National Airlines was an American airline that operated from 1934 to 1980.Information about National Airlines at the Aero Transport Data Bank
/ref> For most of its existence the company was headquartered at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

, Florida. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast" flights, linking Florida and the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Missis ...

such as New Orleans and Houston with cities along the East Coast as far north as Boston as well as with large cities on the West Coast including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.National Airlines 1964 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> From 1970 to 1978, National,

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

(Pan Am) and

Trans World Airlines 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 F ...

(TWA) were the only U.S. airlines that were permitted to operate scheduled passenger flights to Europe.Image collection of National Airlines timetables, at timetableimages.com
/ref>

History

1930s

National Airlines was founded by George T. Baker (1899–1963) in 1934. Its headquarters were in St. Petersburg, Florida and it was based at the city's

Albert Whitted Airport Albert Whitted Airport is a public airport in St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is on the west edge of Tampa Bay, just southeast of downtown St. Petersburg and east of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Hi ...

. On October 15 of that year, revenue flights were launched, transporting passengers and mail from St. Petersburg to a few destinations within Florida using a fleet of two

Ryan ST The Ryan STs were a series of two seat, low-wing monoplane aircraft built in the United States by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. They were used as sport aircraft, as well as trainers by flying schools and the militaries of several countries ...

monoplanes.Photos of National Airlines timetables and route maps, at airtimes.com
/ref> In 1935, the

Stinson Trimotor Stinson may refer to: * Stinson, Ontario *Stinson (surname) *Stinson Aircraft Company *Stinson Lake, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, in the town of Rumney *Stinson Municipal Airport, San Antonio, Texas *Stinson Theatres, a Canadian movie t ...

was introduced with National Airlines, which were soon replaced by the

Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained considerable fame as one was ...

.1937 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> In 1939, the company headquarters were moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the c ...

. By the end of the decade, the National Airlines network spanned from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

National Airlines 1938 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> on what it called the ''

Buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688, ...

Route''.

1940s

Revenue passenger miles for years ending June 30: * 1936: 249,799 * 1938: 653,688 * 1939: 1,340,050 * 1940: 3,465,316 * 1941: 7,264,322 * 1946: 108,760,267 In 1940 the

Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era. Design and development Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, which first flew in 1937, had proved disappointing, despite the ai ...

became the backbone of National's fleet. National was awarded rights from Florida to New York City and other cities along the East Coast in 1944, with flights starting in 1945.''Airline to the playgrounds of the world''. The Boeing Magazine, January 196
page 3

page 4

page 5
In 1946 National got approval to fly to

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, Cuba, which coincided with the introduction of the

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

. The DC-4 allowed non-stop flights between Miami and New YorkNational Airlines 1947 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> that started on February 14, 1946. Later that year National relocated its headquarters to

; a maintenance base opened at Miami in 1950.National Airlines 1952 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> The

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...

, National's first pressurized airliner, began flights on July 1, 1947 and reduced New York to Miami flight time from five to four hours. Flights on the DC-6 were marketed as ''Star Service''. National ran the ''Piggy Bank Vacations'' campaign, promoting low-fare flights to Florida during the off-peak summer season.National Airlines 1954 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref>

1950s

This decade saw the introduction of the Convair 340/440, the

Douglas DC-7 The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the ear ...

, and the

Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produ ...

.National Airlines 1958 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> On December 10, 1958, National became the first airline to operate domestic jet flights, using a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December ...

leased from

between Miami and New York. In 1959 the

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensi ...

was introduced into the fleet. It was the only turboprop aircraft type ever operated by the airline.Image of National Airlines 1959 advert, at airtimes.com
/ref> At the end of the decade Houston and Boston were the ends of the network with heavy emphasis on service between Florida and the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.

