Business Traveler, June 2019
J U N E 2 0 1 9 b u s i n e s s t r a v e l e r u s a c o m 5 4 TA K E O F F S L A N D I N G S LUFTHANSA The early 1920s was a competitive time for airline startups in Germany Aircraft carried mostly mail bags and parcels and a few daring passengers in open aircraft that had no radio contact with the ground During this time two private commercial German airlines emerged Deutsche Aero Llyod and Junkers Luftverkehr The two airlines combined into one subsidized airline on Jan 6 1926 forming Deutsche Luft Hansa AG the predecessor of todays Lufthansa chronik lufthansagroup com QANTAS Founded as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services QANTAS was originally created with the idea to provide transportation and mail service between Australias remote outback settlements The airline was founded on Nov 16 1920 with a fleet of two planes and in that first year alone flew 871 passengers on joy rides and demonstration flights QANTAS began scheduled airmail service between Charleville and Cloncurry the next year qantas com UNITED AIRLINES Uniteds predecessor Varney Airlines was founded in 1926 by Walter T Varney That same year Varney Airlines conducted the the first air mail delivery from Pasco WA to Boise ID on April 6 1926 Varney Airlines merged with four aircraft manufacturing companies including Boeing Air Transport in 1927 to become an airline conglomerate known as United Aircraft Transport Corporation in March 1931 The company faced pressure from Congress and antitrust investigators and dissolved in 1934 From this the independent operating company known as United Airlines was born hub united com SO WHO IS THE WINNER It really depends on how technical you want to get You could argue that KLM deserves the title since they have been operating under the same name continually since Oct 1919 without mergers Or you could argue British Airways is the oldest airline as they can trace their roots back to AT Ts inaugural London to Paris flight in Aug 1919 What is interesting is that by British Airways own measurements Air France has the biggest claim to the title as their first predecessor was formed in 1918 In other parts of the world Qantas and Avianca were the first pioneers into commercial flight and helped transport mail passengers and other goods as early as 1920 Latecomers to the party were the US carriers which got their starts in the mid to late 1920s Regardless of the technical winner it is clear that the early twentieth century was a crucial era for the airline industry Without the innovation of early pilots and entrepreneurs the airline industry would not have grown into what it is today BT ABOVE British Airways is celebrating its centenary in 2019 by announcing plans to paint selected aircraft with retro BOAC livery from the 1960s and 1970s LEFT An Imperial Airwaysoperated De Havilland DH86 This plane was used on the first ever Penang to Hong Kong sector flight on March 14 1936
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