Universal Air Lines was an
airline
An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
based in the United States.
History
Universal Air Lines was an air-rail conglomerate competing with rival
Transcontinental Air Transport
Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with Western Air Express to form what became TWA. Keys enlisted the help of Charles Lindbergh to design a transcontinental network ...
. Universal Air Lines was a subsidiary of the
Universal Aviation Corporation
Universal Aviation Corporation was an airline holding company based in United States.
History
Universal Aviation Corporation was stood up to merge operations of Universal Air Lines Corporation, Robertson Aircraft Corporation and Northern Air ...
which included
Robertson Aircraft Corporation
Robertson Aircraft Corporation was a post-World War I American aviation service company based at the Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field near St. Louis, Missouri, that flew passengers and U.S. Air Mail, gave flying lessons, and performed exhibition ...
and
Northern Air Lines In 1929, Universal Air Lines purchased
Braniff Air Lines. In 1929, The Parent company, Universal Aviation Corporation became part of the
Aviation Corporation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes airplane, fixed-wing and helicopter, rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as aerostat, lighter- ...
.
American Airlines
American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
was formed from the merger of Universal and 90 other companies.
Universal Air Lines promoted the new era of air travel with its "Sky Dinner" Fokker Trimotors, with the conveniences of a Pullman train, which amounted to an electric stove prep area, folding tables, and a lavatory. On some Cleveland to Kansas City routes, as many as three Fokker aircraft would fly in formation to the destination.
Universal Air Lines ordered five
Fokker F.32 aircraft. One was painted in the airlines livery, but all orders were canceled as the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
set in.
Destinations
*
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
*
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
*
St.Louis, Missouri
*
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
Fleet
The Universal Air Lines fleet consisted of the following aircraft as of 1929:
Incidents and accidents
Universal Air Lines shared hangar space with NorthWest Airlines at Chicago's Municipal airport. On June 25, 1930, the Universal Air Lines hangar caught fire destroying 27 aircraft, leaving only five. The fire spread to the neighboring
Grey Goose Air Lines hangar.
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
Nasm.si.edu: Universal Air Lines Uniform
Defunct airlines of the United States
Airlines established in 1928
American companies established in 1928
Airlines disestablished in 1934
Defunct companies based in Missouri
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