Pacific Southwest Airlines

Alan Renga, Mark E. Mentges

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781439640340
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

With its low fares and friendly service, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was one of the most successful regional airlines in American history. Its distinctive orange, red, and white planes, complete with a beaming smile were immediately recognizable to those living on the West Coast. The airline was also known for employing beautiful and sociable flight attendants. Kenny Friedkin, the founder of PSA, started in 1949 with one leased DC-3 and expanded his fleet to serve millions of passengers each year. Although PSA is no longer in operation, its successful business model of low-priced, efficient service was copied by other airlines and today is considered the norm. In addition, former PSA employees still gather annually to relive the camaraderie they experienced as being a part of one of the most unique airlines of all time.

Three

1960S

COMING OF AGE

Like the decade that preceded it, the 1960s would be one of continued growth. Additional aircraft and routes would be added to PSA throughout the decade. Starting with a modest profit of $499 in 1960, every other year of the decade showed an increase in revenue. The high mark was in 1968 with the airline transporting almost four million passengers and generating revenue of over $57 million, of which $4 million was profit. In addition, the airline would branch out into other enterprises, including flight training and hotel operations. Perhaps the highlight of the decade would occur in 1968 with the dedication of a state-of-the-art headquarters and maintenance facility at Lindbergh Field. Exciting promotions would help PSA earn a national reputation as a fun, friendly airline. The 1960s would also include heartbreak, as the airline would lose its founder. However, by the end of the decade, it was quite clear that PSA had come of age and was a major player in jet-age air transport.

Two children peer out of the windows of a PSA Electra as the pilot just alerted them that Santa and his reindeer had been seen flying next to the plane during a Christmas flight. PSA put special effort into making sure that holiday travelers had a special experience.

A few minutes after the pilot announced the reindeer sighting, a PSA employee dressed as Santa would pop out of the cockpit and greet the younger passengers with candy canes and other sweets. Meanwhile, the older passengers would be treated to champagne by the stews.

Christmas was not the only holiday that was celebrated on PSA flights. On this Halloween flight, passengers received special trick-or-treat bags while being entertained by banjo player Dean Batchelor. Scenes like this demonstrate that flying on PSA was much more than a way to get from point A to point B; it was a thoroughly entertaining experience.

To handle the increased passenger load, a new high-tech reservation center was built by PSA at Lindbergh Field. The center handled calls from San Diego, San Francisco, Burbank, and Los Angeles on 27 phone lines. Not only did the reservationists take incoming calls, but they also would make outgoing calls to inform passengers if flight times had been changed.

In August 1960, a Douglas DC-6B was purchased and added to the fleet. That same year, service was offered to Oakland for which the DC-6 was used. The Oakland route was cancelled in March 1961, and the DC-6 was soon sold to Holiday Airlines.

This is a stock certificate that was issued to Kenny and Jean Friedkin in 1961. In September 1961, the PSA Board of Directors voted to increase the total shares of the airline’s stock to 400,000. As the value of the stock increased throughout the decade, many of those who had been with the airline from the beginning finally saw a real profit, and their faith in PSA finally paid off.

On December 27, 1961, an Electra in route from San Francisco with 93 people on board was diverted from Lindbergh Field to Gillespie Airport because of fog. Gillespie’s taxiway could not handle the weight of the Electra, and the landing gear sank 3.5 feet through the asphalt, causing significant damage to the aircraft. PSA mechanics worked around the clock to get the Electra back in the air in just over 40 hours.

PSA stews pose in an advertisement for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1962. The caption in Skylines to accompany the photograph read, “Where the pretty girls are! T...