Capital Airlines was an airline serving the eastern United States which was merged into United Airlines in 1961. Its primary hubs were National Airport near Washington, DC and Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At its peak it was the fifth largest domestic carrier. Image File history File links Logocap. ... A Boeing 747-400 of Virgin Atlantic Airways An airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight. ... Uniteds logo as seen at United hub Denver International Airport. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (IATA: DCA, ICAO: KDCA) in Arlington County, Virginia is the closest commercial airport to Washington, D.C. Originally Washington National Airport, it was renamed after former President Ronald Reagan in 1998. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... Allegheny County Airport is located just south of the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. ... Nickname: Steel City, Iron City, City of Champions, City of Bridges, City of Colleges Location in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Allegheny County Founded 1758 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl (D) Area    - City 151. ...

History

Predecessors

Clifford A. Ball, a McKeesport, Pennsylvania automobile dealer and owner of a controlling interest in Bettis Field near Pittsburgh, won airmail contract route #11 on March 27, 1926. In April of the following year, Clifford Ball Airline began operating between Pittsburgh and Cleveland, Ohio. Will Rogers was known to be a regular passenger, but scheduled passenger service did not begin until April 28, 1928. The following August, it became the first airline to serve Washington, DC, from the west, offering its flagship "Path of the Eagle" service from Cleveland to Hoover Field across the Potomac River. McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers. ... Karl Benzs Velo model (1894) - entered into the first automobile race An automobile (or motor car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. ... Airmail imprint on an envelope (Thailand) Airmail (or air mail) is mail that is transported by aircraft. ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in leap years). ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nickname: The Forest City Motto: Progress and Prosperity Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA Coordinates: Country United States State Ohio County Cuyahoga Founded 1796 Incorporated 1836 Mayor Frank G. Jackson (D) Area    - City 82. ... Will Rogers. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Hoover Field was the first airport for Washington, D.C. which opened in 1926. ... The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States (USA). ...

Ball sold his interests in November 1930 to Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp., and the airline became Pennsylvania Air Lines (PAL). It was reorganized as Pennsylvania Airlines after the Air Mail Scandal of the early 1930s. Central Airlines, otherwise notable for hiring Helen Richey, the first female commercial pilot in the U.S., became PAL's main competitor after its founding in 1934. The two companies merged into Pennsylvania Central Airlines, or PCA, on November 1, 1936. 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... The Air Mail Scandal is the name that the American press of the 1930s gave to the results of a meeting (the so-called Spoils Conference) of Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown and the executives of the top airlines, effectively dividing among them the air mail routes, and to the... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Helen Richey (b. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Pennsylvania Central Airlines

PCA, based at the new Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh, continued to add routes, notably to Chicago in 1938, and aircraft, notably the Douglas DC-3 in 1939. Allegheny County Airport is located just south of the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois County Cook Incorporated March 4, 1837 Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area    - City 606. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made (also see Boeing 707 and Boeing 747). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1941, PCA moved its headquarters to the new Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, becoming one of its three original tenants; PCA had been consulted during the airport's design. The row of office buildings adjacent its hangars gained the nickname "mahogany row" and the airline adopted the slogan "The Capital Airline," with its aircraft dubbed "Capitaliners." By 1947 its route network no longer reflected its name, and on April 21, 1948 the airline adopted a new insignia, colors, and name: Capital Airlines. This article is about the year. ... Arlington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Virginia (which calls itself a commonwealth), directly across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. By an act of Congress July 9, 1846, the area south of the Potomac was returned to Virginia effective in 1847 As of 2000... // A nickname is a short, clever, cute, derogatory, or otherwise substitute name for a person or things real name (for example, Bob, Rob, Robby, Robbie, Robi, Bobby, Rab, Bert, Bertie, Butch, Bobbers, Bobert, Beto, Bobadito, and Robban (in Sweden), are all short for Robert). ... The name mahogany was first used for wood of Swietenia mahagoni, later also for the wood of the closely related Swietenia macrophylla. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

In 1946, the airline became the launch customer for the Douglas DC-4. In 1948 it created the "Nighthawk," the first coach class service, designed to compete with the railroads between Chicago and New York City as well as the dominant carriers on the route, United, TWA, and American. 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The designation DC-4 was used by Douglas Aircraft Company when developing the DC-4E as a large, four-engined type to complement its forthcoming DC-3 design. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Nickname: Big Apple, City that never Sleeps image_skyline = Top_of_Rock_Cropped. ... Trans World Airlines (IATA: TW, ICAO: TWA, and Callsign: TWA), commonly known as TWA, was an American airline company that was acquired by American Airlines in April 2001. ...

