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The race to be the first US airline with Jets was won by those who purchased Boeing 707s, however in the south both Eastern and Delta were not 707 customers and the race was still on for first jet service in Atlanta. Eastern in the 1950s still dwarfed Delta and was set to get its DC-8s much sooner than its competitor, that is until Eastern's Eddie Rickenbaker decided to shoot himself in the foot. Rickenbacker was notoriously spendthrift and upon learning that Douglas's first DC-8s would be underpowered compared to later build aircraft he promptly switched Eastern's early orders to later DC-8-21s. Delta then cheekily stepped in and tookup the early deivery slots leaving Eastern in its jet trails.
Unlike Germany, Italy had a national airline less than two years after World War Two had ended when the British government helped setup, and took a 30% stake in, the new Alitalia. The airline grew strongly through the 1950s and was a major international force during the 1960s, by which time jets had supplanted the piston props in the fleet.
In the immediate postwar era a surplus of trained pilots and demilitarised aircraft led to the establishment of a huge number of non-scheduled airlines who basically did whatever they liked and had little interest in rules and regulations. These non-skeds shook up the industry and began to create competition where previously there had been little, much to the consternation of the Trunk airlines. By 1960 the CAB had got most of the survivors under control and killed off most of the rest by foul means or fair. The survivors became known as Supplemental airlines and one of the most important of those was TIA... Trans Canada Airlines was one of only three airlines that ordered the DC-8-40 with Rolls Royce Conway engines (the others were Alitalia and Canadian Pacific). They entered service on transcontinental routes in April 1 1960 followed by international sectors on June 1. Four DC-8-41s (CF-TJA-D), four DC-8-42s (CF-TJE-H) and three DC-8-43s (CF-TJJ-TJK) arrived up to December 16 1961. The series 40s with their older engines were the first DC-8s to leave the fleet being withdrawn from September 1975 to June 1979. Canadian Pacific / CP Air has so many parallels with British Caledonian that they seem almost like sister companies. Its history is one of constant battling, attempting to compete against the chosen instrument (Air Canada) in a regulated environment where the Government rigged the fight and only occasionally threw it a few bones. Kept on a short leash its hardly a major surprise it was never the huge success it perhaps deserved to be, however it still has a rich and impressive history. |
AuthorI'm Richard Stretton: a fan of classic airliners and airlines who enjoys exploring their history through my collection of die-cast airliners. If you enjoy the site please donate whatever you can to help keep it running: Archives
May 2024
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