Paul Braniff founded Braniff International Airways in 1928 and was the only pilot at the airline at that time. Braniff International grew from that point and well into the 1970's, adding routes, a flight-attendant training academy and an airline careers training center. By the early 1980's the airline was heavily in debt and unable to secure a buyer. The airline filed for bankruptcy and shut down on May 12, 1982. In fact, passengers on some airplanes were returned to the gates only to be told that the airline was ceasing its operations.
Eastern Airlines was founded in 1929 when Clement Keys bought a small mail operation called Pitcairn Aviation. Another famous Eastern Airlines executive, Eddie Rickenbacker, bought the airline in 1938. By the 1970's the airline had begun international routes using one of the newest long-range airplanes, the Lockheed L-1011 Tri Star. The airline was able to lower its fares and change its operating costs when the industry was deregulated in 1978, but began to lose ground against low-fare carriers during the 1980's. Eastern filed for bankruptcy on March 9, 1989.
Juan Trippe started Pan Am in 1927 by flying airmail between Key West, Florida, and Havana, Cuba. In January of 1928, the airline began carrying passengers on the same route. In the 1930s and 40s, Pan Am began international service to Asia and South America, and even recorded an around-the-world flight. According to PanAmAir.org, the company served 11 million customers in 1970 and became the first U.S. air carrier to restart its routes to China in 1981. After a Pan Am flight was bombed and crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1983, the airline began to lose money rapidly. Pan Am filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and sold its routes to Delta Airlines.
Trans World Airlines started business in 1930 as Transcontinental and Western Air, which consisted of two merged air carriers. As competition between airlines grew in the 1950s, TWA became the first carrier to begin using the Lockheed Super Constellation airplane, which allowed it to begin the first nonstop flights between Los Angeles and New York. By 1961, TWA was the first airline to offer movies on board. The airline remained strong until the early 1980's, when deregulation of the airline industry caused heavy competition. Carl Icahn, a private equity investor, bought the airline in 1985 and ran the company until 1992. TWA was reorganized during the 1990's but continued to have financial difficulty. In April of 2001, American Airlines bought TWA's routes and aircraft and the company ended operations in December of that year.
