The Commercial Airlines Collection is an artificial collection comprised of textual, visual, and audiovisual materials related to commercial airlines from around the world, 1910s-2020s. Although international airlines are represented, American-based airlines are far more heavily represented, including a significant number of small regional, and often defunct, airlines. Materials come from various sources.
The bulk of the collection is textual materials, including brochures, booklets, and fliers; menus; route maps; safety cards and brochures; stationery, air mail labels, and postcards; tickets, boarding passes, and luggage tags; and timetables and schedules. There are also folders of assorted printed ephemera, including but not limited to, business cards, calendars, children's activity materials, souvenir flight reports and matchbook covers.
The collection also includes visual materials, including photographs, slides, negatives, and photographic postcards as well as posters, lithographs, and artwork. Major topics depicted include aircraft in airline livery; flight attendants, pilots, and to a far lesser extent, ground crew and airline executives; and advertisements, such billboards; buildings, office space, and events. A number of advertisements, including photographs and brochures, depict locations and activities a visitor could experience. Most of the photographs are publicity shots and are black-and-white, although some are in color. Some photographs includes stamps and or captions to provide context. Sizes vary, although most are 8x10-inches.
Of particular note are illustrations by Fred Takasumi for Delta Airlines and a lithographic reproduction of the painting "Frontier Rose" by artist R.C. Gorman, for Frontier Airlines. There is one audio item: a 33 RPM sound recording of a speech by Bob Crandall, Senior Vice President of Marketing for American Airlines.
While most of the collection is dedicated to airlines, some materials relate to professional agencies that may have provided support or services, such as fuel, to the commercial airline industry and worked with multiple airlines. Companies include, but are not limited to, the Air Transportation Association of America, the Australia National Airlines Commission, the Railway Express Agency, Texaco, and the United States Postal Service. Types of material include, but are not limited to, brochures, posters, and route maps.
The bulk of the collection is textual materials, including brochures, booklets, and fliers; menus; route maps; safety cards and brochures; stationery, air mail labels, and postcards; tickets, boarding passes, and luggage tags; and timetables and schedules. There are also folders of assorted printed ephemera, including but not limited to, business cards, calendars, children's activity materials, souvenir flight reports and matchbook covers.
The collection also includes visual materials, including photographs, slides, negatives, and photographic postcards as well as posters, lithographs, and artwork. Major topics depicted include aircraft in airline livery; flight attendants, pilots, and to a far lesser extent, ground crew and airline executives; and advertisements, such billboards; buildings, office space, and events. A number of advertisements, including photographs and brochures, depict locations and activities a visitor could experience. Most of the photographs are publicity shots and are black-and-white, although some are in color. Some photographs includes stamps and or captions to provide context. Sizes vary, although most are 8x10-inches.
Of particular note are illustrations by Fred Takasumi for Delta Airlines and a lithographic reproduction of the painting "Frontier Rose" by artist R.C. Gorman, for Frontier Airlines. There is one audio item: a 33 RPM sound recording of a speech by Bob Crandall, Senior Vice President of Marketing for American Airlines.
While most of the collection is dedicated to airlines, some materials relate to professional agencies that may have provided support or services, such as fuel, to the commercial airline industry and worked with multiple airlines. Companies include, but are not limited to, the Air Transportation Association of America, the Australia National Airlines Commission, the Railway Express Agency, Texaco, and the United States Postal Service. Types of material include, but are not limited to, brochures, posters, and route maps.
Dates
- 1910s-2020s
Language of Materials
Most of the materials are in English; some of the material is in other languages including Chinese, French, German, and Spanish. When non-English language materials are present, it is noted on the individual folder.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research but has not been fully processed. Some materials may need additional processing before researcher use. Please contact us for details.
Conditions Governing Use
The Museum of Flight (TMOF) Archives is the owner of the physical materials in the archives and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from TMOF archives before any publication use. TMOF does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners. Consult repository for more details.
Extent
5 Cubic Feet
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.
Note on Arrangement
The materials are sorted alphabetically by airline, then arranged alphabetically by subject. Not all airlines have all subjects. In general, the subjects are:
Note that postcards appears in two locations: Aircraft and Stationery. Photographic postcards that feature an aircraft in airline livery remain in the Aircraft section, while postcards that may feature any other topic have been grouped within Stationery.
