Trans International Airlines
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Trans International Airlines (TIA) was an
airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
that offered charter service from and within the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It also operated scheduled passenger service flying as Transamerica Airlines as well as charter flights during its last decade. Its headquarters were on the grounds of
Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger f ...
(OAK) in
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
.


History

Future travel and entertainment mogul
Kirk Kerkorian Kerkor Kerkorian ( hy, Գրիգոր Գրիգորեան; June 6, 1917 – June 15, 2015) was an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was the president and CEO of Tracinda Corporation, his private holding company based in Beverl ...
purchased Los Angeles Air Service, a small charter operator, in 1947 for $60,000. As tourism to
Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, boomed, so did the fortunes of the airline. From a single
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
, the company expanded rapidly, adding Douglas DC-6s and Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations, and it became the first charter airline to operate
jet aircraft A jet aircraft (or simply jet) is an aircraft (nearly always a fixed-wing aircraft) propelled by jet engines. Whereas the engines in propeller-powered aircraft generally achieve their maximum efficiency at much lower speeds and altitudes, je ...
with the introduction of the Douglas DC-8 on trans-Pacific routes as well as the
Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavy 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter flight lengths from smaller airpo ...
on shorter routes. The airline later added
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...
and
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
wide body jetliners to its fleet. To better reflect its growing route structure, the airline was renamed Trans International Airlines in 1960. Between 1966 and 1986 TIA operated regular charter flights between the U.S. and Europe. International destinations were Paris Orly (ORY), London Gatwick (LGW), Brussels Zaventem (BRU) and Frankfurt (FRA). TIA contributed to cheap transatlantic flights which did not exist at the time. In 1962, as part of its diversification strategy that had seen companies such as Onan, Gravely Tractor and
Cincinnati Testing Labs Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
join its automotive operations, the
Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...
Corporation purchased the airline, retaining Kerkorian as president. In June 1964, Studebaker sold the company back to Kerkorian and a partner, with Studebaker's president citing a desire to concentrate on manufactured goods like appliances, auto parts and tractors, instead of air travel. Kerkorian took the company public in 1965, then sold his interests in 1968 to insurance conglomerate Transamerica Corporation, profiting an estimated $85 million. He reinvested proceeds from the sale in Las Vegas property, notably the
International Hotel International Hotel may refer to: * International Hotel (Alanya, Turkey), a historical hotel building * International Hotel (San Francisco), a residential hotel, historic building and community center in San Francisco, California * International ...
. Transamerica Corporation later purchased Universal Airlines and in December 1976,
Saturn Airways Saturn Airways ( ICAO designator: KS, and Callsign: Saturn) was a US "supplemental carrier", i.e. a charter airline. It operated from 1948 until 1976. Its headquarters were located on the grounds of Oakland International Airport, Oakland, Calif ...
, and merged their operations into TIA. The airline remained focused on charter and cargo operations until the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which gave it the opportunity to offer scheduled passenger service. In 1979 the airline was renamed Transamerica Airlines and on November 2 of that year it commenced scheduled transatlantic passenger flights to Shannon (SNN) and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(AMS). The May 1, 1982 Transamerica route map depicted scheduled nonstop flights being operated between Amsterdam and New York City as well as between Shannon and Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Oakland, CA. By 1983, the airline was flying scheduled service into Paris Orly Airport (ORY) on a weekly round trip routing of Paris-Shannon-Los Angeles-San Francisco with this flight being operated with a Super
DC-8-73 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...
jetliner. Following the popular Alex Haley book ''
Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...
'', Transamerica flew charter flights between New York and Africa known as the "Roots" program. Other popular programs were to the Caribbean, South America, and Hong Kong. The airline also flew more than a hundred flights for the Jeddah
hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
pilgrimage wet leased on behalf of Union des Transports Aériens (UTA) and Air Afrique. During this time, the airline was under U.S. military contract and it operated a number of military charters. Most notable of these was the route that connected
Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located west of Angeles City, about northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was previously a United States military facility, operated by the U.S. Air Forc ...
, Philippines and
Andersen Air Force Base Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacific ...
, Guam, to Travis Air Force Base, California during the late 1970s, using DC-8s. TIA was heavily involved in the transport of troops during the Vietnam, Angola, and Middle East conflicts and the relocation of refugees. In the early 1980s, Transamerica Corporation (per stockholder reports) announced its intention to divest all holdings that were not financial in nature. Transamerica Airlines, among the top five profitable holdings, was divested in 1986. Although there were potential buyers, it was more profitable to sell the airline in pieces and parts. The airline was dissolved and ceased operations on September 30, 1986. Following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 and the ensuing proliferation of new low-cost airlines, Transamerica Corporation incorporated a second airline, and re-activated the Trans International Airlines (TIA) name. The new TIA, flying Super
Douglas DC-8-61 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...
aircraft, was led by Robert R. Lindberg as Chairman and CEO, and William A. Hardenstine as President (the latter formerly of World Airways). TIA operated in the mid-1980s, and was based at Orlando International Airport (MCO), Florida. TIA was sold as a going concern at approximately the same time as the larger Transamerica Airlines divested its aircraft.


