Paul Ernest Richter Jr. (January 20, 1896 – May 15, 1949) was an American aviation pioneer, co-founder of Standard Airlines and executive vice president of Trans World Airlines, operations chief of staff of the

Naval Air Transport Service The Naval Air Transport Service or NATS, was a branch of the United States Navy from 1941 to 1948. At its height during World War II, NATS's totaled four wings of 18 squadrons that operated 540 aircraft with 26,000 personnel assigned. Formation ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and chairman of the board, president of

TACA Airlines Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano, (''Air Transports of the American Continent'', known and branded formerly as TACA International), operating as Avianca El Salvador, is an airline owned by Kingsland Holdings based in El Salvador. As ...

from 1947 to 1949.

Early life

Richter was born on January 20, 1896, to cattle ranchers Paul and Margaret Richter in Denver, Colorado. While growing up, Richter worked on the family ranch in

Wiggins, Colorado Wiggins is a statutory town in Morgan County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,401 as of the 2020 census, up from 893 at the 2010 census. The community was established in 1882 as the Burlington Railroad depot of "Corona". Around ...

, as a "cub" reporter for the Denver Post, and at his father's advertising agency. He attended Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts for one year.

Airline career

Richter learned to fly at Burdett Field in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, under to tutelage of Burdett Fuller. Richter received his pilot's license #309 in 1924, Air Transport license #501 in 1927 and Aircraft and Engine Mechanic license #702 in 1927. Richter became good friends with one of Fuller's flight instructors,

Jack Frye William John "Jack" Frye (March 18, 1904 - February 3, 1959) was an aviation pioneer in the airline industry. Frye founded Standard Air Lines which eventually took him into a merger with Trans World Airlines (TWA) where he became president. Frye ...

, and another student pilot, Walter Hamilton. Richter and Frye had much in common, they both grew up on a cattle ranch and moved to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to pursue aviation careers. In 1925, Richter and Frye earned positions with Hollywood's famous "Thirteen Black Cats", an aviation stunt team for the movie industry. In 1926, Richter, Frye and Hamilton, pooled their money together and founded Aero Corporation of California. Aero Corp bought Fuller's business and provided charter services, aerial surveying, sightseeing, flight instruction, and crop dusting. Hamilton, who had been a mechanic for the Duesenberg Motors Company, ran their aircraft maintenance operation. Richter competed as an award-winning air race pilot with the Aero Corp airplanes. Richter, Frye and Hamilton founded Standard Airlines in 1927 as a subsidiary of Aero Corp and started scheduled passenger service between

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, and

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

. Within a year they added

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

to the route. In 1929, Richter and Frye set a commercial aircraft altitude record of in one of Standard's

Fokker F-10 The Fokker F-10 was an enlarged development of the Fokker F.VII airliner, built in the late 1920s by the Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America. It carried 12 passengers, four more than the F.VII, and had a larger wing and more powerful engines ...

tri-motor aircraft. In March 1930,

Western Air Express Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and ...

bought controlling interest in Aero Corp, but continued to operate Standard Airlines as a separate airline. Western Air Express made Richter, Frye, and Hamilton Vice Presidents of the Standard Division. In July 1930,

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...

Walter Folger Brown forced the merger between

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 ...

(TAT) and Western Air Express, to create Transcontinental and Western Air (T&WA). However, Standard Airlines would go to

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 ...

as part of the deal due to its southern route into

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Richter, Frye, and Hamilton elected to stay with T&WA. Richter was made Vice President of the Western Division, Frye was made Vice President of Operations, and Hamilton made Maintenance Superintendent. T&WA changed its name to

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

, and due to this trio was known as "The Airline Run by Flyers." In 1934 Richter was made Vice President of Operations and Director, and Frye was made president and director. Richter became executive vice president in 1938. In 1937, Richter and Frye founded "Conquistadores del Cielo" (Conquerors of the Sky), an annual gathering of top airline executives at a dude ranch in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. After Frye resigned from TWA due to a dispute with owner

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

in 1947, Richter was offered the position of president but decided to resign as well. From 1947 to 1949, Richter served as chairman and president of

of Central and South America.

Military career

Richter enlisted as a Private in the army in 1918, but

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended while he was still in training. After the war, he was accepted into Field Artillery Officer Training and graduated in 1919 as a Second Lieutenant. Richter remained in the Army Reserves until 1934. In 1942, Richter reported for duty with the United States Navy and was made Lieutenant Commander and Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations,

. In 1944, Richter was promoted to captain and made Chief of Staff of the Naval Air Transport Service. Richter was released from active duty in 1945, and returned to work at TWA. In 1946, Richter received the Legion of Merit for his work with the Naval Air Transport Service. Richter returned briefly to active duty in 1948 to help consolidate the

with the

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

, creating the Military Air Transport Service.

Death and honors

Richter died on May 15, 1949, at his home in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

from a cerebral hemorrhage shortly after he took a position with the

Coca Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups ...

. Richter is on the Wall of Honor at the

Smithsonian Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...

. The

University of Central Missouri The University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a public university in Warrensburg, Missouri. In 2019, enrollment was 11,229 students from 49 states and 59 countries on its 1,561-acre campus. UCM offers 150 programs of study, including 10 pre-profes ...

has the "Paul E. Richter TWA" scholarship for aviation students.

References

External links

dmairfield profile

TWA historical site

Richter UCM College ScholarshipTWA Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, Paul E. Airline founders American aviators 1896 births Trans World Airlines people 1949 deaths Kansas City metropolitan area American aviation businesspeople Aviators from Colorado Commercial aviators Aviation pioneers Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy personnel of World War II