Airlines That Have Flown Away Trivia Quiz

Answer: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA)

British Airways was formed in 1974 and was privatized in 1986.
British United Airways was a private carrier that was bought out by Caledonian Airways (later British Caledonian) in 1970. British Caledonian was also a private company that was taken over by BA in 1987.
I made up Royal Air Carrier, though the Brits here will recognize the RAC initials as the Royal Automobile Club, a break-down service for motorists.
BOAC is well-known to fans of The Beatles: "Flew into Miami Beach BOAC, didn't get to bed last night." (From "Back in the USSR")

Answer: Eastern Air Lines

With ex-astronaut Frank Borman as the company president, Eastern borrowed and spent itself into oblivion. It ceased operation in 1991.
"If You Had Wings" was little more than a sales pitch for Eastern, and the ride ended at an Eastern ticket counter so customers could book their next vacation right there.

Answer: Republic Airlines

Republic existed for seven years before being bought by Northwest Orient in 1986.

In 1972, I got a free upgrade on a Southern Airways flight because I had the same unusual surname as the company president at the time, and the ticket agent thought I must be a relative.

Answer: Canadian Airlines

Canadian Airlines became the main competitor to Air Canada until it was acquired by Air Canada in 2001.

Answer: Braniff International Airways

Braniff's South American operations were very profitable, but local laws prohibited them from moving the cash to the US. In order to use the money, they bought as much fuel as they could there, hired South American flight attendants for all of their Latin American flights, and outfitted their planes with leather seats. The leather seats looked nice, but didn't breathe, so were uncomfortable and sticky. The airline went bankrupt in 1982 (for reasons unrelated to the seating.)
Avianca is based in Colombia.

Answer: Pacific Southwest Airlines

PSA merged with USAir in 1987, but flights continued under the PSA logo until early 1988. In December of '87, a recently-fired PSA employee named David Burke used his airline credentials to sneak a gun onto a PSA flight. After take-off, he used the gun to kill his former supervisor, the pilots, and himself. All passengers and crew were killed in the incident.

Answer: Trans Australia Airlines (TAA)

After WWII, the Labour government considered air travel to be a public service and established TAA. The name was later changed to Australian Airlines in 1986. In 1992, the government got out of the airline business by merging Australian Airlines into Qantas.

Answer: Allegheny Airlines

Allegheny Airlines was a regional carrier until deregulation allowed it to expand nationwide. It adopted the name USAir in 1979 to reflect the larger business. All of the other answers were later acquired by USAir as part of their growth strategy.

Answer: Continental Airlines

TTA changed its name to Texas International in 1969. In 1982, TI's parent company, Texas Air Corporation, acquired Continental Airlines and the merged enterprise adopted the Continental name. Texas Air also acquired Eastern Airlines in 1986, and for a few years both Continental and Eastern participated in the One Pass frequent flyer program.
Later note: In 2010, Continental and United agreed to a merger, and operational combination was in progress during 2011.

Answer: Trans World Airlines (TWA)

Mr Hughes owned controlling interest in TWA from 1941 until 1961.
In the '50s and '60s, TWA and Pan Am were the only two US carriers that operated transatlantic flights, which were very lucrative. After deregulation in the '70s, TWA was crippled by the ownership and manipulations of Carl Icahn. It was taken over by American Airlines in 2001.
Hughes was a fervent aviator and also owned the Hughes Aircraft Company which manufactured airplanes and missile systems.
Hughes Tool and Baker-Hughes are references to the oil services companies that arose from the unique drill bit design of Howard Hughes Sr. and Walter Sharp.