinois. greatauntoftriplets Oct 2014 #75

Midway Airlines. Lilyhoney Oct 2014 #76