The 1950s

Content is being added regularly – check back often For content suggestions or corrections, please email us- contact@ftlhs.org

During the previous year, Flying Tigers received the Certificate of Necessity and Convenience from the Civil Aeronautics Board enabling the company to take their place among the recognized transportation companies of the nation.

Tigers transported the television antenna for Station KPIX from Camden, NJ to San Francisco, CA. The antenna enabled the first television station to go on the air in San Francisco.

The airline finally flew a real Tiger! The 700-pound beast was flown from Boston to Stockton, California for the homecoming football game of College of the Pacific–otherwise known as the “Tigers”.

With 44 aircraft in its fleet, the Flying Tiger Line now is the world’s largest operator of airfreight aircraft.

On December 14, 1950, Olive Parker became the first Flying Tiger Stewardess.
(Note: Stewardesses were not required by law until 1952).

A new section to the flight department has been added – Crew Control.

On December 7, 1951, our new office building was officially dedicated at Burbank, CA.

During the last six months of 1951 BUR Customer service handled over 8,000 calls and accounted for more than 200,000 pounds of freight.

Air Pack, a subsidiary of Flying Tigers, was formed to prepared military fighter aircraft for shipment to European countries.

The Corps of Engineers contacted Tigers to airlift urgently needed construction materials to Dhahran Airfield in Saudi Arabia.

Customer Service Department has been around for one year and by March the Aircraft Sales Department and International Sales Department were established.

Seattle-Portland-Tacoma service was added and once daily round-trip service between the East Coast and the Northwest cities.

Flying Tigers has a total of 24 station in the US.

By June, 1952, the seventh anniversary of the Tigers, finds them serving nearly every major industrial city in the U.S., from New England across the rich Middle West to the West Coast and the Pacific Northwest. The total number of employees has grown from 60 at the end of 1945 to almost 1700. Cargo planes bearing the Tiger insignia now total 37, of which 25 are twin engine C-46s and 12 are four-engine C-54s. In addition, the company has on order 7 of the new DC-6-A aircraft.

The newly-organized Flying Tigress Club, a social and philanthropic group, was organized by the wives of the flight crews and met monthly.

With the arrival of the first of approximately 100 U. S. Air Force C-46 aircraft at the Flying Tigers’ maintenance base at Burbank, CA, work has begun on one of the largest aircraft maintenance contracts ever let by the government to a private company.  The contract, involving more than $2,500,000 in maintenance work, will require 13 months for completion and will utilize the full-time services of 341 employees who are highly skilled in all phases of C-46 overhaul and repair work.

According to a survey by the IBM department, there are more than 600 different commodities flown each year by the Tigers. The most common are automotive and aircraft parts, business machines, clothing, electronic equipment, film, human remains, and animals.

On Jan. 7, 1954, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) announced its approval of the merger of The Flying Tiger Line and Slick Airways. The new line will be known as Flying Tiger-Slick Airlines. Latest available figures, the CAB said, indicate the merged fleet will total four DC-6As, 11 DC-4s and 45 C-46s over a route structure totaling 26,223 miles serving 45 major marketing and manufacturing centers. Air freight traffic volume is expected to exceed 100,000,000-ton miles a year, or nearly twice that of any other carrier. Total personnel will be approximately 2,500.

Robert Prescott is not only president of the newly merged Flying Tiger-Slick company, but he is also a board member of Flying Tigers, Telautograph Corp., Transport Air Group, Independent Military Air Transport Association and an advisory member of the Southwest Bank of Inglewood, CA.

The cost of keeping one of C-46 in the air for one hour is approximately $90 and for a C-54 it is S120 (rate includes a flight crew of two).

“Baby Tessie”, the nine-month-old Indian elephant, was shipped to St. Louis via Tiger-Slick Airlines in May 1954. The baby elephant was a gift of the Maharajah of Nepal to August A. Busch, noted sportsman, for his famous game collection at Grant’s Farm, near St. Louis.

