American Overseas Airlines (AOA) was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

that operated between the United States and Europe between 1945 and 1950. It was headquartered in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

History

American Export Airlines (AEA), commonly known as Am Ex, was founded in April 1937 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the shipping company American Export Lines. Transatlantic surveys were done with a Consolidated PBY-4 flying boat and in 1939 AEA placed an order for three Vought-Sikorsky VS-44 flying boats, dubbed 'Flying Aces', named after the parent company's Four Aces. That same year, AEA made an application to the U.S.

Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services (including scheduled passe ...

(CAB) for routes across the Atlantic from the United States to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. On July 15, 1940, in spite of strong protests by

Juan Trippe Juan Terry Trippe (June 27, 1899 – April 3, 1981) was an American commercial aviation pioneer, entrepreneur and the founder of Pan American World Airways, one of the iconic airlines of the 20th century. He was involved in the introduction of t ...

, the president of

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

(PAA), President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

gave his approval to AEA for a seven-year temporary certificate to serve

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

(Portugal) from

-La Guardia Flying Boat base. Later, services were also flown to

Foynes Foynes (; ) is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 512 as of the 2022 census. Foynes's role as sea ...

(Ireland). These services ended in 1944 when AEA started operations on behalf of the U.S.

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies a ...

(ATC), using

Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilia ...

s mainly between the US and military bases in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

. AEA could not begin its New York City (USA) – Foynes (Ireland) flying boat service before June 1942, due in part to vigorous objections from PAA.

Postwar operations

In 1945, AEA was awarded transatlantic rights, which covered destinations in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

with the requirement that the shipping company (American Export Lines) divest itself of control and turn the control over to another carrier, so that an airline was not controlled by a surface carrier. Consequently, enough stock was sold to

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

to give them control, but the chairman of the board of AEA, J. E. Slater, remained. American Airlines was interested in acquiring AEA since it wanted to break into the overseas market, dominated at that time by PAA. The US CAB approved the acquisition of AEA by American Airlines on July 5, 1945. The La Guardia – Botwood – Shannon route was initially operated by Vought-Sikorsky

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

s using the

Marine Air Terminal The Marine Air Terminal (also known as Terminal A) is an airport terminal at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City, United States. Its main building, designed in the Art Deco style by William Delano of the firm Delano & Aldrich, opened in ...

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...

. By 1948 the airline also served

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Keflavik,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

and

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The AEA name was retained until November 1945 when AEA was renamed to American Overseas Airlines. The entity started operations with six C-54s at the end of AEA's ATC contract. AOA launched international landplane flights on October 24, 1945, operating a

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

, ''Flagship New England'' (N90904), on the route

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

via

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Gander (Newfoundland) and Shannon (Ireland). The reliable but unpressurised DC-4s were replaced on the Atlantic routes by Lockheed L-049 Constellations from 23 June 1946. From summer 1949 the Constellations were supplemented and then largely replaced by

Boeing 377 Stratocruiser The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a large long-range airliner developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter military transport, itself a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. The Stratocruiser's first flight was on July 8, 1947. Design features inclu ...

s, the first AOA service by the type being on 17 August that year to

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...

. AOA was acquired by PAA but on May 17, 1950, the US CAB ruled against this merger. President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

, however, overturned the CAB decision, and AOA was merged into what would become Pan American's Atlantic Division on September 25, 1950. This unit ultimately became part of

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

, following Pan Am's bankruptcy in 1991.

Destinations

According to the August 1, 1950, American Overseas Airlines system timetable, the carrier was serving the following destinations shortly before Pan American was allowed to acquire the airline: *

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the D ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

* Copenhagen, Denmark *

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the foreland of the Taunus on its namesake Main, it forms a contin ...

Gander, Newfoundland Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on th ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Helsinki, Finland Helsinki () is the capital and most populous city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipality, with million in the capital region and ...

* Keflavik, Iceland *

, England,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

* Prestwick, Scotland,

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport () is an international airport located in County Clare in Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. With almost 2 million passengers in 2023, the airport is the third busiest ...

, Ireland *

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

The above referenced timetable states that the airline was operating

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the 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 ...

and Lockheed L-049 Constellation prop aircraft at this time, all of which AOA referred to as "flagships". The same AOA timetable also contains an

(AA) connecting service route map with domestic U.S flights as well as flights between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico operated by AA.