1960s

With the award of traffic rights on the southern transcontinental route on March 11, 1961, National Airlines gained access to California and began operating new

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...

s between Florida and Los Angeles and San Francisco with a number of flights stopping in Houston and/or New OrleansMarch 2, 1962 National timetable
/ref> (previously,

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passenge ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along wi ...

and National had together operated

s and DC-7s through between Miami and California). In March 1962, National scheduled one round trip transcontinental nonstop: National flights 34 and 35 between Miami and Los Angeles on DC-8s. Concerning international destinations in Central and South America, a cooperation involving interchange flights with

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

was set up.1962 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> In the early 1960s National started new service with the Lockheed Electra propjet to Las Vegas and San Diego. Eastbound coast to coast routes flown with the Electra included San Diego-Los Angeles-Houston-New Orleans-Miami and San Francisco-Las Vegas-Houston-New Orleans-Tampa-Orlando-Jacksonville. National had other long, multistop routings with the Electra such as Boston-New York City-Jacksonville-Orlando-Tampa-New Orleans-Houston-Las Vegas-San Francisco. National flight 223 departed Boston at 7:30am and arrived in San Francisco at 8:42pm. In 1962 Louis Bergman "Bud" Maytag, Jr. (grandson of

Maytag The Maytag Corporation is an American home and commercial appliance company owned by Whirlpool Corporation since April 2006. Company history The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded in 1893 by businessman Frederick Maytag. In 1925, ...

Corporation founder

Frederick Louis Maytag I Frederick Louis Maytag I (July 14, 1857 – March 26, 1937) also known as F. L. Maytag, founded the Maytag Company, which eventually became the Maytag Corporation which was acquired by the Whirlpool Corporation in 2006. Birth F.L. Maytag was ...

), who had previously led

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

bought a majority share in National Airlines and replaced George T. Baker as CEO. In 1960 the airline modernized its fleet with new

s, followed by ten new

Boeing 727-100 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpor ...

trijets, the first of which was delivered in 1964. After the retirement of the Electras in 1968, National became an all-jet airline with the DC-8 and 727. The airline introduced the first jet service into Key West, FL in 1968 with the Boeing 727-100. The Douglas DC-8 fleet included the stretched Super DC-8-61 which was the largest aircraft type operated by the airline until the introduction of new wide body jetliners such as the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

and

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the Douglas DC-8, DC-8 for long-Range (aeronautics), range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; i ...

. In 1969 National flew the Super DC-8 nonstop between Miami and New York JFK airport and nonstop between Miami and Los Angeles, flights having names such as "The Royal Biscayne", "The Royal Dolphin", "The Gotham" and "The Manhattan" between Miami and New York, and "The Californian" and "The Caribbean" between Miami and Los Angeles. On July 26, 1969, the Atlanta-San Francisco nonstop route was awarded to National and service began on October 1, 1969. It was National's only route out of Atlanta.

1970s

A $17 million IBM electronic computer reservation system, called Res-A-Vision, was completed and put into operation in 1970. On June 16, 1970, National Airlines reintroduced international flights, when their Miami-

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

route opened (flights to Cuba were suspended in 1961 due to the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cour ...

). With the London route, they became the third U.S. transatlantic passenger carrier, after Pan Am and TWA. In the fall of 1970, the Boeing 747-100 jumbo jet, at that time the largest commercial airliner, entered service with National on the Miami-New York nonstop route on October 1, 1970, and the Miami-

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

transcontinental nonstop route on October 25, 1970. National sold its 747s in May 1976. Also in 1970, National Airlines opened their own terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which was dubbed the ''

Sundrome The Sundrome, later TWA Domestic Terminal and Terminal 6, was one of several terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was designed by I. M. Pei & Partners (now Pei Cobb Freed & Partners). Opened in 1969, it was initially used by Na ...

''. Having placed an order for ten aircraft back in 1969, the wide body McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 was put in service on the Miami-New York route on December 15, 1971. A 1971 publicity campaign designed by

F. William Free F. William Free (August 28, 1928 – January 1, 2003) was an American advertising executive. He is best remembered for the controversial 1971 advertising slogan for National Airlines, "I'm Cheryl – Fly Me." Career Early career and Marschalk ye ...

promoting National's flight attendants was criticized by the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

as being sexist due to the slogan "I'm (flight attendant's name). Fly me.", or similar. Seeing one of these posters in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

inspired

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 10 ...

