Trans International Airlines

:"Not to be confused with Trans World Airlines, Texas International Airlines, or Transamerican Airlines."

Trans International Airlines Airline codes|TV|TVA|TransAmerica (TIA) was an airline which offered charter service from and within the United States. It offered scheduled service operating as Transamerica Airlines in its last decade.

History

Future travel and entertainment mogul Kirk Kerkorian purchased Los Angeles Air Service, a small charter operator, in 1947 for $60,000. As tourism to Las Vegas, Nevada boomed, so did the fortunes of the airline. From a single Douglas DC-3, it expanded rapidly, adding DC-6s and Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations, and became the first charter airline to operate jet aircraft with the introduction of the Douglas DC-8 on transpacific routes and Boeing 727(later to add the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and Boeing 747). To better reflect its growing routes, the airline was renamed Trans International Airlines in 1960. Between 1966 and 1986 it operated regular charter flights to Europe, destinations were Paris Orly, London Gatwick, Brussels Zaventem and Frankfurt airport. It contributed to cheap transatlantic flights which did not exist at the time. It also flew specific charter flights between New York and Africa known as the "Roots" program. At last, among other activities it flew on behalf of UTA and Air Afrique more than a hundred flights for the jeddah pilgrimages.

In 1962 the Studebaker Corporation quixotically purchased the airline, leaving Kerkorian as president. Financial circumstances forced them to sell TIA back to him in 1964. Kerkorian took the company public in 1965, then sold his interests in 1968 to insurance conglomerate Transamerica Corporation, profiting an estimated $85 million. He would reinvest proceeds from the sale in Las Vegas property, notably the International Hotel.

Transamerica later purchased Universal Airlines and in December 1976, Saturn Airways, and merged their operations into TIA. The airline remained focused on charter and cargo operations until the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which gave it the opportunity to offer scheduled passenger service. In 1979 it was renamed Transamerica Airlines and on November 2 of that year commenced transatlantic passenger flights to Shannon and Amsterdam.

During this time the airline operated a number of military charters. Most notable of these was the route that connected Clark Air Base, Philippines and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to Travis Air Force Base, California during the late 1970s, which used stretch DC-8s.

Transamerica was unable to run the airline profitably, however, and as it divested its non-core holdings in the 1980s, sought a buyer for the airline. Finding none, the airline was dissolved and ceased operations on September 30, 1986.

Incidents

TIA was involved in a single fatal accident, involving a DC-8 cargo flight en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Washington Dulles International Airport. On September 8, 1970 a foreign object became wedged between the right elevator and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot failed to use the pre-flight checklist and the problem was not detected, and the aircraft crashed upon takeoff with the loss of all 11 on board.

Historical Fleet

*Douglas DC-3
*Douglas DC-6A
*Douglas DC-6B
*L-1049H Super Constellation
*L-1049G Super Constellation
*L-1049E Super Constellation
*Lockheed L-188 Electra
*Douglas DC-8-51
*Douglas DC-8-54F
*Douglas DC-8-55F
*Douglas DC-8-61
*Douglas DC-8-61CF
*Douglas DC-8-63CF
*Douglas DC-8-71CF
*Douglas DC-8-73CF
*Boeing 727-171C
*Boeing 747-130
*Boeing 747-271C
*Douglas DC-10-30F
*Lockheed L-100 Hercules

References

* Aviation Safety Network: [http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=4808 Aviation Safety Database: Trans International Airlines]
* "Background and Latest Buzz on L.A.'s Richest People: Kirk Kerkorian," "Los Angeles Business Journal", May 21, 2001
* Mondout, Patrick, " [http://super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Airlines/Transamerica.asp Transamerica Airlines] " at Super70s.com

External links

* [http://www.avsaf.org/reports/US/1970.09.08_TransInternationalAirlinesCorp_DouglasDC-863F.pdf September 8, 1970 Accident Report]
* [http://www.dc-8jet.com/tiadc861cf.htm DC-8 fleet information]
* [http://rzjets.net/operators/operator.php?opid=1329 Code and fleet data]