History Hop Tags - Airlines

1919-10-07

KLM, Royal Ducth Airlines, established (oldest existing airline)

1920-05-17

1st flight by Dutch airlines KLM (Koninklijke-Luchtvaart-Maatschappij)

1923-02-09

Soviet Aeroflot airlines forms

1927-03-08

Pan American Airlines incorporates

1928-04-14

Maddus Airlines starts 1st regular passenger flights between SF & LA

1928-05-01

Pitcairn Airlines (later Eastern) begins service

1930-08-18

Eastern Airlines begins passenger service

1932-10-15

Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.

1934-07-15

Continental Airlines commences operations.

1935-01-01

Eastern Airlines hires Eddie Rickenbacker as GM

1935-07-20

Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.

1942-01-06

Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world ("Pacific Clipper").

1942-10-23

All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Amongst the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").

1944-06-06

Alaska Airlines commences operations.

1946-07-26

Aloha Airlines began service from Honolulu International Airport

1949-06-24

Cargo airlines 1st licensed by US Civil Aeronautics Board

1951-05-16

The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between John F Kennedy International Airport in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.

1951-07-31

Japan Airlines is established.

1953-08-07

Eastern Airlines enters jet age, uses Electra prop-jet

1953-11-29

American Airlines begins 1st regular coml NY-LA air service

1957-04-06

Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis buys the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founds Olympic Airlines.

1959-02-03

American Airlines Electra crashes in NY's East River, killing 65

1962-03-01

American Airlines 707 plunges nose 1st into Jamaica Bay NY killing 95

1962-05-22

Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.

1962-11-26

Caribbean Air Transport Me NV (CLTM Airlines) forms

1963-06-03

A Northwest Airlines DC-7 crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia, killing 101.

1963-11-29

Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831: A Douglas DC-8 carrying 118, crashes after taking-off from Dorval Airport near Montreal, Canada

1964-08-01

ALM (Antillian Airlines) begins operation

1965-03-31

Iberia Airlines Convair 440 crashed into the sea on approach to Tangier killing 47 of 51 occupants.

1966-10-01

West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with eighteen fatal injuries and no survivors 5.5 miles south of Wemme, Oregon. This accident marks the first loss of a DC-9.

1970-03-02

American Airlines' 1st flight of a Boeing 747

1970-08-09

Peruvian Airlines jet carrying 45 US exchange students explodes

1971-12-24

Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later

1972-01-07

Iberian Airlines crashes into 800ft peak on island of Ibiza, 104 die

1972-02-05

US airlines begin mandatory inspection of passengers & baggage

1972-12-08

United Airlines crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45

1973-07-31

Delta Airlines DC-9 crashes in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, killing all but one of 89 aboard. Lone survivor dies 6 months later

1978-05-20

3 PFLP members kill a police officer near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris

1978-11-15

183 die as Icelandic Airlines DC-8 crashes in Colombo, Sri Lanka

1979-05-25

American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago killing 273 including 2 on the ground

1982-05-13

Braniff Airlines files for bankruptcy

1982-09-13

50 die in Spantax Airlines DC-10 on takeoff from Malaga, Spain

1984-12-04

Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines plane, killing four passengers.

1985-09-06

Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-9 crashes just after takeoff from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing 31.

1986-02-24

Texas Air buys Eastern Airlines for $676 million

1986-03-31

167 die when Mexicana Airlines Boeing 727 crashes

1987-08-16

Northwest Airlines 255 plane crashes in Detroit, 156 die (1 lives)

1987-11-15

28 of 82 aboard Continental Airlines DC-9, die in crash at Denver

1988-01-29

United Airlines Boeing 747SP, circles world in 36h54m15s

1988-04-28

Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 roof tears off in flight; kills stewardess

1989-01-05

2 French TV newsmen arrested for trying to plant fake bombs on 3 airlines at JFK airport in security test

1989-03-03

Machinists strike Eastern Airlines; pilots honor picket lines

1989-03-04

Eastern Airlines machinists strike

1989-03-09

Eastern Airlines files for bankruptcy

1989-04-12

Peter Ueberroth deal to purchase Eastern Airlines falls through

1989-05-25

Eastern Airlines graduates it 1st class of non-union pilots

1989-07-19

United Airlines DC-10 crashes at Sioux City Iowa, kills 112

1989-07-21

Eastern Airlines submits a reorganization plan to creditors

1989-11-01

Scandinavian Airlines System bans smoking on many flights

1989-11-22

Eastern Airlines pilots & flight attendants end their strike, but most are not rehired

1989-11-23

Pilots Union give up sympathy strike against Eastern Airlines

1989-12-19

American Airlines purchases Eastern Airline's Latin American route

1990-04-18

Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines

1991-01-19

Eastern Airlines shuts down operation

1991-03-03

United Airlines crashes near Colorado Springs, kills 25

1991-04-05

Southeast Airlines Embracer 120 crashes in Georgia, killing 23

1991-07-10

L'Express Airlines Beechcraft C-99 crashes in Alabama, killing 13

1991-12-29

Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei

1992-04-13

American Airlines reduce its 1st-class fares 20%-50%

1992-07-02

Braniff Airlines goes out of business

1993-01-23

Indian Airlines B737 crashes art Aurangabad, 61 die

1993-07-23

China Northwest Airlines BAe146-300 crashes at Yinchuan, 55 killed

1993-09-22

A Transair Georgian Airlines Tu-154 is shot down by a missile in Sukhumi, Georgia.