Capital's last decade

In 1948, the first airborne television was installed on a Capital airplane.

In 1950 Capital Airlines received its first Lockheed Constellations, enabling it to compete more effectively on longer distance routes. In 1955 it became the first U.S. operator of Vickers Viscounts, the first passenger turboprop. The Viscounts were deployed on the flagship Washington-Chicago route and the airline hoped to use them on expanded service, but they were mostly stymied by the Civil Aeronautics Board. President Dwight Eisenhower flew in two Constellations, named Columbine II and Columbine III. The Lockheed Constellation, affectionately known as the “Connie”, was a four-engine propeller-driven airliner built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. ... The Viscount was a medium-range turboprop airliner introduced in 1953 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world. ... A schematic diagram showing the operation of a turboprop engine. ... Governments have played an important part in shaping air transportation. ...

On July 20, 1952, a Capital pilot reported seeing a blue-white ball in the sky. The Unidentified Flying Object reports caused a sensation in the Washington area. July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A UFO or Unidentified Flying Object is any real or apparent flying object which cannot be identified by the observer and which remains unidentified after investigation. ...

In the late 1950s, Capital experienced a string of accidents. On April 6, 1958, a Viscount stalled and crashed on approach to Saginaw, Michigan, resulting in 49 fatalities. On May 20 of the same year, 15 were killed when another Viscount collided with an Air National Guard training jet over Maryland. And two accidents occurred on May 12, 1959: a Constellation rolled off the runway in Charleston, West Virginia and a Viscount crashed during a thunderstorm near Baltimore. On January 18, 1960 another Viscount crashed in Virginia. April 6 is the 96th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (97th in leap years). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Saginaw redirects here. ... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... Shield of the United States Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG) is part of the United States National Guard and a reserve component of the United States Air Force (USAF). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (133rd in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Official website: www. ... Flag Seal Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town, B-more Motto: Get In On It (formerly The City That Reads and The Greatest City in America; BELIEVE is not the official motto but rather a specific campaign) Location Location of Baltimore in Maryland Coordinates , Government Country State County United... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ...

The airline also encountered labor difficulties. Maintenance personnel went on strike in 1958, crippling operations for 38 days. On April 1, 1960 the New York State Commission Against Discrimination faulted Capital Airlines for failing to hire Patricia Banks, an African-American woman who had been denied employment as a flight attendant despite meeting all job requirements. She became one of only two black flight attendants in the country. April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... This page is 88 kilobytes long. ...

These problems compounded slow revenue growth in the late 1950s, and the airline began to struggle financially. In May of 1960, Vickers foreclosed on Capital's entire fleet of Viscounts, and bankruptcy for the airline seemed certain. However, on July 28, 1960 it announced a merger with Chicago-based rival United Airlines, saving it from that fate. When completed on July 1, 1961 it was the largest airline merger in history. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Uniteds logo as seen at United hub Denver International Airport. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...

In 1981, former employees formed the Capital Airlines Association to preserve their memories of the old carrier.

References

• Airline History: Capital Airlines
• Lloyd, Kristin B. "Flying the Capital Way, Part I" (PDF), Historic Alexandria Quarerly, Winter 1997
• Lloyd, Kristin B. "Flying the Capital Way, Part II" (PDF), Historic Alexandria Quarerly, Spring 1998

External links

• Capital Airlines Association
• AirTimes images of Capital Airlines timetables and route map
• http://www.CapitalAirVA.com - A virtual airline honoring the men and women who flew for Capital Airlines