Western Air Express incorporated with Harris "Pop" Hanshue as president. The company owns six open-cockpit Douglas M-2 planes, has 24 employees and operates out of an old hangar that had been a former movie studio.

Western's first commercial flight (airmail only): Los Angeles—Salt Lake City, via Las Vegas, 651 miles. The Douglas M-2 biplane was piloted by Maury Graham.

Western begins its first passenger service: Salt Lake City—Los Angeles via Las Vegas. Piloted by Jimmie Jones, the two passengers Ben Redman and J. A. Tomlinson sat on mail sacks. The 8-hour flight cost $90 one-way.

Two more passengers flew that day in a later flight from Los Angeles—Salt Lake City.

Maude Campbell is Western's first woman passenger.

• Western completed all 518 of its flights in 1926, safely delivering 70,230 pounds of mail and 258 passengers.
• Western's Los Angeles mail service accounts for 40% of the nation's airmail.
• Western is the first airline to pay a cash dividend to stockholders ($72.60 per share net profit).
• Air Express shipments begin on September 1.

• Meals are served by stewards on Western's "model" Los Angeles—Salt Lake City flights, a luxurious passenger-only (no mail) experiment financed by a grant from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. Western used Fokker F-10 aircraft, the first tri-motor airliner in the U.S, for this special service, which lasted about a year.
• Western develops first airline on-route weather reporting service, setting up 37 weather stations between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Western has the largest air system in the United States. Routes cover 4,765 miles from California to Dallas and Kansas City, and served by 40 aircraft.

Pioneers research in the use of two-way radios, radio marker beacons and radio compasses. With Boeing Aircraft Company, Western develops and uses the first air-to-ground radio.

Uses the first directional radio compass for air navigation.

The first $1 million airport terminal, which Western built, is at Alhambra, California.

Introduces the world's first four-engine airliner—the Fokker F-32—a luxurious wooden giant that carried 32 passengers and a crew of four.

Passage of the Watres Bill forces a merger of the routes of Western and Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT). Western continues to operate its original Los Angeles—Salt Lake City route independently. The company payroll is cut by two-thirds.

General Motors acquires control of Western through a subsidiary.

Western acquires Mid-Continent Air Express in October, with routes from Denver to El Paso and Dallas.

Western is the first airline with airborne television reception (a one-time event). The broadcast, from an experimental TV station, features a then unknown actress named Loretta Young.

Western changed its name to General Air Lines, and once again becomes an independent corporation under the control of General Motors.

All U.S. airmail contracts are cancelled with President Roosevelt's investigation of route awards and mail payments. Western (as General Air Lines) is awarded the San Diego—Los Angeles—Salt Lake City mail route and back to where it started in 1926.

Western's association ends with TWA when an independent Western Air Express Corporation is created, dissolving both General Air Lines and Western Air Express, Inc. Alvin P. Adams is president.

Western regroups by leasing and acquiring used Boeing 247D aircraft and operating them in conjunction with United Airlines. Hires female flight attendants—called "stewardesses."

National Parks Airways merges with Western, bringing service to the Montana region, including popular Yellowstone National Park.

Western begins flying 21-passenger Douglas DC-3 aircraft.

First airline to place typewriters onboard for passenger use.

William A. Coulter is president.

Western becomes an international airline when service extends to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Name changes to Western Airlines.

Western contributes to the war effort by establishing "Sourdough Operation"—a supply route from Edmonton, Canada, across the Alaskan wilderness to Russia.

As part of the Air Transport Command (ATC), Western carries 22 million tons of goods over 67 million passenger miles. Western has the highest aircraft utilization rate in the ATC—15.9 hours a day—and the best safety record during the war.

Routes expand northeast of Denver to Huron, North Dakota, with acquisition of 83 percent of Inland Air Lines' stock.

Western takes delivery of the first postwar-built Douglas DC-4, the civil version of the wartime four-engine C-54. Begins world's first DC-4 airline

Terrell C. Drinkwater is president.

perations move from Burbank to a hangar and general offices at the new Los Angeles International Airport. Service extends to Portland and Seattle.

Severe declines in traffic and post-war personnel turnover cause turmoil in airline industry. Western sells its significant Los Angeles—Denver route and four DC-4's to United Airlines for $3.7 million and implements other cost-saving measures, including temporarily suspending onboard food service in late 1948.

Western flies the pressurized Convair 240.

Nonstop service begins Denver—Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Service starts to Ontario, Canada.