1994-07-19

Bomb explosion in Alas Airlines at Colon Panama, 21 killed

1995-06-07

The long range Boeing 777 enters service with United Airlines

1996-08-29

Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.

1997-09-03

A Vietnam Airlines Tupolev TU-134 crashes on approach into Phnom Penh airport, killing 64.

1997-10-10

An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

1998-10-11

A Congo Airlines Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 40 people.

1998-10-29

While en route from Adana to Ankara, a Turkish Airlines flight with a crew of 6 and 33 passengers is hijacked by a Kurdish militant who orders the pilot to fly to Switzerland. The plane instead lands in Ankara after the pilot tricked the hijacker into thinking that he was landing in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to refuel.

1999-02-24

A China Southern Airlines Tupolev TU-154 airliner crashes on approach to Wenzhou airport in eastern the People's Republic of China, killing 61.

2000-01-31

Alaska Airlines flight 261 MD-83, experiencing horizontal stabilizer problems, crashes in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, California, killing all 88 persons aboard.

2000-10-31

A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 operating as Flight 006 collides with construction equipment upon takeoff in Taipei, Taiwan killing 79 passengers and four crew members

2001-09-11

Attempt by passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists causes plane to crash in Pennsylvania field killing all 64 people onboard

2001-10-04

Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

2001-10-08

A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy killing 118.

2001-11-12

In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 on its way to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground.

2001-12-01

Captain Bill Compton brings Trans World Airlines Flight 220, an MD-83, into St. Louis International Airport bringing to an end 76 years of TWA operations following TWA's purchase by American Airlines.

2001-12-22

Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

2002-05-07

A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.

2002-05-25

China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.

2002-07-01

A Bashkirian Airlines (flight 2937) Tupolev TU-154 and a DHL (German cargo) Boeing 757 collide in mid-air over Ueberlingen, southern Germany, killing 71.

2004-01-03

Flight 604, a Boeing 737 owned by Flash Airlines, an Egyptian airliner, plunges into the Red Sea, killing all 148 people on board.

2005-01-29

The first direct commercial flights from the mainland China (from Guangzhou) to Taiwan since 1949 arrived in Taipei. Shortly afterwards, a China Airlines carrier landed in Beijing.

2005-09-05

Mandala Airlines Flight 091 crashes into a heavily-populated residential of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 104 people on board and at least 39 persons on ground.

2005-11-15

Boeing formally launches the stretched Boeing 747-8 variant with orders from Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines.

2005-12-07

Rigoberto Alpizar, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 924 who allegedly claimed to have a bomb, is shot and killed by a team of US federal air marshals at Miami International Airport.

2005-12-23

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Aktau, Kazakhstan crashes shortly after takeoff killing 23 people.

2006-07-09

At least 122 people are killed after a Sibir Airlines Airbus A310 passenger jet, carrying 200 passengers on board veers off the runway while landing at Irkutsk Airport in Siberia in wet conditions.

2007-07-17

TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashes upon landing during rain in São Paulo. This is Brazil's deadliest aviation accident to date with an estimated 199 deaths.

2007-09-16

One-Two-GO Airlines Flight 269 carrying 128 crew and passengers crashes in Thailand killing 89 people.

2007-10-25

The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ 380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

2008-03-31

Aloha Airlines, a bankrupt airline, permanently ends passenger service

2008-10-29

Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to 5.

2009-12-25

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully attempts a terrorist attack against the US while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253

2010-01-25

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 crashes into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, killing all 90 people on-board.

2013-10-16

49 people are killed after Lao Airlines Flight 301 crashes in the Mekong River, Laos

2014-03-08

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with 239 people loses contact and disappears, prompting the most expensive search effort in history

2014-07-17

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashes (presumed shot down by either pro-Russian separatists or the Ukrainian militia), killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board

2016-10-29

American Airlines jet catches fire on takeoff at Chicago airport

2017-01-17

Search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Is Called Off After Nearly 3 Years

1922-08-06

Freddie Laker, CEO (Laker airlines)

1931-03-12

Herbert Kelleher, Southwest Airlines co-founder

1934-07-17

Lucio Tan, Chinese Filipino businessman (Philippine Airlines), in Amoy China

1956-02-05

Betty Ong, flight attendant that died on September 11, 2001, on American Airlines Flight 11

1958-02-16

John Paul Morse, Marshall MI, PGA golfer (1995 United Airlines)

1968-11-24

Todd Beamer, Flint Michigan, passenger and hero on United Airlines Flight 93

1970-09-03

Jeremy Glick, American United Airlines Flight 93 passenger (d. 2001)

1984-01-20

Cynthia Lavigne, Airlines

1985-08-03

Yoha Gálvez, Dorcel Airlines: First Class

1986-12-19

Laryne Laroche, Dorcel Airlines: First Class

1990-04-20

Mia Vendome, Dorcel Airlines: First Class

2007-10-06

"The Montel Williams Show" talk show host Montel Williams (51) weds American Airlines flight attendant Tara Fowler on a beach in Bermuda

2001-09-11

Todd Beamer, passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 (b. 1968)

2001-09-11

Mark Bingham, passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 (b. 1970)

2001-09-11

John Ogonowski, pilot for American Airlines Flight 11 (b. 1951)