Formation of a Contract and Charter Division to develop mass movement of property and personnel beyond the limits of common carriage traffic

The Flying Tiger Line played a part in the escape of two brothers escaping communism in Albania who arrived in New York in December with 67 other refugees from Europe aboard a Flying Tiger plane chartered by the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration.

A “passenger” on one of FTL’s SFO-CHI flights was Barta Ormsby Fobes, one of the most valuable registered Holstein bulls in the United States, weighing in at 2,390 pounds.

A new DC-6A joined the Tiger fleet in August, one of the most important equipment acquisitions in many months. The aircraft was leased by FTL from the Navy for a period of a year.

The Flying Tiger Line moved into first place among the nation’s all freight air carriers in the first quarter of 1955. FTL flew 9,717,364-ton miles of freight in the first quarter, which was some 800,000-ton miles ahead of the second carrier. FTL’s air freight revenues from November 1, 1954, to June 30, 1955, were 34% ahead of the comparable period a year earlier.

The largest order for cargo aircraft in commercial aviation history was completed with the signing of a $20,000,000 contract by The Flying Tiger Line for the delivery of 10 Lockheed Super Constellation air freighters.

The fastest air freight schedules in commercial aviation history are put into effect on the Flying Tiger domestic freight system, U.S. Route 100, when, on October 3, the carrier originates the first direct nightly service between New York and Los Angeles utilizing DC-6A aircraft.

In the 6 years since FTL acquired Route 100 certification, the following stations were opened: Akron, Binghamton, Boston, Buffalo, Canton, Hartford, Long Beach, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, St. Paul, Tacoma, and Toledo. Stations operated prior to certification were: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, San Francisco, and Washington.

The Arctic Circle operations in full swing in Hay River, Northwest Territory of Canada. Flying Tigers is transporting equipment for US and Canadian contractors to construct the radar fence, also known as The DEW Line.

FTL is fulfilling a major role as one of the world’s largest contract carriers of passengers. During Summer 1955, Tigers averaged some 10,000 passengers a month across the North Atlantic. At one point, the cargo carrier’s overseas passenger service was larger than that of one of the large (un-named) scheduled passenger lines.

Air freight traffic on The Flying Tiger Line in 1955 exceeded all previous records in the carrier’s history and topped 1954 by 63%.

First class mail-by-air traffic on The Flying Tiger Line totaled in excess of 70,000-ton miles in 1955.

The CAB has recommended the renewal of the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity of The Flying Tiger Line for a period of seven years and authorization for the carrier to engage in the transport of property, mail and air express.

A tribute to the Flying Tiger organization for the service rendered during the emergency flood conditions in Northern California.

The first submarine in air transport history to be shipped on an airplane was transported by Flying Tigers.

A television story of the Flying Tiger Daybreaker flight was broadcast to Southern California on February 1, when the famous “Sheriff John” program spent an hour at FTL’s Burbank hangars televising the overnight arrival of the “151” flight at BUR from EWR.

One of the largest airline signs in the nation at 60 feet long by 8 feet high, is hoisted at Newark Airport at the FTL Hangar and will carry the name of The Flying Tiger Line. The sign is visible from the New Jersey Turnpike, one of the nation’s most heavily traveled highways, and is visible for over a mile away.

The carriage of airmail on The Flying Tiger, Line, began May 25 and air express shipments will start June 11, ending a 10-year campaign by the carrier for rights in these fields, marked the first time that a transcontinental air carrier other than a passenger line has participated in the carriage of airmail and express.

For Flying Tigers, the world’s largest freight and contract airline, has become the largest independent air carrier across the North Atlantic—and the traffic is in passengers! FTL transports more than 200,000 people access the North Atlantic during the summer.

Tiger Sales employees arranged an NBC radio show at FTL’s Newark Terminal, highlighting air freight.

By mid-summer, the data indicates that FTL route mileage totals 11,003 miles. This is the total mileage of each schedule flown daily on the airline, not counting duplicating routes.

FTL is granted permission by special CAB exemptions to operate tourist charter flights between the USA, Canada and Europe.

