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| Founded | 1944 (1944) (asAviation Enterprises) | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | October 31, 1982 (1982-10-31) (merged intoContinental Airlines) | ||||||
| Hubs |
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| Frequent-flyer program | Payola Pass | ||||||
| Parent company | Texas Air Corporation(1980–1982) | ||||||
| Headquarters | Houston,Texas, U.S. | ||||||
| Key people | Frank Lorenzo | ||||||
Texas International Airlines Inc. was alocal service carrier, a scheduled airline in the United States, known from 1940 until 1947 asAviation Enterprises,[1] until 1969 asTrans-Texas Airways (TTA), and asTexas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged withContinental Airlines. It was headquartered nearWilliam P. Hobby Airport inHouston, Texas.[2]
Trans-Texas Airways originally operated in Texas and surrounding states.[3] In August 1953, it scheduled flights to 36 airports fromEl Paso toMemphis; in May 1968, TTA flew to 48 U.S. airports plusMonterrey,Tampico andVeracruz in Mexico. The airline changed its name to Texas International and continued to grow.
When Texas International was merged into Continental Airlines in 1982, it had grown to reachBaltimore,Colorado Springs,Denver,Fort Lauderdale,Hartford,Kansas City,Los Angeles,Ontario CA.,Mexico City,Milwaukee,Minneapolis/St. Paul,Omaha,Phoenix,St. Louis,Salt Lake City,Tucson, andWashington, DC, and had an all-DC-9 jet fleet.[4][5] In 2010, Continental merged intoUnited Airlines.
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In 1949, all Trans-Texas Airways flights were operated within the state ofTexas withDouglas DC-3s which the airline called "Starliners".[7] In November 1949, it servedAlpine,Beaumont/Port Arthur,Beeville,Brownsville,Brownwood,Carrizo Springs/Crystal City,Coleman,Dallas (Love Field),Del Rio,Eagle Pass,El Paso,Fort Stockton,Fort Worth,Galveston,Harlingen,Houston (Hobby Airport),Laredo,Lufkin,Marfa,McAllen,Palestine,San Angelo,San Antonio,Uvalde,Van Horn, andVictoria.[8]
The network expanded to Memphis and Marshall in 1953, Lafayette in 1956, New Orleans and Jackson in 1959, into Mexico in 1967, and to Denver in 1969. In late 1963 the carrier added 13 new cities by taking over service formerly operated byContinental Airlines. These cities included Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs, Roswell, and Santa Fe in New Mexico as well as Abilene, Amarillo, Big Spring, College Station, Lubbock, Temple, and Waco in Texas.[9]
About April 1961,Convair 240s formerly operated byAmerican Airlines began carrying Trans-Texas passengers; the airline later converted them toConvair 600s, replacing the piston engines withRolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines. These turboprop powered Convair aircraft were referred to by the airline as the "Jet Powered TTa Silver Cloud 600".[10] First scheduled CV-600 flights were in March 1966. SmallBeechcraft C99 commuter turboprops were later added to serve the smaller cities of Longview, Lufkin, Galveston, Tyler and Victoria (the last DC-3 flight was in 1968).
In October 1966, Trans-Texas Airways introduced theDouglas DC-9-10 (which the airline marketed as the "Pamper-jet")[11] with its jet fleet subsequently being expanded to nineteen DC-9-10s and sevenMcDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s. By 1968, TTa was flying DC-9s to Beaumont/Port Arthur; Harlingen;Hot Springs, Arkansas,Lake Charles, Louisiana;Roswell, New Mexico, andSanta Fe, New Mexico in addition to larger cities in its route system.[12] DC-9's briefly flew toClovis, New Mexico,Carlsbad, New Mexico, andHobbs, New Mexico in 1977.[13] Also, in 1977, Texas International became the first airline to ban cigar and pipe smoking onboard.