- Advertisements
- Aircraft -- photographs and postcards
- Brochures
- Decals and stickers
- Employees, Events and Facilities - photographs
- Flight attendants -- photographs
- Flight attendants -- recruitment brochures
- Menus
- Pilots -- photographs
- Pilots -- recruitment brochures
- Posters, lithographs, and artwork
- Printed ephemera
- Route maps
- Safety cards
- Stationery and postcards
- Tickets, boarding passes, and luggage tags
- Timetables and flight schedules
Note that postcards appears in two locations: Aircraft and Stationery. Photographic postcards that feature an aircraft in airline livery remain in the Aircraft section, while postcards that may feature any other topic have been grouped within Stationery.
Custodial History
As an artificial collection, these materials were collected and acquired through a variety of sources. Provenance information has not been maintained for all items.
Accruals
This collection is expected to grow.
Processing Information
Processing work done prior to 2024 by archives staff included some sleeving of photographs and fragile materials. In 2024, the Reference Archivist began a review to bring the collection up to current best practices and to bring various artificial collections together. As needed, materials were separated from the archival component and sent to the library, objects storage, or the trade literature collections. Excessive duplicates were removed. Sleeving or interleaving of photographs and fragile materials was fully completed. Materials were placed in acid-free folders and arranged in alphabetical order by airline.
- AccessAir
- Aer Lingus
- Aerolíneas Argentinas
- Aeroméxico
- Aeronautics, Commercial
- Aerotransport, Aktiebolaget
- Aerovias Centrale S.A.
- Air Afrique
- Air Algérie
- Air Atlanta
- Air Canada
- Air Congo
- Air France
- Air Mauritius
- Air New England
- Air New Zealand
- Air North
- Air Orient
- Air Tanzania
- Air Transport Association of America
- Air pilots
- Air-India
- AirCal (Firm) (1981-1987)
- Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- Alaska-Washington Airways
- Alitalia (Airline)
- Allegheny Airlines
- Aloha Airlines, Inc.
- Altair Airlines
- America West Airlines
- American Airlines
- American Airways (1930-1934)
- American Eagle
- American Export Airlines (1937-1945)
- American International Airways (1984-1997)
- American Overseas Airlines (1945-1950)
- Ansett Australia
- Australian National Airways
- Bahamasair Holdings (Firm)
- Best Airlines
- Boeing Air Transport
- Bonanza Air Lines
- Boston-Maine Airways
- Bowen Air Lines
- Braniff Airways
- British Airways
- British Caledonian Airways
- British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines
- British European Airways Corporation
- British Overseas Airways Corporation
- British United Airways
- British West Indian Airways
- Brockway Air
- Burlington Air
- Bō̜risat Kānbin Thai
- CP Air
- Cal-State Air Lines
- California Aerial Transport Ltd
- Canadian Airways Limited
- Canadian Colonial Airways, Limited
- Capital Airlines
- Capitol International Airways
- Caribair (Dominican Republic)
- Caribair (Puerto Rico)
- Catalina Channel Airlines
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Central African Airways Corporation
- Central Aircraft Company
- Central Airlines
- Century Pacific Lines Limited
- Chicago and Southern Air Lines
- China Airlines
- China National Aviation Corporation
- China. Min yong hang kong zong ju
- City Express
- Coastal Airways
- Colonial Air Transport
- Colonial Airlines
- Columbia Pacific Airlines
- Condor Flugdienst GmbH
- Continental Airlines
- Curtiss-Wright Flying Service, Inc.
- Delta Air Lines
- Deutsche Lufthansa (1926-1945)
- Deutsche Lufthansa (1953- )
- Dolphin Airlines
- ERA Classic Airlines
- East African Airways
- East Coast Airways
- Eastern Air Lines
- El Al Israel Airlines
- Ellis Air Lines
- Embry-Riddle Co. Inc
- Emirates (Airline)
- Empire Airlines
- Ethiopian Airlines
- Flight attendants
- Freedom Airlines
- Frontier Airlines (1950-1986)
- Frontier Airlines (1994-)
- Garuda Indonesian Airways
- General Air Lines
- Ghana Airways
- Gilpin Air Lines
- Ginger Coote Airways
- Golden Gate Airlines
- Golden West Airlines
- Gray Goose Air Lines, Inc.
- Hanford Airlines
- Hapag-Lloyd Flug
- Hawaiian Airlines, Inc
- Horizon Air
- Hughes Airwest
- Iberia (Airline)
- Imperial Airways
- Indian Airlines
- Inland Air Lines
- Iran Air
- Jet America Airlines
- KLM (Airline)
- Kenya Airways
- Khutut al-Jawwiyah al-Kuwaytiyah
- Kohler Aviation Corporation
- Lake Central Airlines (1950-1968)
- Laker Airways
- Lineas Aereas Occidentales
- Linee aeree italiane
- Loftleiðir (Airline)
- Los Angeles Airways, Inc.
