Southwest First Flight Santa Maria California - Santa Barbara - Douglas DC-3

Description

In the “West Coast Case” decision, released in May 1946, the Civil Aeronautics Board authorized the Southwest Airways Company to serve 23 cities in California, with a northern terminal at Medford, Oregon. Douglas DC-3 equipment completed the inaugural flights. The southern leg of Air Mail Route 76 was inaugurated on December 2, 1946.
Santa Maria was embraced on Air Mail Route 76 between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. The southbound flight took place on December 14, 1946.
This cover was carried on the inaugural Air Mail Route 76 flight from Santa Maria, California to Santa Barbara, California (where it was backstamped
) and is listed in the Contract Air Mail Flights (CAM) section of The American Air Mail Catalogue as 76S10.
To better reflect its service area, Southwest Airways became Pacific Air Lines on March 6, 1958.
The Civil Aeronautics Board and President Lyndon Johnson approved the simultaneous merger of three airlines for the first time in early 1968. Pacific Air Lines, Bonanza Airlines, and West Coast Airlines were combined to form Air West. Air West provided service to eight Western states, Canada, and Mexico within its 8,800-mile system.