Trans-Texas was derisively called "Tree Top Airlines," "Tinker Toy Airlines", and "Teeter-Totter Airlines"[14] by competitors and cynical customers. When it changed its name to Texas International Airlines in April 1969,[15] the company ran newspaper ads showing a Tinker Toy airplane flying along treetops. The copy read "No More Tinker Toys. No More Treetops. We are now Texas International Airlines." As Texas International, the airline standardized on theDC-9 andConvair 600. The last Convair 600 flights were in 1979 and Texas International became all-jet with DC-9-10s and DC-9-30s.
In 1970, Texas International served:Abilene,Amarillo,Austin,Beaumont/Port Arthur,Big Spring,Brownwood,Bryan/College Station,Corpus Christi,Dallas/Ft. Worth,El Paso,Galveston,Harlingen,Houston,Laredo,Longview,Lubbock,Lufkin,McAllen,Midland/Odessa,San Angelo,San Antonio,Temple,Tyler,Victoria,Waco, andWichita Falls, Texas.[16]
Outside of Texas in 1970, Texas International flew toArkansas (El Dorado,Hot Springs,Jonesboro,Little Rock,Pine Bluff andTexarkana);California (Los Angeles);Colorado, (Denver);Louisiana (Alexandria,Baton Rouge,Fort Polk,Lafayette,Lake Charles,Monroe,New Orleans andShreveport);Mississippi (Jackson);New Mexico (Albuquerque,Carlsbad,Clovis,Hobbs,Roswell andSanta Fe);Tennessee (Memphis); andUtah (Salt Lake City). InMexico flights reachedMonterrey,Tampico,Mérida andVeracruz.[16] The airline had several "milk run" flights, such as flight 904, a DC-9-10 that left Los Angeles at 11:00 a.m. and stopped in Albuquerque, Roswell, Midland/Odessa, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, and Beaumont/Port Arthur, before arriving in Lafayette at 8:34 p.m.[17]
After suffering annual losses of up to $3 million, Texas International was acquired in 1972 by Jet Capital Corporation headed by 32-year-oldFrank Lorenzo. The airline quickly realized a $6 million profit, largely due to wage cuts spearheaded by Lorenzo and sharp marketing efforts.
In the mid-1970s, in response to competition fromSouthwest Airlines, Texas International successfully petitioned theCivil Aeronautics Board to allow discounted fares. These fares become a staple of the airline and were advertised as "Peanuts Fares".[18] In spring 1978, the airline was flying nonstop between Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) and bothHouston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) andHouston Hobby Airport (HOU), up to 18 round trip DC-9 flights a day, all with "Peanut Fares".[19] The Texas International March 15, 1978 timetable advertised "Peanut Fares" in other markets as well.[19]
The first modern frequent-flyer program was created at Texas International Airlines in 1979 called "Payola Passes."[20] Lacking the computer resources of their larger competitors, Texas International was overtaken byAmerican's introduction ofAAdvantage in May 1981.
On June 11, 1980, Lorenzo established aholding company,Texas Air Corporation, for Texas International andNew York Air, the first holding company in the airline industry.[21] Texas Air then acquiredContinental Airlines in 1982 and merged Continental and Texas International on October 31, 1982, under the former's name. The last Texas International aircraft were seen in 1983.
Today's successor to Trans-Texas Airways and Texas International isUnited Airlines, which merged with Continental in 2010. United currently operates a large hub atHouston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), a former hub for Texas International. TheDallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) was also a hub for Texas International before its merger with Continental.[22]
World Airline Fleets 1979 (copyright 1978) lists the following for Texas International:[23]
Over the years, Texas International Airlines operated the following aircraft:[24]
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft Model 99 | 5 | 1969 | 1978 | |
| Convair CV-600 | 27 | 1961 | 1979 | Turboprop conversion from the piston-powered Convair CV-240 |
| Douglas C-47 Skytrain | 9 | 1948 | 1968 | |
| Douglas DC-3 | 14 | 1947 | 1969 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10 | 20 | 1966 | 1982 | |
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-10MC | 5 | 1967 | ||
| McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 | 30 | 1969 |
Following the name change to Texas International, the airline's early livery consisted of a dark purplecheatline above the windows leading up into three branches on the tail, which in 1973 was changed to a thick red cheatline across the windows on a white fuselage, along with a Columbia blue cheatline with a large white star on a blue tail.
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