Skip to main content

Archives at The Museum of Flight


Western Airlines

 Organization

Dates

  • Existence: 1925 - 1987

Historical Note

Western Airlines was a major United States airline from 1925 to 1987. It first incorporated in 1925 as Western Air Express. The company reincorporated in 1928 as Western Air Express Corp. 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 15 Collections and/or Records:

Arthur Wayne Byron Airline Pilot Collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 2009-06-05
Contents of the Collection The Arthur Wayne Byron Airline Pilot Collection is comprised of primarily textual materials with some photographs that document Byron's commercial pilot career with Western Airlines and Delta Airlines. Materials date from mid-1940s through the 1980s.Textual materials include pilot logs dating from 1955-1987; organizational records for Western Airlines, including documents related to the merger of Western Airlines and Pacific Northern Airlines in 1967, as well as the merger of...
Dates: circa 1940s-1980s
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Mary Christensen Commercial Airlines Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2000-09-13
Contents of the Collection

The collection includes route maps, schedules, and brochures by Northwest Airlines and Western Air Lines, circa 1940s. Materials from both airlines feature the Douglas DC-4 and DC-3 aircraft in their promotional art. Also included is a Souvenir Air Log by Northwest Airlines, which unfolds to a reversible map that features domestic and international routes along with trivia about the science of air travel.

Dates: Circa 1945-1950
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Commercial Airlines Collection (Part 4, T-Z)

 Collection
Identifier: 2018-00-00-23-4
Abstract

The Commercial Airlines Collection is an artificial collection comprised of textual, visual, and audiovisual materials of commercial airlines from around the world, 1910s-2020s.

Dates: circa 1910s-2010s
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Ethyl Y. Dale Airman's World Annotated Book

 Collection — Box 1
Identifier: 1982-02-11-A
Content Description The Ethyl Y. Dale Airman's World Annotated Book is a small collection consisting of one book that Dale used as a travel diary from 1932-1969. The book is a copy of Airman's World published by William Morrow in New York in 1933. Dale recorded all the flights she took throughout the pages of the book. She noted in the page margins the origins and destinations of her flights, occasionally recorded the date, and had...
Dates: 1932-1969
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Lorraine C. (Coccio) Ditsworth Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Box 1
Identifier: 2009-02-20
Contents of the Collection The Lorraine C. (Coccio) Ditsworth Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection is comprised of texual materials and sixteen (16) photographs. The bulk of the material was collected by Ditsworth during her 1953-1956 service as a Western Airlines (WA) flight attendant, although five (5) of the photographs appear to be unrelated to Ditsworth directly and of a later date (circa 1970s). The textual materials include three (3) logs which contain notes about Ditsworth's flights,...
Dates: 1951-1956
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Philip G. Feeley Western Airlines and Boeing Model 720B Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2000-08-31
Contents of the Collection This small collection is comprised of textual materials related to aircraft maintenance and systems, 1961-1966. It includes handwritten notes, photocopied clippings, and technical diagrams that are apparently related to general aircraft systems and maintenance. There are also a series of Western Airlines checklists and documents related to the Boeing Model 720B. It is unknown how Philip G. Feeley gathered the materials or if they were his original materials. His name never appears on any of...
Dates: 1961-1966
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Doris Hanson Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 2021-06-25-A
Content Description The Doris Hanson Flight Attendant Collection is a small collection consisting of materials related to Hanson's career as a flight attendant. She worked as a flight attendant for Western Airlines from 1956-1959 and in Communications for Pan Am in 1954, but other airlines are represented in the collection as well. Materials related Hanson's work with Western Airlines include: "The Californian Champagne Flights" menu used as postcard, 1957; a 1959 ticket; a business...
Dates: 1957-1974
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Carolyn B. Haugen Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2009-04-05
Contents of the Collection

The Carolyn B. Haugen Western Airlines (WA) Collection relates to Haugen's 1966-1985 career with Western Airlines. It is comprised of three (3) color snapshots depicting Haugen in her WA flighth attendant uniform; several WA envelopes (blank); a 1985 WA timetable; a newspaper clipping from an unidentified publication about the Boeing 707; a Pacific Horizon Service Free Cocktail invitations (3 copies); and an undated letter to flight attendants from Holiday Inn Management.

Dates: 1966-1985
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Esther (Hutchings) Hebrew Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection
Identifier: 2021-12-10
Contents of the Collection The Esther (Hutchings) Hebrew Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection consists of textual and visual materials gathered by Hebrew during her career as a stewardess for Western Airlines (WAL) in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The materials illuminate the work and life of flight attendants in the mid-twentieth century. The collection is organized in two series: Western Airlines career-related materials and other airlines. There are several files of textual materials related...
Dates: 1945-1951, undated
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

Rebecca (Blodgett) Knight Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: 2009-03-19
Contents of the Collection

The Rebecca (Blodgett) Knight Western Airlines Flight Attendant Collection is comprised of four (4) items collected by Knight during her 1970s career. There are two (2) color photographs; Knight is depicted in both. One also includes a partial view of a Western Airlines aircraft. There are no captions. Additional material includes a "Fly! Western Airlines" decal and a business card for "B. Blodgett."

Dates: circa 1970s
Found in: The Museum of Flight Archives

The Museum of Flight | 9404 E. Marginal Way South | Seattle WA 98108-4097 | 206-764-5874
Contact us with a research request
curator@museumofflight.org