Transamerica destinations in 1984

According to its May 1, 1984 system timetable, Transamerica Airlines was operating scheduled passenger service to the following destinations with the carrier using the two letter airline code "TV": * Dallas/ Fort Worth, Texas (DFW) * Frankfurt (FRA) * Honolulu (HNL) * Los Angeles (LAX) * New York City (JFK) * St. Louis (STL) *
Shannon, Ireland Shannon () or Shannon Town (), named after the river near which it stands, is a town in County Clare, Ireland. It was given town status on 1 January 1982. The town is located just off the N19 road, a spur of the N18/M18 road between Limeric ...
(SNN) * Tel Aviv (TLV) Also according to the above referenced timetable, all Transamerica passenger flights were being operated at this time with
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
aircraft with the exception of the New York-Shannon route which was being flown with
Douglas DC-8-73 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Dou ...
aircraft (which the airline called the "Super-73"). Two years earlier in 1982, a Transamerica Airlines route map listed the following destinations being served with scheduled passenger flights:
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(AMS), Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), New York City (JFK),
Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
(OAK) and Shannon (SNN). Transamerica also operated charter flights from New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to Cozumel, Mexico (CZM) during the mid 1970s.


Accidents and incidents

On June 24, 1968, two Frankfurt newspapers reported that a TIA flight between JFK and FRA on June 23, 1968, left shards of tire on the New York runway and caused an incident in Frankfurt whereby emergency vehicles were scrambled in anticipation of landing a DC-8 with one blown tire (outside tire of the right-side main gear). Ground personnel at JFK discovered pieces of rubber shortly after the DC-8 took off, after which the flight crew and authorities in Frankfurt were notified of the potential problem. The captain declined to inform passengers of the situation and landed the airliner in Frankfurt without incident. Mechanics replaced the destroyed tire and the aircraft was able to depart for New York at 4:00 pm the same day. On September 8, 1970,
Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 was a ferry flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Washington Dulles International Airport. On September 8, 1970, the Douglas DC-8 (registration N4863T) crashed during take-of ...
, a Douglas DC-8 N4863T ferry flight, with eight
flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
s and three cockpit crewmembers on board, crashed en route from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Washington Dulles International Airport. Unknowingly to the crew, a foreign object became wedged between the right elevator and horizontal stabilizer, blown there by backwash from the aircraft preceding it on the taxiway. The problem was not detected, and the aircraft crashed upon takeoff with the loss of all 11 on board. Following this incident, the FAA instituted new minimums between aircraft in line-up for take-off. On November 18, 1979, Transamerica Airlines Flight 18, a Lockheed L-188 Electra (N859U), operating a flight for the US military from
Hill Air Force Base Hill Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force (USAF) base located in northern Utah, just south of the city of Ogden, and bordering the Cities of Layton, Clearfield, Riverdale, Roy, and Sunset with its largest border immediately adjacent to ...
, crashed near Salt Lake City, Utah. While climbing between 12,000 and 13,000 ft, all electrical power was lost; the crew requested an immediate descent. The aircraft attained a high airspeed and a high rate of descent and the aircraft disintegrated in flight, killing all three crew members. The NTSB investigation stated the probable cause was a progressive failure of the aircraft electrical system leading to the disabling or erratic performance of flight critical flight instruments and lighting. As a result, the crew became disoriented and lost control of the aircraft. The crew's efforts to regain control of the aircraft imposed loads which exceeded the design limits and caused it to break up in flight.


Fleet

Trans International Airlines and/or Transamerica Airlines operated the following aircraft at various times during their existence: * 2 Boeing 727-171C * 1 Boeing 747-130 * 2 Boeing 747-271C * 1
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
* 5 Douglas C-54 Skymaster * 1
Douglas DC-6A The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with th ...
* 2
Douglas DC-6B The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with ...
* 1
Douglas DC-8-51 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Ju ...
* 2 Douglas DC-8-54F * 1 Douglas DC-8-55F * 1 Douglas DC-8-61F * Douglas DC-8-61CF * 1
Douglas DC-8-63CF The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...
* 8 Douglas DC-8-71CF * 11 Douglas DC-8-73CF * 16 Lockheed L-100 Hercules * 1
Lockheed L-382 The Lockheed L-100 Hercules is the civilian variant of the prolific C-130 Hercules military Cargo aircraft, transport aircraft made by the Lockheed Corporation. Its first flight occurred in 1964. Longer L-100-20 and L-100-30 versions were deve ...
* 9 Lockheed L-188 Electra * 1 Lockheed L-749 Constellation * 2 Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation * 1
Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was also produc ...
* 9 Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation * 3 McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF


See also

* List of defunct airlines of the United States


References

* Aviation Safety Network
Aviation Safety Database: Trans International Airlines
* "Background and Latest Buzz on L.A.'s Richest People: Kirk Kerkorian," ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', May 21, 2001 * Mondout, Patrick,
Transamerica Airlines
at Super70s.com


External links


September 8, 1970 Accident Report

September 8, 1970 Accident Report (alt)



Code and fleet data


{{Portal bar, San Francisco Bay Area, Companies, Aviation Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1947 Airlines disestablished in 1986 1947 establishments in California