TWA 10 Year Anniversary

October 1940 commemorated the first coast-to-coast service and Transcontinental & Western Air's 10th anniversary of their 36 hour flight under the new name - TWA. This article then describes the history of T&WA's birth and growth into the leading company in passenger travel to this point. In 1930 the company logged 4,800,000 revenue miles. By the first seven months of 1940 TWA had logged over 78,000,000 revenue miles!

Employee's with 10 years of service in 1940

Image courtesy WHMCKC

TWA history overview in Line Squalls, 1933

For our first post utilizing documents provided by the State Historical Society of Missouri Research Center, Kansas City (SHSMRC), I am installing volume 2, no. 2 issue of 'Line Squalls', an anniversary suppliment issue that addresses the history of Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc. We have already posted T&WA history early in the blog, but I wanted to share what that companies president in 1933, Mr. Richard Robbins had to say regarding the combined efforts and interest of three key companies namely, Western Air Express (WAE), Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) and Pittsburgh Aviation Industries (PAI). By June of 1933, there were over 600,000 stockholders invested in the corporation. One year later vice president Jack Frye would be voted in as the youngest (31) president ever of an airline company of the newly named company, TWA as a result of the foundation established by these companies. But more importantly, for his vision of airline advancement in the 20th century.

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TWA in Brief

Frye, along with Charles Lindbergh and D.W. Tommy Tomlinson were a special committee to evaluate and order a modern airliner. A letter by Frye, dated August 2, 1932 was circulated to certain aircraft manufacturers with T&WA's specifications. Donald Douglas met the challenge with a revolutionary design for the prototype DC-1 and production model DC-2.

DC2 with DC3 in tow

On February 18, 1934, Frye, Edward Rickenbacker and a team of T&WA pilots flew the mail from Burbank to Newark, with three stops in the record time of 13 hours and two minutes. When the mail contracts were re-awarded to the airlines in May of 1934, Frye again made headlines when he piloted a Northrop Gamma with a load of mail across the country, with one stop in a new record (commercial) time of 11 hours 30 minutes! At the end of 1934, Jack Frye was elected president of TWA and Paul Richter VP-Operations. Later, Walter Hamilton was promoted to VP-Maintenance and Overhaul.

Jack Frye piloting the GAMMA

In January of 1936 the Air transport Association of America was formed and Jack Frye was among the original directors. Others included such well known airline presidents during the '30s as C.R. Smith, Bill Patterson, Edward Rickenbacker, Tom Braniff and Bob Six. Also in 1936, Frye was a VP with the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences.

Under Frye's leadership, TWA was an industry leader with regard to researching the problems and benefits of high-altitude flying. The DC-1 was used for a while, flown by Tommy Tomlinson. In June of 1939 the trio of "Jack, Paul and Ham" was broken when Hamilton resigned to accept an executive position with Douglas Aircraft Company.

Howard Hughes and Frye disembarking a "Connie"

Photo courtesy John Underwood collection

Jack Frye personally induced Howard Hughes to secretly purchase the majority of TWA's outstanding stock in early 1939. Although five of the Stratoliners were due for delivery in mid-1940, Hughes and Frye were negotiating with Lockheed for the proposed 300-mph Constellation. Due to the war emergency, production of the Constellations was delayed and it wasn't until early 1944 when the prototype C-69 was completed. On April 17, 1944, Hughes and Frye set a new cross-country speed record when they flew the C-69 from Burbank to Washington D.C., in six hours 58 minutes! Frye kept a separate office in Washington during the war and was a strong lobbyist on behalf of TWA.

Later after disagreements with Hughes, Frye and Richter resigned from TWA in 1947. Jack went with General Aniline and Film Corporation as president until he resigned in 1955 to form a new aircraft manufacturing company. This was tentatively known as the "Frye-Robertson Aircraft Company", based in Fort Worth, with plans to build the Frye F-1 transport. Later he would begin developing a new commuter plane called the SAFARI.

Walt Hamilton returned to TWA in early 1946, but in March of that year passed away at the age of 44. Paul Richter passed away in May of 1949 at the age of 53. In February 1959, Jack Frye was killed in an auto accident near the entrance to the Tucson Airport. He was age 54. The Three Musketeers of aviation had passed on.

On June 20, 1992, Jack Frye was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame. TWA Senior VP-Flight Operations Capt. J.G. Colpitts accepted the award on his behalf. Jack joined a very exclusive group of airline presidents who were previously honored: William Patterson, United (1976); Edward Rickenbacker, Eastern (1965); Robert Six, Continental (1980); C.R. Smith, American (1974; Juan Trippe, Pan Am (1970). They were fierce competitors back in the formative years of the nation’s major airlines.

Thanks to Mr. Ed Betts and the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS) for this brief historical content of Jack Frye's story and facts.

Excerpts taken from AAHS Journal, Vol 39, Number 3,  Fall 1994, used by permission.

From Standard Air to T&WA

Jack Frye's Standard Airlines begins operations in November, 1927 sporting FOKKER Tri-Motor, 10 passenger aircraft. Phillips 66 was the fuel of choice and co-sponser of the new airline.

Above, some early facts of the new Air-Rail service.

On March 30, 1929, Standard Air Lines suffered its first (and only) fatal accident when pilot Del Everitt and three passengers were killed in a Fokker F-VIIA-3m version 12-passenger monoplane. The Los Angeles Examiner described this as Southern California's worst air disaster. This occurred on the departure out of Los Angeles in the San Gorgonio Pass.

By March 30, 1930, Western Air and Express had "taken-over" Aero Corp/Standard through controlling stock purchases. Twelve shares of Aero Corp/Standard stock were exchanged for one WAE. What is a credit to Jack Frye's leadership was that the original $50,000 subscribed to form the corporation in February 1926 was now worth (on paper) $2,500,000. It had been his policy not to pay annual dividends; all profits were reinvested to modernize the fleet and expansion operations. Frye was now on WAE's Board of Directors and Chief of Operations.

The Los Angeles Examiner reads: "Converting a oldtime movie studio into airplane hangar and carving an oiled runway through a wheat field on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Western Air Lines in 1926 began operations from Vail Field. Five little Douglas M-2 biplanes, like craft in photo, made up the first fleet of the nation's oldest airline carrier.

Postmaster General Walter F. Brown had his own ideas on how new airmail route contracts would be awarded which resulted in the infamous "Spoils Conferences" with certain airline executives. Brown ordered the merger and terms between WAE, TAT-Maddux and Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp. The new T&WA was formed and began service in October 1930 on the "central route" from Newark to Burbank.

This was the end of Aero Corp's activities although the property was carried on WAE's books as an asset for several more years. Frye was elected VP-Operations of the new T&WA, later to be called TWA.

Jack Frye and first wife Debbie Greer Frye

Debbie Greer Frye, Jacks first wife was a great cheerleader and co-worker with her forward thinking husband during the formative years of his airline operations. She is known to have performed many supportive tasks around the airport grounds planning and coordinating activites for the flying schools, parties for dignitaries and promoting Aero Corp and Standard Airlines in Southern California. Debbie was an aviation pioneer in her own right that helped her husband towards the advancement of airline growth on the west coast.