Pacific Southwest Airlines

History

Kenny Friedkin founded the airline in 1949 with a $1,000-a-month leased Douglas DC-3. Friedkin obtained information from a travel agent upon starting the airline due to lessons learned from a failed precursor airline (Friedkin Airlines). The DC-3 started a weekly round trip from San Diego to Oakland via Burbank. Reservations were initially taken from a World War II surplus latrine refitted as a ticket office. In 1951 PSA flights moved from Oakland to San Francisco International. In 1955 PSA bought two Douglas DC-4s from Capital Airlines and painted rectangles around the windows to make the planes resemble the Douglas DC-6.

In January 1958 it scheduled 37 DC-4s a week Burbank to San Francisco (29 of which originated in San Diego) and four nonstop flights San Diego to San Francisco; the fare from Burbank to San Francisco was $9.99. United, Western and TWA then had 241 nonstop flights each week from Los Angeles to San Francisco and 49 flights a week Burbank-San Francisco. About half of their flights were First Class only ($22.05); the rest carried coach passengers for $13.50. (All fares were subject to 10% federal tax.) Later in 1958 PSA shifted some flights from Burbank to Los Angeles; that year it carried 296,000 passengers.

In late 1959 PSA began flying Lockheed L-188 Electras with 92 seats and a six-seat lounge, replacing 70-seat DC-4s. Boeing 727-114s, Boeing 727-214s and Boeing 737-214s replaced the Electras in 1966-70. The May 1965 OAG shows 103 Electras a week Los Angeles to San Francisco, 32 a week Los Angeles to Oakland, 34 a week Burbank to San Francisco and 5 a week San Diego to San Francisco. Los Angeles-San Francisco was scheduled for 60 minutes, Burbank-San Francisco was 55. In 1966 PSA started flying to San Jose, and in 1967 to Sacramento Executive Airport; later that year they and everyone else moved to the new Sacramento International Airport. Ontario was added in 1968 and Long Beach, Fresno and Stockton in 1971–72. Starting in 1974 PSA briefly operated several wide body Lockheed L-1011 TriStars until 1976 before deeming them unprofitable and selling them; PSA's L-1011-1s were unique in having lower deck seating. The L-1011s flew Los Angeles-San Francisco and San Diego-Los Angeles-San Francisco. PSA was the only US intrastate airline to operate wide body jets. Electras returned in 1975 for flights to Lake Tahoe that ended in 1979. (Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada, did not allow airline jets until the 1980s except for Pacific Air Lines Boeing 727-100s that briefly flew to there in 1966.) Major intrastate competitor Air California also flew Electras to Lake Tahoe until 1979-80 but returned to Lake Tahoe as AirCal with McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and Boeing 737-300s after the jet ban ended. PSA never served Lake Tahoe after retiring its Electras.

After airline deregulation, PSA expanded beyond California to Reno, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Tucson and Albuquerque. Its first flight beyond California was Oakland to Reno in December 1978. The airline introduced automated ticketing and check-in machines at several airports and briefly flew to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. When PSA's plan to buy the assets of Braniff International Airways fell through, the airline expanded its network north to Washington, Oregon and Idaho. PSA used new BAe 146s to smaller airports like Eureka, California, and Concord, California. PSA held a "Name the Plane" contest, publicized in full-page newspaper advertisements, to name the fleet, with the prize being a private flight for the winner and 99 friends. The winning entry was Smiliner submitted by Dr. Hugh Jordan of Whittier, California.

In 1986 Western and AirCal were purchased (by Delta Air Lines and American Airlines respectively).

An hour after the AirCal deal was announced PSA agreed to merge with USAir, which was completed in 1987. At the time, PSA was in talks with Boeing about acquiring a Boeing 757-200 but never ordered it. PSA's last flight was on April 8, 1988. The PSA route network slowly disintegrated within USAir and was gone by 1994. Most of the former airline's assets were scrapped or moved to USAir's hubs on the East Coast. PSA's base at San Diego International Airport was gutted and served for a time as that airport's commuter terminal, before being renovated in administrative offices. PSA had planned to become a nationwide carrier; in 1988 PSA routes covered the western United States as far east as Colorado and New Mexico, and north to Washington state.

