Beginnings
West Airlines was founded on September 26, 1965 in Portland, Oregon. The airline was originally planned to be based in Hawaii flying from Honolulu to LAX, but a more suitable regional airline model was adopted. The airline started with 4 Boeing 737-100s originally intended for Lufthansa, but instead taken by investors of West Airlines. The first destinations out of Portland were Boise, San Francisco, Seattle, Spokane, and Vancouver, offering two-class service at reasonable fares. Later on, West Airlines co-launched the Boeing 737-200 with United and took delivery of over 30 examples from 1968 until 1975. The airline expanded to every major city on the West Coast with a hub in Portland and focus cities in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1976, when the airline became limited in capacity, struggling start-up carrier Pacific Air was bought along with its 3 Boeing 727-200s and Los Angeles base. This added routes from Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft Worth, Denver, and Houston, at the time were brand new cities not accessible to West Airlines.
Deregulation and beyond
In 1978, when the airline industry became deregulated, West Airlines took a highly risky step by attacking Continental, Frontier, and United at Denver's Stapleton Airport. New routes to Boise, Colorado Springs, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, and Spokane were added with a mixed variety of Boeing 727 and 737-200 aircraft. By 1980, the airline had cut over 75% of the added routes due to counter attacks from incumbent airlines. To reverse the damage caused by Denver, West Airlines ordered 15 Boeing 727-200 and 15 737-200 aircraft for expansion out of California. This eventually boosted the fleet to 26 727-200 and close to 50 737-200 aircraft by 1983. In 1983, West Airlines again co-launched another 737 model, the 737-300. Along with Southwest Airlines and US Air, 12 initial examples were ordered to test long range routes from Portand to Chicago O' Hare, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St Paul, and St Louis, and Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Kansas City, and St Louis. The 737-300s proved highly successful and an additional 30 examples were ordered to start replacing the 20 oldest 737-200s and extra expansion to the Midwest.
In 1988, when West Airlines had already built up fortress hubs in LAX and Portland, Boeing 757-200 and 767-300ER aircraft were ordered to test the transcontinental and Hawaiian market. With Pan Am and Eastern failing in the transcontinental market, this gave an opportunity to take market share from the major airlines. By 1990, a fleet of 12 Boeing 757-200s and 5 767-300ERs had given West Airlines nationwide coverage to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago O' Hare (from LAX), Honolulu, Kahului, Miami, Newark, New York JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Washington Dulles and a 25% share in the New York-Los Angeles market. By 2000, West Airlines ordered Boeing 737 NG and 777 aircraft to start international flights to Asia by 2001. But the September 11th terrorist attacks changed all of that...
9/11 Aftermath
The 9/11 attacks delayed West Airlines 777 deliveries and international expansion, and caused the airline to cut its transcontinental services to New York for almost a year until conditions became better. 10% of its work force was cut and flights from its hubs were reduced until about 2003, when the airline started hiring again and expanding again. The 8 Boeing 777-200ERs ordered in 2000 were delivered from 2003-2005 and flights from LAX to Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore (via HKG), and Tokyo-Narita, and from Portland to Tokyo-Narita were launched.
In 2008, West Airlines declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the aftermath of the "airline massacre" that claimed established names such as ATA, Skybus, and crippled airlines such as Denver-based low fare airline Frontier. After a hefty corporate and operational restructuring, West Airlines exited bankruptcy in 2009 leaner and meaner, posting a small, but significant profit in 2010. Despite the highly hostile commercial aviation environment in the midst of the Great Recession, West Airlines looks to be one of the few airlines to be successful in an uncertain future.
Present
Currently a fleet of Boeing 737, 757, 767, and 777 aircraft are operated by West Airlines, as well as a fleet of new Airbus A319s. The airline is reviewing future fleet expansion and replacement with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 designs
The original West Airlines livery introduced in 1965:
1985-2005 Livery:
The current livery of West Airlines, introduced in 2005:
Author's Note: My rendering of an airline founded in 1965, and continuing until the present day to become one of the "Big Five" airlines in the United States. I tend to think of it as a modern continuation of 1980s airlines such AirCal and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA- the one with the smiling McDonnell Douglas MD80s
). The former two photos were made by me with a JetAbout aircraft template, while a friend made the last one. Other information included is that it is a member of the OneWorld Alliance with American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and many other international carriers, and domestically provides American Airlines with a vital network in the West where it lacks a coherent operational infrastructure OTL.
