Western Air Express Corporation
Dates
- Existence: 1925 - 1987
Historical Note
Western Airlines was a major United States airline from 1925 to 1987. It first incorporated as Western Air Express. The company reincorporated in 1928 as Western Air Express Corporation and was then purchased by Standard Air Lines in 1930 and merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form Trans World Airlines (TWA). In 1934, Western Air Express was severed from TWA and briefly changed its name to General Air Lines, but then returned to the name Western Air Express after several months. It merged with National Parks Airways in 1937. In 1941, Western Air Express changed its name to Western Air Lines (WAL) and later to Western Airlines. The airline ceased operations in 1987 when it merged with Delta Air Lines.
Found in 4 Collections and/or Records:
Arthur Wayne Byron Airline Pilot Collection
Commercial Airlines Collection
The Commercial Airlines Collection is an artificial collection comprised of textual, visual, and audiovisual materials of commercial airlines from around the world, 1910s-2020s.
James D. Griffin Photograph Collection
James D. Griffin was an engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The collection contains five hundred and ninety-six (596) photographs, likely collected and notated by Griffin, featuring primarily Douglas Aircraft Company airplanes manufactured during the 1910s-1970s but also, to a lesser extent, other manufacturer models; including Aero Spacelines, Boeing, Consolidated, and Northrop. There is also a small amount of clippings, newsletters, and articles.
Richard J. McWhorter Stearman Collection
Richard J. McWhorter (1921-2007) was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho and had a long standing and multi-faceted interest in aviation, including owning and restoring vintage airplanes. The collection includes manuscript materials, ephemera, audio-visual materials, and approximately three hundred (300) photographs documenting the restoration of a Stearman C-3B (#NC7550), on display at The Museum of Flight, as well as a Stearman C-3R (#NC656K).
Contact us with a research request
curator@museumofflight.org