The cargo airline is now operating passenger airlift across the Pacific for MATS for the supply of the supply of American forces in Japan and Hawaii utilizing two C-54 aircraft.

CONOPS produces gross revenues in excess of a million dollars a month in the peak season from a fleet of nine aircraft — one DC-6 and eight C-54’s. In July, the airline operated 100 CONOPS flights, moving 6,521 passengers and 145,000 pounds of freight.

Highest aircraft utilization recorded: Flying Tiger’s DC-6A air freighter fleet flew an average of 15 hours daily per aircraft. During the last two weeks on September 1956, the fleet of three ships moved a total of 2,087,310 ton miles of air freight.

In 1945, Normal L Meyers was the stand-alone attorney supporting FTL and by the end of 1956 the legal offices in Washington DC now include 6 lawyers. an executive group of three and secretarial force of six.

Starting in November 1956, the Flying Tiger Line operated dozens of flights and was known in every corner of the world for the airlift of Hungarian refugees from Vienna to the United States, South Africa and New Zealand under direct orders from President Eisenhower, who arranged for the mass evacuation of the Hungarians after the Russians and communism terrorized their homeland. Flights from Vienna operated a 7,000 mile route to Johannesburg, via Munich, Geneva, Marseille, Tripoli, Kano in Nigeria and Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo. Flights to New Zealand operated a 12,000 mile route from Vienna via Munich, Zurich, Geneva, Lyon, Marseille, Rome, Athens, Beirut, Bahrein, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Calcutta, Rangoon, Bangkok, Saigon, Darwin and Brisbane to Auckland, New Zealand.

Robert Prescott, president of The Flying Tiger Line, was elected as a director of the Air Transport Association.

The first FTL Super Constellation air freighter got off to a record start when the big ship left Newark on March 7 with a record payload of 40.900 pounds. This is the largest load of commercial air freight ever airlifted across the United States.

More than 600 jet engines to be used on the Boeing 707, the nation’s first jet airliner, will be flown by air freight to the Boeing factory in Seattle in a transportation program designed to save the plane manufacturer more than $750,000 in freight and packaging costs.

Flying Tiger’s new Lockheed Super H Constellations have been setting passenger-load and airfreight-lift records since their introduction on the airline’s domestic and overseas routes.

The Flying Tiger Line, largest of the nation’s overseas contract airlines, has been elected to an associate membership in the International Air Transport Association.

Flying Tiger’s Lockheed Super H Constellation fleet claimed two new air transportation records: the first, a domestic air freight flight, when Super H — 20Charlie — left San Francisco for Chicago with a revenue payload of 45,448 pounds, the largest commercial payload ever flown by a commercial air freighter. The second was set by a Super H operating non-stop from Tokyo to Honolulu in 10 hours, 30 minutes with 99 passengers on the 3,890- mile hop; this set a record for the greatest number of passengers flown non-stop over the greatest distance in the fastest time.                 

On Sunday April 13, San Francisco ramp loaded “the horse of the century” when Silky Sullivan headed for the Kentucky Derby.

Flying Tiger Line employees are granted free “passes” on Hawaiian Airlines.

In May, the airline announced the purchase of its 13th Lockheed Super H Constellation air freighter for approximately S2,300,000.

The cargo airline is now the largest overseas contract carrier of passengers, averaging as many as 6,000 passengers a month on its trans-Pacific and North Atlantic operations.

A contract which will provide estimated gross revenues of S3,000,000 over a three-month period starting July 1 has been awarded by the Military Air Transport Service to The Flying Tiger Line.

Ton-mile statistics of the nation’s four major carriers of air freight show that in the May-June 1958 period, The Flying Tiger Line ranked second in domestic air freight and was transporting approximately one-fourth of the nation’s air freight.

“Pappy” Boyington, famous World War II ace turned author, was on hand at Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, to receive “three bags full” of his best-selling book, Baa Baa Black Sheep, which arrived by Flying Tiger air freight from New York.