10cc 10cc are an English rock band formed in Stockport in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians – Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – who had written and recorded together since 1968. The group feat ...

to write the band's 1976 hit song "

I'm Mandy Fly Me "I'm Mandy Fly Me" is a single by 10cc released in 1976. It was taken from the '' How Dare You!'' album, and reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart. Writing and recording In a radio interview, Stewart recalled the origins of the song: He contin ...

". In May 1973, the front cover of the airline's system timetable proudly proclaimed, "National has daily nonstop 747s from Miami to London". By early 1976, the airline was operating scheduled wide body DC-10 service to Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New Orleans (MSY), Orlando (MCO), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), Tampa (TPA), West Palm Beach (PBI) and all three airports in the New York City area: John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR). With the advent of the intercontinental

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

, National Airlines then expanded their European network by adding

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

(inaugurated on June 22, 1977), as well as

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(both in 1978) and Zurich (in 1979). National began the very first nonstop flights from New Orleans to Europe (to Amsterdam) on July 2, 1978. National then began nonstop New York Kennedy (JFK)-Amsterdam flights on December 13, 1978, taking the route over from Pan Am. In 1975, National was forced to shut down for several months due to a strike by flight attendants. In the late 1970s, several airlines attempted to take over National Airlines, which had become a major player in the southern transcontinental and Florida-East Coast airline markets. In 1978,

Texas International Airlines Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States airline, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTa), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. ...

(which was led by Frank Lorenzo at that time) acquired 24.6 percent of the shares, but did not succeed in the subsequent

tender offer In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded cor ...

takeover bid. A similar attempt was made by

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

in 1979. At the same time, the shares held by Texas International were sold to

, who emerged as a

white knight A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...

and succeeded in accumulating a controlling majority.

Acquisition by Pan Am

On January 7, 1980, the acquisition of National was completed, with Pan Am taking over the National Airlines fleet and route network. Pan Am continued to utilize the former National Miami maintenance base and headquarters building until Pan Am itself ceased operations in December 1991. Much later, National's "Sun King" logo was sold and "repackaged" much like Pan Am's to appear upon the branding of start up "

low cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

" Southeast Airlines aircraft. Most industry analysts believe that Pan Am paid too high a price for National, and was ill-prepared to integrate National's domestic route network with Pan Am's own globe-girdling international network. The cultures of National and Pan Am also proved to be incompatible, making workforce integration difficult. Texas International walked away from their foiled attempt with a multi-million dollar stock profit and was poised for Lorenzo's next ventures—a startup airline in the high-density East Coast corridor (

New York Air New York Air was a low-cost U.S. airline owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines. New York Ai ...

), and subsequent acquisition of

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

Route network

National Airlines operated scheduled flights to the following U.S. cities: National also operated scheduled flights to the following destinations in Europe and the Caribbean:

Fleet

Boeing 727-235, National Airlines AN0987417

When National Airlines was acquired by Pan Am in 1980, the fleet consisted of 43

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airp ...

aircraft (19 of the original series 100 model and 24 of the stretched series 200 variant), as well as 16

airliners (11 of the series 10 model used in domestic service and five of the intercontinental series 30 model used for service to Europe). Over the years, National owned the following aircraft types:

Sun King Club

Domestic

* Fort Lauderdale * Houston * Miami * Jacksonville * Los Angeles * New Orleans * New York (Kennedy) * New York (LaGuardia) * Newark * Orlando * San Francisco * Tampa * Washington (National) * West Palm Beach

International

* Amsterdam * Frankfurt * London (Heathrow) * Paris (Orly)

Incidents and accidents

Fatal

*On October 5, 1945

National Airlines Flight 16 National Airlines Flight 16 was a domestic (U.S.), scheduled passenger flight from Miami, Florida, to Lakeland, Florida, that crashed on October 5, 1945. The aircraft was on the last leg of a Miami-Fort Myers-Sarasota-St Petersburg-Tampa- Lakelan ...

, a

(

registered