Hughes Airwest

On April 17, 1968, three "local service" airlines in the western U.S. merged to form Air West:[3][4]

• Pacific Air Lines, which previously operated as Southwest Airways when it was founded in 1941, was based in San Francisco and flew along the coast and also California's Central Valley, linking cities from Medford, Oregon, to Southern California. Pacific operated Boeing 727-100s and Fairchild F-27s in 1968.
• Bonanza Air Lines routes reached west from its Phoenix base to Southern California and north to Las Vegas, Reno and Salt Lake City. Bonanza flew Douglas DC-9-10s and Fairchild F-27s in 1968, with a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 on order, delivered after the merger.
• West Coast Airlines, based at Boeing Field in Seattle, served the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Utah, Montana and northern California. West Coast operated Douglas DC-9-10s, Fairchild F-27s and Piper Navajos in 1968.

The initial Air West fleet included Boeing 727-100s, Douglas DC-9s, Fairchild F-27s, and Piper Navajos. The first new addition to the Air West fleet was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 which had been ordered by Bonanza Air Lines.

Hungry for another adventure in the airline industry, TWA's former owner Howard Hughes sought the airline in 1968,[5][6] and the deal was finalized in 1970.[7] The airline was renamed Hughes Air West and its call sign became "Hughes Air." It expanded to several cities in the western United States, Canada and Mexico. With the new yellow paint scheme, unveiled 28 September 1971, the airline began calling itself Hughes Airwest, two words instead of the initial three word name.

The airline participated in some movies in the 1970s, notably The Gauntlet with Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in 1977. Eastwood's character arrives in Las Vegas from Phoenix on the airline and when he phones the airport for flight departure times, Locke's character sarcastically called the airline, "Air Worst." Also in 1977, the airline was operating service from both Burbank (BUR) and Orange County (SNA) to Denver (DEN) via an interchange flight agreement with the original Frontier Airlines (1950-1986).[8] Hughes Airwest would then subsequently introduce its own jet service to Denver from a number of cities in the western U.S.

Like other local service airlines in the 1970s, Hughes Airwest eliminated many stops and opened longer routes. Service expanded to resorts in Mexico; domestic routes didn't reach east of Utah and Arizona until Denver, Des Moines, Milwaukee, and Houston Hobby Airport were added in 1978. Hughes Airwest became an all-jet airline with Boeing 727-200s, Douglas DC-9-10s and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s when it ended Fairchild F-27 turboprop flights in 1979.

In September 1979 the airline was grounded for two months by a walkout by their ticket agents, reservations handlers, and office employees, who had been without a contract for over a year.[9][10][11] During 1979 several airlines showed interest in buying Hughes Airwest, including Alaska and Allegheny, with the latter soon becoming USAir.[12] The strike was resolved in late October and flights resumed in November. Four months later they were the target of a buyout by Republic Airlines,[13] which was finalized on October 1, 1980, for $38.5 million.[1][14][15] Republic had been formed in July 1979 via the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways, the first under airline deregulation.[16]

Republic was acquired by Northwest Airlines in 1986,[17][18] which in turn was merged into Delta Air Lines in 2010.

The original headquarters were in two buildings in downtown San Mateo, California, on the San Francisco peninsula.

Its new headquarters were located in San Mateo.[19] The airline scheduled the move to a new headquarters from Thursday August 25, 1973, to August 28, 1973. The complex was on a hill overlooking San Mateo and San Francisco Bay. The airline relocated two departments from the offices at San Francisco International Airport: flight control and reservations.[20]

Air West paint scheme, prior to conversion
to Sundance Yellow and Universe Blue (simulated image)

Hughes Airwest DC-9s in 1979

Hughes Airwest's planes were recognizable by their banana-yellow fuselage and tail colors.[21] Their airplanes were often dubbed "flying bananas" and the airline launched an advertising campaign with the catchphrase "Top Banana in the West."[22][23] [24] Most nicknames given to Hughes Airwest airplanes in aviation books and magazines have to do with bananas. Apart from their all-yellow scheme, the airplanes also featured a blue logo on the vertical stabilizer (tail) that resembled three diamonds connected (possibly a reference to the initials of Howard Hughes). The name Hughes Airwest, in stylized lettering, was featured unconventionally below the front passenger windows.

This livery was devised by the southern California design firm of Mario Armond Zamparelli,[25][26] following the crash of Flight 706 in June 1971, caused by a mid-air collision with a U.S. Marine Corps F-4B jet fighter near Duarte, California.[27][28] In late 1971, the company launched a new marketing campaign which included new colors and repainted planes.[29][30][31] The cabin windows also had a metallized PET film coating originally,[32] but this proved too costly to maintain. Zamparelli also designed the uniforms of the flight attendants in the new colors, primarily in Sundance Yellow trimmed with Universe Blue.[33][34]

After the sale in October 1980 the all-yellow paint scheme was gradually replaced by Republic's white with blue and green trim, and the mallard "Herman the Duck."[15]

Air West and Hughes Airwest operated the following aircraft types at various times during their existence:

• 49 Douglas DC-9-14/15/31/32 (includes 17 Douglas DC-9-10s and 32 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines both operated DC-9-10s when they merged with Pacific Air Lines)
• 3 Boeing 727-193 (operated by Air West and previously operated by Pacific Air Lines)
• 11 Boeing 727-2M7 plus two on order which were delivered to Republic Airlines (1979-1986)
• 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
• 34 Fairchild F-27 (Bonanza Air Lines, Pacific Air Lines and West Coast Airlines all operated F-27s when the three carriers merged)
• ? Piper Navajo (PA-31 model) (operated by Air West until 1969-70; previously operated by West Coast Airlines)

• List of defunct airlines of the United States

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hughes Airwest.

• Hughes Airwest enthusiast site — hughesairwest.com