Pacific Air Lines
Pacific Air Lines was a local service carrier on the West Coast of the United States that began scheduled passenger flights in the mid-1940s under the name Southwest Airways.Founded largely with money from investors from the Hollywood motion picture industry, the airline was noted for innovative safety practices and cost-saving procedures.In early 1941 Air Service veteran John Howard "Jack" Connelly and noted Hollywood agent/producer Leland Hayward formed a business partnership that five years later evolved into a scheduled airline.[5] After the war, Connelly and Hayward raised $2,000,000 from investors including James Stewart and Darryl Zanuck to expand Southwest into the airline business, pending government approval.The airline speeded ground operations to the point where a DC-3 could load and discharge passengers and begin taxiing for takeoff 90 seconds after coming to a stop (adding six minutes if fuel is needed).The airline's innovative spirit extended into air safety, as well: in December 1947, a Southwest Airways DC-3 flying into the coastal town of Arcata made the world's first blind landing by a scheduled commercial airliner using ground-controlled approach radar, instrument landing system devices, and fog investigation and dispersal operation oil-burning units adjacent to the runway.[2] The airline had no fatal accidents until the evening of April 6, 1951, when Southwest Airways Flight 7 crashed, killing all 19 passengers and three crew members,[10] including twelve military personnel."[17] The airline became Pacific Air Lines on March 6, 1958;[6] the corporate logo was changed from an earth-toned Thunderbird reminiscent of a Navajo sandpainting to a simpler, modern design with bright colors.[24] The plane was taking off from Santa Maria, California when the number five cylinder of the left engine failed, and severe buffeting began shaking the aircraft.The captain was forced to make an emergency landing about 1+1⁄2 miles north of the airport, during which the plane cartwheeled to the left on its nose, causing severe damage."[24] As a result of the crash, Pacific Air Lines stopped using contracted maintenance at Los Angeles (where the DC-3 was based) and sent its own personnel there to perform all future work on company aircraft.[26][27][28] Investigators found a gun in the wreckage,[29][30] and the FBI determined that a suicidal passenger shot both of the pilots, and then himself, causing the plane to dive out of control.[31] On September 13, 1965, Pacific Air Lines announced it would acquire six new Boeing 727-100 jets, leasing two immediately and placing orders for the others to be delivered in early 1968.Pacific had hired award-winning advertising executive and comedian Stan Freberg for the ad campaign,[36] knowing that unconventional ideas were his forté.[37]To complement the ad campaign, flight attendants handed out "survival kits" featuring hot-pink lunch pails containing a small security blanket,[33] a "lucky" rabbit's foot, the best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking, and a fortune cookie containing the slogan "It could be worse.
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