Accidents and incidents

On June 18, 1942, an AEA Consolidated 16 Commodore (NC664M) sank into Takla Lake while being flown to Alaska. The flying boat had been contracted by the U.S. Military and was on a fuel stop in Takla Lake when the fuel spilt, causing a fire which sunk the plane. In 2010, plans were made to salvage the wreck and send it to

San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...

. On October 3, 1942, AEA's ''Excalibur'' (NC41880), a Vought-Sikorsky VS-44, crashed on take-off at Botwood (Newfoundland) when flaps were inadvertently extended to landing position, thus causing the aircraft to stall immediately after lift-off. In the crash, 5 out of crew of 11 and 6 out of 26 passengers perished. On April 21, 1945, an AEA Douglas C-54 (41-107452) crashed at Kindley Field,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, after suffering engine failure on a cargo flight. It is unknown if there were any fatalities or injuries. On October 3, 1946, AOA's ''Flagship New England'' (N90904) crashed into a steep ridge en route from Stephenville (Newfoundland) to Shannon (Ireland). This plane crash happened 7.1 miles past the departure runway. There were 8 crew and 31 passenger fatalities; no survivors. The crash investigators attributed the probable cause to "The action of the pilot in maintaining the direction of take-off toward higher terrain over which adequate clearance could not be gained." On May 3, 1947, AOA's ''Flagship Denmark'' was damaged on the runway in Boston when the right wing struck the ground because the right landing gear was retracted while the plane was on the ground.

Fleet

As AEA

Consolidated PBY-4 28-4: * ''Transatlantic'' (NC18997) SN/C-4

: *(42-107452) Vought-Sikorsky VS-44: * ''Excalibur'' (NX41880; later as NC41880)

As AEA and AOA

Vought-Sikorsky VS-44: * ''Excambian'' (no NX; later as NC41881) * ''Exeter'' (no NX; later as NC41882)

: * ''Helsinki'' (N25686)

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for tro ...

: * (N90907) * ''Nairobi'' (N90908)

: * ''Flagship America'' (N90901); also named ''Stockholm'' * ''Flagship Frankfurt'' (N90902) * ''Flagship Oslo'' (N90903) * ''Flagship New England'' (N90904) * ''Flagship Glasgow'' (N90905); also named ''Berlin'' * ''Flagship Copenhagen'' (N90906); also named ''Chicago''

As AOA

Douglas DC-4 Skymaster: * ''Flagship Keflavik'' (N90909) * ''Flagship Shannon'' (N90910) * ''Flagship Reykjavik'' (N90911) * ''Flagship Washington'' (N90912); also named ''Prestwick'' * ''Flagship Amsterdam'' (N90913) * (no flagship name) (N90914) * ''Flagship Gander'' (N90915) Lockheed L-049 Constellation: * ''Flagship Sweden'' (N90921); also named ''Stockholm'' * ''Flagship Denmark'' (N90922); also named ''Copenhagen'' and ''Oslo'' * ''Flagship Great Britain'' (N90923); also named ''Scotland'' and ''Oslo'' * ''Flagship Holland'' (N90924); also named ''Amsterdam'' and ''Shannon'' * ''Flagship America'' (N90925); also named ''Philadelphia'' and ''Copenhagen'' * ''Flagship Éire'' (N90926); also named ''Amsterdam'' and ''Chicago'' * ''Flagship Norway'' (N90927); also named ''Detroit'' and ''Glasgow''

: * ''Flagship Scandinavia'' (N90941); also named ''Flagship Europe'' and ''Flagship Great Britain'' * ''Flagship Europe'' (N90942); also named ''Flagship Great Britain'' * ''Flagship Holland'' (N90943); also named ''Flagship Europe'' * ''Flagship Ireland'' (N90944) * ''Flagship Norway'' (N90945) * ''Flagship Sweden'' (N90946) * ''Flagship Denmark'' (N90947) * ''Flagship Scotland'' (N90948)

References

External links

Timetable Images: American Overseas AirlinesPhotographs of American Overseas Airlines' airplanes
��"Aviation: Pan Am v. Am Ex"

��"Aviation: The Big Deal"
Video of American Overseas Airlines
at

{{authority control Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1937 Airlines disestablished in 1950 American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines American companies established in 1937 Airlines based in New York (state)