In the San Diego Aerospace Museum a display showcases PSA, the city's home town airline.

PSA was one of the sponsors of The Dating Game TV show on ABC from 1965 to 1973.

After the 2005 merger of US Airways and America West, a US Airways Airbus A319 was repainted in PSA's livery, one of four heritage aircraft commemorating the airlines that merged to form the present-day US Airways. The aircraft was dedicated at San Diego International Airport's former commuter terminal (PSA's former operations base) on March 30, 2006, and flew routes similar to PSA's.

Corporate culture

PSA was known for its sense of humor. Founder Ken Friedkin wore Hawaiian shirts and encouraged his pilots and stewardesses to joke with passengers. Its slogan was "The World's Friendliest Airline", and its trademark was a smile painted on the nose of each plane and an accompanying advertising campaign declaring "Catch Our Smile". Because of the major San Diego flight schedule and its discount fares, military personnel nicknamed PSA the "Poor Sailor's Airline." After PSA was bought by USAir, ex-PSA mechanics would occasionally paint smiles on USAir planes as a joke.

In the 1960s PSA was also known for the brightly colored flight attendant uniforms that included miniskirts. In the early 1970s, the fashion changed to hotpants. One PSA flight attendant, Marilyn Tritt, wrote a book about her tenure at the company titled Long Legs and Short Nights (ISBN 0-9649577-0-1).

Management diversified in the early 1970s into a broadcasting venture called PSA Broadcasting. Radio stations were purchased in Sacramento (96.9 KPSC later KEZC), San Jose (106.5 KEZD later KEZR), Los Angeles (107.5 KPSA later KLVE) and San Diego (102.9 KEZL now KLQV). All ran easy listening formats (hence EZ call letter combinations). The idea was to keep some of the airline's advertising dollars within the broadcasting company as well as collect some co-op (co-operative advertising) from businesses doing business with the airline. These stations were sold to various interests in the late 1970s.

Through PSA's life, the flight attendants, with their humor, over-the-top passenger service, and sense of duty, helped to create a loyal passenger following. One flight attendant, Sandy Daniels, with the help of a frequent flyer, started the "Precious Stewardess Association". Frequent fliers would bring tasty treats to the crew, particularly on morning flights. In turn, PSA started the "Precious Passenger Association", with certificates and free drinks given to friendly and helpful passengers.

Ken Friedkin's son Tom was a PSA pilot in 1962 when the elder Friedkin died abruptly of a stroke, aged 47. A year later, Tom Friedkin's mother died, making him the largest shareholder of PSA. Tom had a seat on the Board of Directors, but continued working as a full-time pilot.

Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher studied PSA extensively and used many of the airline's ideas to form the corporate culture at Southwest, and even on early flights used the same "Long Legs And Short Nights" theme for stewardesses on Southwest flights.

PSA helped train the first class of mechanics for Southwest Airlines and lent the fledgling carrier flight manuals and other items.

Headquarters

The PSA headquarters were in a windowless gray-brown building on Harbor Drive in San Diego, California. The building was San Diego International Airport's commuter terminal until 2015 when it was converted into administrative offices of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.

Accidents and incidents

Hijackings

There were several attempted hijackings, resulting in no injuries and the surrender of the often lone hijacker. These incidents are not included. The following are notable hijackings because of fatalities or success in forcing the aircraft to fly to another country

Destinations

PSA served many destinations in the western U.S. and Mexico over the years although not all at the same time.

California

Arizona

Colorado

Idaho

New Mexico

Nevada

Oregon

Utah

Washington

Mexico

Final fleet

PSA fleet at the time of its merger into USAir:

Historic fleet

Historic PSA fleet:

Historic PSA fleet details:

PSA training fleet

The following aircraft were used for training only.

List of aircraft PSA used for training: