United Airlines

Facts of the Case

Industry

The first successful flight was conducted by the Wright brothers' in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This would come to be known as the beginning of the aviation industry. In the beginning, the public was slow to embrace airplane travel due to the fact that they believed it to be too dangerous. This outlook of the industry lasted until the United States became involved in World War I. After the war, the government began to decrease funding for research and development, thus slowing the growth of the aviation industry. Even with minimum government backing, some individuals were still able to successfully continue within the industry.

On January 1, 1914, Tony Jannus conducted the United State's first scheduled commercial airline flight on his St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. The flight, which departed from St. Petersburg, Florida and arrived in Tampa, Florida, lasted 23 minutes. Tony Jannus conducted this flight in his Benoist biplane seaplane, which flew at an altitude of 50 feet over the Tampa, Florida area. Chalk's Airlines, which is currently known as Chalk’s International Airlines, began service between Miami, Florida and Bimini, Bahamas in February 1919. Chalk’s, which is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, claims to be the oldest continuously operating airline in the United States.

Following World War I, the United States was full of aviators. Many individuals decided to take their war-surplus aircraft on what were called “barnstorming campaigns”, and performed acrobatic maneuvers for crowds. In 1918, the United States Postal Service received financial support from Congress in order to begin experimenting with air mail service. The USPS initially used an aircraft created by Curtiss Jenny for the Army. Private operators were the first to fly the mail but due to many accidents, the Army took over the duty of mail delivery. During that time, the Army was too unreliable and eventually lost their air mail duties. During the mid-1920s, the United States Postal Service had developed an air mail network of its own, which was based between New York and San Francisco. In order to conduct this service, contracts for routes were given to independent carriers. These carriers were Delta Airlines, Trans World Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Braniff Airways, American Airlines, and Eastern Airlines, to name a few.

Passenger air travel service was slow during the 1920’s because most companies found themselves focused on mail transport. In 1927, however, Charles Lindbergh was able to successfully complete a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This flight created massive interest in flying with the general public. After this, many companies, such as the Ford Motor Company, began to construct and develop aircrafts whose focus would be passenger air travel. The Ford Motor Company developed a division called the Stout Aircraft Company. Stout’s first passenger aircraft, the all-metal Ford Trimotor, was the first successful American airliner. The Trimotor, which had a capacity of twelve passengers, made passenger air travel profitable.

After this, a variety of air transport holding companies began, including Aviation Corporation. The air transport division of the company was called American Airways and later grew to become American Airlines. In 1928, another leading air transport company was created as a holding company by Boeing and its air transport division, United Aircraft and Transportation Corporation. In 1931 the four air transport divisions of United Aircraft merged to become United Airlines. In 1938, the Douglas DC-3 was created. The DC-3 had the ability to transport mail and passengers, thus many companies began to use these planes. The DC-3 was large enough to seat twenty-one people. The design of the DC-3 also allowed for 14 seats and three berths, which were used for sleeping on long flights.

During World War II, the United States sent its commercial fleets and pilots to Europe to participate in the war. The war helped to generate support for aircraft research and development. After the end of the war, many airlines in the Allied countries began to develop aircrafts geared towards passenger and cargo transport. Aircrafts such as the Boeing Stratocruiser, Lockheed Constellation, and Douglas DC-6 were developed. Many of these new aircrafts were based upon the design of American bombers such as the B-29. Most offered increased efficiency in the form of added speed and increased payload. During the 1950’s, there were dramatic improvements in the capacity and comfort of commercial flights. Planes became more modernized. During this time, jet service was also introduced. Aircrafts such as the De Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8, and