After the end of World War II, and by the end of 1945, the newly incorporated National Skyways Freight Corporation (NSFC) was fulfilling its motto by flying Anything, Anytime, Anywhere. Within this first year Robert Prescott, with well-known roots in Chennault’s infamous American Volunteer Group, retained his connection with U.S. military services and the airline was granted a contract for the U.S. Navy to fly 117 sailors round-trip from the west coast to their home in New York. The men were flown in Budd RB-1 Conestogas piloted on five different flights by original AVG aviators and founders Bob Prescott, Tom Haywood, Cliff Groh, Joe Rosbert, and Duke Hedman (pictured at left). Most importantly, the flights marked Tigers’ first venture into passenger service, and more specifically was the beginning of a very long-term relationship with the U.S. for military airlift operations.
NSFC had already purchased the initial fleet of Budd Conestogas, by virtue of the War Assets Administration (WAA) and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC), which offered veterans first right to purchase requisitioned war-time assets. Soon, this same program was used by Prescott to purchase additional C-47s, the military version of the Douglas DC-3, and Curtis Wright C-46 Commandos. In June 1946 a single C-54 was acquired, the airline’s first. (below, Bob and Helen Ruth Prescott celebrating with company employees)
By mid 1946 the number of air cargo companies, often referred to as independent operators, had increased to almost three hundred prompting an investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), infamously known as the Air Freight Case. During this investigation an exemption for non-scheduled operators (CAB 292.5 of Economic Regulations) permitted veteran airman, purchasing surplus military aircraft, to continue entering the bustling air freight business without CAB approval pending final Board decision on the matter. It would ultimately take another three years before final decisions were made, and the Flying Tiger Line was granted Route 100 by the CAB in July of 1949.
But in1946 NSFC was struggling to keep up with the demand for its new air transport services, let alone the fast-paced and growing marketplace of fiercely competitive companies. In the Spring of 1946, the airline had moved its operations base to Mines Field in Los Angeles, now known as LAX. This move provided an operations office larger than the garage they were working from in Long Beach, more ramp space and a suitable maintenance hangar for its mechanics. Stretched thin with weary pilots, mechanics, and cargo handlers, the sales force continued to hustle up more business than the company could possibly handle. The airline lost an almost crippling $200,000 in its first fiscal year ending July 1946 and Prescott needed help. By the end of that year, he would receive it in a very serendipitous way straight from his aviation roots – a transpacific airlift contract with the U.S. military. What nobody could have possibly known at the time was that the fledgling, and almost completely broken, airline was on the brink of becoming a record-breaking contract carrier for the military over the next forty years.
Bob Prescott desperately needed more surplus C-54 aircraft, which were readily available. The C-54 was a reinforced version of the Douglas DC-4, one of the first air transport category aircraft to incorporate tricycle landing gear permitting the loading of cargo and passengers on a level floor surface. In addition, the four-engine aircraft could carry more payload over farther distances than any other aircraft of its time. This aircraft was in great demand by established passenger airlines to meet the pent-up national passion for air travel halted during the war years. Accordingly, and to the dismay of Bob Prescott, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) banned independent operators such as NSFC from further purchase, while granting the larger established passenger airlines access to these surplus aircraft. (below, a surplus C-54)
Companies such as American Airlines and United Airlines were beginning to figure out that small non-scheduled independent operators without route certificates issued by the CAB were eating into their own bottom lines. One tactic effectively was to convert their passenger aircraft into cargo haulers and begin a massive undercutting rate war to drive independent operators out of the skies. That rate war lasted for two years and, indeed, may have been the demise of FTL had it not been for an invitation from the Air Transport Command (ATC) to bid on a new trans-Pacific contract.
The Air Transport Command was created during World War II as the strategic component of the U.S. Army Air Force for the delivery of military personnel, supplies and equipment between the United States and the overseas combat theaters. Deactivated in 1948, it was the precursor to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in 1948, later redesignated the Military Airlift Command (MAC) in 1966, and finally merged with the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1992 to form the present-day Air Mobility Command (AMC).
In November of 1946, NSFC was undeterred but still overwhelmed by the inability to expand while enduring the ongoing rate war. Atop Prescott’s desk, mixed in among unpaid bills and vouchers due to a depleted company treasury, he found a letter that had been lying there for three days. It was an invitation to bid on a military contract to begin by the end of the year. He approached Fred Benninger and Bob Bartling for their advice. The contract called for twenty-eight weekly flights in support of the U.S. military forces still stationed in Hawaii, Japan, and several Pacific Islands. The ATC would furnish thirty-two C-54s and the successful bidder would supply flight and maintenance crews and administrative personnel for a period of six months.
Both Benninger and Bartling thought it as sheer madness to commit to such an operation with no hangars to maintain the aircraft, an exhausted and limited flight department, and administrative and legal personnel working full time to fend off the efforts to bankrupt the company. However, exemplifying their well-known Can-Do spirit, the three men threw caution to the wind, even while knowing they only had a couple of months to get such an operation ready. Without any possible idea on how they were going to do it, Prescott and Benninger flew to Dayton, Ohio where they bid very low – and won the contract to begin operations on New Years Day, 1947, only one month away.
Bartling stayed back at Mines Field and began the process of hiring 500 new flight personnel, wondering where they would put three carloads of spare parts to be sent by ATC. Within short order, an inspector from ATC paid the ramp an unexpected visit and was apparently flabbergasted at the Tiger’s shoebox operation, ready to quickly rescind the contract. A very persuasive man, Bartling was able to tell the Tigers’ story so convincingly that the inspector was captivated and became amused at such brashness, something all future employees would know as the “Tiger Spirit.” He left agreeing to extend the contact until the end of January 1947, still just two months away.
Bartling found the space they needed to meet their commitments. On January 2, 1947, the company moved to an empty hangar with office space at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank just north of Los Angeles (later renamed Hollywood Burbank Airport). After constantly being referred to as “those Flying Tigers,” the company formally changed its name from National Skyways Freight Corporation to Flying Tiger Line (FTL), in fitting recognition to its veteran wartime founders.
Miraculously, FTL was able to hire the pilots and other personnel needed to operate the fleet of C-54s, creating a $500,000 profit within the first six months.
Air Transport Command C-54s operated by FTL at Lockheed Air Terminal)
In October of 1947 FTL inaugurated its C-54 Sky Tiger Service. AndFlying Tiger Line was finally granted its historic and coveted Route 100 effective June 24, 1949. By July 29, 1949, only four of the over three hundred independent air freight carriers operating a year earlier, were given a route certification by the CAB in the Air Freight Case.
For the fiscal year ending July 1949, the Flying Tiger Line had its first profitable year. The Flying Tigers had earned their wings again. One could wonder, if not for the blind faith vision and commitments by Prescott and its founders, and the early relationship with the U.S. military, whether Tigers could have weathered the storm.
FTL continued to commit to the military air transportation system by dedicating its entire fleet to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) program and providing airlift to MATS during the Korean War. Later, under contracts with MAC, the airline was heavily involved in operations during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.