Let me know what you think of this small project.
West Airlines was founded on September 26, 1965 in Portland, Oregon. The airline was originally planned to be based in Hawaii flying from Honolulu to LAX, but a more suitable regional airline model was adopted. The airline started with 4 Boeing 737-100s originally intended for Lufthansa, but instead taken by investors of West Airlines. The first destinations out of Portland were Boise, San Francisco, Seattle, Spokane, and Vancouver, offering two-class service at reasonable fares. Later on, West Airlines co-launched the Boeing 737-200 with United and took delivery of over 30 examples from 1968 until 1975. The airline expanded to every major city on the West Coast with a hub in Portland and focus cities in San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 1976, when the airline became limited in capacity, struggling start-up carrier Pacific Air was bought along with its 3 Boeing 727-200s and Los Angeles base. This added routes from Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft Worth, Denver, and Houston, at the time were brand new cities not accessible to West Airlines.
Deregulation and beyond
In 1978, when the airline industry became deregulated, West Airlines took a highly risky step by attacking Continental, Frontier, and United at Denver's Stapleton Airport. New routes to Boise, Colorado Springs, Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle-Tacoma, and Spokane were added with a mixed variety of Boeing 727 and 737-200 aircraft. By 1980, the airline had cut over 75% of the added routes due to counter attacks from incumbent airlines. To reverse the damage caused by Denver, West Airlines ordered 15 Boeing 727-200 and 15 737-200 aircraft for expansion out of California. This eventually boosted the fleet to 26 727-200 and close to 50 737-200 aircraft by 1983. In 1983, West Airlines again co-launched another 737 model, the 737-300. Along with Southwest Airlines and US Air, 12 initial examples were ordered to test long range routes from Portand to Chicago O' Hare, Kansas City, Minneapolis-St Paul, and St Louis, and Los Angeles to Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston, Kansas City, and St Louis. The 737-300s proved highly successful and an additional 30 examples were ordered to start replacing the 20 oldest 737-200s and extra expansion to the Midwest.
In 1988, when West Airlines had already built up fortress hubs in LAX and Portland, Boeing 757-200 and 767-300ER aircraft were ordered to test the transcontinental and Hawaiian market. With Pan Am and Eastern failing in the transcontinental market, this gave an opportunity to take market share from the major airlines. By 1990, a fleet of 12 Boeing 757-200s and 5 767-300ERs had given West Airlines nationwide coverage to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago O' Hare (from LAX), Honolulu, Kahului, Miami, Newark, New York JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Washington Dulles and a 25% share in the New York-Los Angeles market. By 2000, West Airlines ordered Boeing 737 NG and 777 aircraft to start international flights to Asia by 2001. But the September 11th terrorist attacks changed all of that...
9/11 Aftermath
The 9/11 attacks delayed West Airlines 777 deliveries and international expansion, and caused the airline to cut its transcontinental services to New York for almost a year until conditions became better. 10% of its work force was cut and flights from its hubs were reduced until about 2003, when the airline started hiring again and expanding again. The 8 Boeing 777-200ERs ordered in 2000 were delivered from 2003-2005 and flights from LAX to Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore (via HKG), and Tokyo-Narita, and from Portland to Tokyo-Narita were launched.
In 2008, West Airlines declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the aftermath of the "airline massacre" that claimed established names such as ATA, Skybus, and crippled airlines such as Denver-based low fare airline Frontier. After a hefty corporate and operational restructuring, West Airlines exited bankruptcy in 2009 leaner and meaner, posting a small, but significant profit in 2010. Despite the highly hostile commercial aviation environment in the midst of the Great Recession, West Airlines looks to be one of the few airlines to be successful in an uncertain future.
Present
Currently a fleet of Boeing 737, 757, 767, and 777 aircraft are operated by West Airlines, as well as a fleet of new Airbus A319s. The airline is reviewing future fleet expansion and replacement with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 designs
The original West Airlines livery introduced in 1965:
1985-2005 Livery:
The current livery of West Airlines, introduced in 2005:
Author's Note: My rendering of an airline founded in 1965, and continuing until the present day to become one of the "Big Five" airlines in the United States. I tend to think of it as a modern continuation of 1980s airlines such AirCal and Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA- the one with the smiling McDonnell Douglas MD80s
Let me know what you think of this small project.
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