The largest Pacific contract to be awarded by the Military Air Transport Service has been received by The Flying Tiger Line.

By October, two additional Lockheed Super-H Constellation aircraft at a cost of approximately $5,600,000, including engines and spare parts, were purchased as the first step in a new expansion program of the airline.

A Flying Tiger Super H Constellation crossed the Atlantic and the Iron Curtain in October with a record air load of polio vaccine from Indianapolis, IN into Warsaw, Poland.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1958, the line carried more cargo and passengers on overseas routes than any other contract carrier, moving a total of 103,459 passengers and 5,262 tons of cargo across the Atlantic and Pacific.

An application for the first all-cargo freight and mail air route across the Pacific from Los Angeles has been filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board by The Flying Tiger Line. Additionally, an application to the CAB for a permanent Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity has been filed for The Flying Tiger Line by Norman L. Meyers, general counsel in Washington, DC.

A study of air freight shipments, conducted by Emery Johnson, president of Air Cargo, Inc., shows that the average shipment carried by The Flying Tiger Line is nearly twice as heavy as the industry average.

A major expansion of Flying Tiger’s air freight service with the addition of two more Super H Constellations are added to the fleet for the first non-stop all cargo flight from San Francisco to New York and direct westbound service from New York and Chicago to San Francisco

An experimental shipment of strawberries in a container especially designed for the handling of perishables was successfully moved over The Flying Tiger Line on March 24 from Los Angeles to Boston.

The name of one of the most sensational horses of 1959 was added to the list of equine celebrities which have flown on The Flying Tiger Line when Silver Spoon rode on a non-stop chartered flight April 12 from Burbank, CA to Churchill Downs at Louisville, KY.

A $55,000,000 order for a fleet of 10 jet air freighters was announced on May 14 by President Robert W. Prescott of The Flying Tiger Line. Prescott said a contract had been signed with Canadair, Ltd., Montreal subsidiary of General Dynamics Corp., for the delivery in 1961 of a new type of jet prop air freighter, the CL-44D-4 Swingtail.

The largest single piece of commercial air freight ever shipped, an entire steamship shaft weighing 34,000 lbs., was flown by a Flying Tiger Super-H Constellation from Newark to Sicily early in May.

Another Flying Tiger Baby Lift—112 Korean orphans this time (80 of which were infants) —operated from Seoul, Korea to Portland, OR for adoption by US families.

Stewardesses on The Flying Tiger Line are at once the envy and surprise of the flying world. Most people look a little incredulous when they learn that the airline has stewardesses. The company is so well known as a freight line that few realize the scope of its worldwide operations and the fact that, overseas, it is the largest contract carrier. It is in this field, military and charter civilian flights, that the airline enters into passenger-carrying and, of course, stewardesses.

In the last two years, Flying Tigers has transported 350 Pratt & Whitney B707 jet engines from Hartford, CT to Seattle, WA with another 250 jet engines to go.

On-time departures of The Flying Tiger Line for its trans-Pacific operation reached a record of 100 per cent in June, the first perfect mark ever achieved by an airline for this route.

July was a record month in Tiger airfreight, with revenues rising to an all-time high of $1,376,972. FTL was the only airline among the nations “Big Four” — Flying Tiger, American, United and TWA — to show a gain. Flying Tigers increased from 28.3% in June to 29.8% in July, while the other three carriers all experienced a decrease. The fiscal year ended with record revenues and largest operating earning in company history.

Robert W. Prescott, President of The Flying Tiger Line, announced the successful completion of financing for a fleet of ten CL-44D-4 prop-jet air freighters purchased from Canadair, Ltd., Montreal subsidiary of the General Dynamics Corp.

“We are now ready for the major break-through which will put the airfreighters of the 1960’s into direct competition with truck and rail transportation,” Robert Prescott said.

The first CL-44 has been produced at the Canadair factory in Montreal which will join the Flying Tiger fleet in 1961.

Tigers moves into the new Newark Airport Air Cargo Center.