- MALÉV
- Maddux Air Lines
- Malaysian Airline System
- Martinair
- Mayflower Airlines
- Mayse Air Service, Inc.
- Mexicana (Airline company)
- Middle East Airlines
- Midway Airlines (Chicago, Ill.)
- Midway Airlines (Morrisville, N.C.)
- Mohawk Airlines
- Muse Air
- National Air Transport
- National Airlines
- Nevada Airlines
- New York Airways, Inc.
- New York Helicopter
- New Zealand National Airways Corporation
- Newmans Air
- Nihon Kōkū
- North Central Airlines
- Northeast Airlines, Inc
- Northeastern Airlines
- Northern Consolidated Airlines
- Northwest Airlines, Inc.
- Norwegian Air Lines
- Olympiakē Aeroporeia
- Oregon Airways
- Ozark Air Lines
- Pacific Air Transport
- Pacific Alaska Airways
- Pacific Express
- Pacific Northern Airlines
- Pacific Seaboard Air Lines
- Pacific Southwest Airlines
- Pacific Western Airlines
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Pan American World Airways, Inc
- Pan American-Grace Airways
- Pearson Aircraft Company
- PenAir
- Pennsylvania Central Airlines
- People Express (Firm)
- Philippine Airlines
- Pickwick Airways
- Piedmont Airlines
- Polskie linie lotnicze "LOT"
- Pro Air
- Provincetown-Boston Airlines
- Qantas Airways
- Quebec Airways
- Railway Express Agency (1929-1960)
- Real Transportes Aéreos
- Reno Air
- Republic Airlines
- Royal Brunei Airlines
- Ryan Airlines Incorporated
- Sa'ūdīyah (Airline)
- Sabena Belgian World Airlines
- San Francisco and Oakland Helicopter Airlines
- San Juan Airlines
- Saskatchewan Government Airways
- Scadta
- Scandinavian Airlines System
- Singapore Airlines (1972-)
- Sky View Lines, Inc.
- Skycraft Air Transport
- Skyways
- South African Airways
- South West Air
- South West Air (Ontario, Canada)
- Southern Air Fast Express, Inc.
- Southwest Air Lines (Japan)
- Southwest Airlines Co.
- Southwest Airways
- Standard Air Lines
- Sunworld International Airways
- Surinam Airways
- Swift Aire Lines
- Swissair
- Syrian Arab Airlines
- Taehan Hanggong, Chusik Hoesa
- Tanner Air Livery
- Tasman Empire Airways (1940-1965)
- Texaco, Inc.
- Tourism
- Trans Texas Airways (1947-1969)
- Trans World Airlines
- Trans-Australia Airlines. (1946-1986)
- Trans-Canada Airlines
- TransBrasil (Airline)
- Transamerica Airlines
- Transcontinental Air Transport
- Transportes Aéreos Portugueses
- USAir (Firm)
- Union Airways of New Zealand Limited
- Union Aéromaritime de Transport
- Union de transports aériens
- United Airlines
- Universal Air Lines Corporation
- VARIG (Airline)
- ValuJet Airlines Inc
- West Coast Airlines
- Western Air Express Corporation
- Western Airlines
- Western Pacific Airlines
- Wien Alaska Airlines
- Wilmington-Catalina Airlines
- Women in aeronautics
- World Airways
- Wright Airlines
- Wyoming Air Service
- Yute Air (1974-2000, 2004-2017)
- Zimmerly Air Transport
- admission tickets
- advertisements
- airline maps
- baggage claim checks
- boarding passes
- booklets
- brochures
- decals
- lithographs
- luggage tags
- matchbooks
- menus
- negatives (photographs)
- photographic postcards
- photographic prints
- postcards
- posters
- printed ephemera
- safety cards
- slides (photographs)
- stationery
- transportation timetables
- Title
- Guide to the Commercial Airlines Collection
- Status
- Completed - Level 2
- Author
- Jenn Parent
- Date
- 2024 May
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Edition statement
- 1st edition
Revision Statements
- 2024 June: This finding aid will be updated monthly with additional materials and agents.
Repository Details
Part of the The Museum of Flight Archives Repository
Contact:
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org
9404 East Marginal Way South
Seattle Washington 98108-4097
206-764-7874
curator@museumofflight.org