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Associated Air Transport
AAT's first aircraft, VS-44 "Reykjavik," 1947, likely at Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis
IATA ICAO Call sign
KS(1)[1] KS(1)[1] ASSOCIATED[2]
FoundedDecember 1946 incorporated in Delaware[3]
Commenced operations
1947 (1947)
Ceased operations
October 23, 1962 (1962-10-23)
Fleet sizeSee Fleet
DestinationsSee Destinations
HeadquartersNew York, New York
San Antonio, Texas
Miami, Florida
United States
Key peopleDouglas T. Bell
John V. Weesner
FounderCharles F. Blair Jr.
Notes
(1) IATA, ICAO codes were the same until the 1980s

Associated Air Transport (AAT) was an irregular air carrier (later known as a supplemental air carrier) founded by aviation pioneer Charles F. Blair Jr. in 1947 (Blair later founded a second airline, Antilles Air Boats). Blair is better known for record-setting flights in the decade or two after World War II, such as flying a North American P-51 (now displayed in the Smithsonian Institute) at high altitude in the jet stream nonstop from New York to London in January 1951, setting a speed record for reciprocating-engine propeller aircraft that still stands.[4] AAT's first aircraft was a flying boat, (in this case a Sikorsky VS-44) one of only a few airlines founded after World War II with that distinction (another was World Airways).

The airline suffered a high profile fatal crash in 1953 under its third owner. Its fourth owner initially expanded it successfully in the late 1950s, before a change in strategy derailed financials. In late 1961, another supplemental carrier suffered a crash that killed many US soldiers, resulting in a government crackdown. AAT had several non-fatal crashes the prior few years, drawing attention. The government suspended AAT's operations in March 1962, briefly restored them under a fifth ownership group (that included a Hollywood actor), then pulled them for the last time in October.

See External links for photos of AAT aircraft and an AAT logo.

History

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Blair era

[edit]

In 1947, Blair contracted to fly 300 construction workers from Minneapolis to Keflavik, Iceland. Blair knew of the opportunity because he regularly visited Keflavik as a pilot for American Overseas Airline (AOA). He called the new venture "Associated Air Transport" because he saw it as auxiliary to his AOA job. Blair first flew three trips with Douglas DC-4 registration number NC85021 belonging to Ocean Air Tradeways, (later known as United States Overseas Airlines), a war surplus aircraft he had helped convert to civilian configuration. But NC85021 was busy so Blair leased a Sikorsky VS-44 flying boat (a type he flew in World War II) which he named "Reykjavik" after the mission. Associated flew the aircraft from Lake Minnetonka near Minneapolis to Iceland via a refueling stop in Newfoundland.[5]: Chapter 5 

Blair subsequently acquired a war surplus Curtiss C-46 for $5000 (about $75,000 in 2026 dollars) and spent $45,000 to convert it to civilian configuration (including an extra gas tank for longer range). Blair leased out the aircraft for a time before flying it directly as AAT. The New York City-based[6] airline became an irregular air carrier and for two years Blair sent the aircraft wherever there was business, including transporting migrants from Puerto Rico to New York, freshly-killed beef to market in South America, and displaced people from Europe to Israel. He sold the C-46 in early 1950, turning his attention to the P-51.[5]: Chapter 6 

Table 1: Associated Air Transport financial results, 1950–1962
1950[7]1951[7]1952[8]1953[9]1954[10]1955[11]1956[12]1957[13]1958[14]1959[15]1960[15]1961[16]1962(1)[17]
Operating revenue:
Military charter 3672227303195028126451630
Civilian charter 1210044231822894661519
Scheduled 20800003644940543
Other 0082013615425
Total 3330948039924081643556901,1521,1591,120567
Op profit/(loss) 155(8)(3)14(19)(2)43(40)(131)(170)
Net profit/(loss) 000(5)(8)22(22)(19)(4)20(81)(144)(108)
Operating revenue:
% of industry(2) 0.10.50.70.60.40.10.10.71.11.51.41.3NA
Industry(2) rank 50203837324041201581519NA
(1) Nine months ending September (2) All supplemental air carriers

Weesner

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As Table 1 indicates, AAT operated minimally in 1950, but new owners resuscitated it in 1951 and moved it to San Antonio, building it up to two C-46s before selling it at the end of 1952 to John V. Weesner.[18] The CAB had just removed Weesner from Lake Central Airlines (LCA). LCA was a local service carrier, a form of regional airline that depended on government subsidies; Weesner-affiliated entities overcharged LCA, increasing its subsidy.[19] Weesner's tenure at AAT started with a high profile crash that killed 37 soldiers on a military charter (see Accidents; External links has a picture of the sistership to the one that crashed, taken in the same month). Weesner got out of AAT in 1955 in favor of the propane gas business.[20] AAT stopped operating in July and did not resume until September 1956 with a single C-46, under new ownership and management, the president and controlling interest being Douglas T. Bell, who had a prior career at other supplemental carriers. The CAB was in the midst of a large investigation of supplemental air carriers, as part of which it approved AAT's new owners/managers; a key CAB criterion was that Weesner have no further connection.[21]

Bell and Imperial

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Bell successfully expanded AAT from 1957 thru 1960, not just in the number of aircraft, but also capability. By 1959, AAT acquired three "Super 46" aircraft[22] (one of several upgrade programs for the C-46 that became available in the mid-1950s that made the aircraft faster, safer and able to carry more weight).[23] The airline also added Douglas DC-4s to its fleet and in 1961, a Lockheed L-749 Constellation (see Fleet). The airline also, for the first time, developed a significant civilian charter business (see Table 1). Through 1959, at least, this was done while the airline stayed broadly break-even. In 1961 AAT significantly increased its scheduled business while reducing military charters. This occurred against a backdrop of a military charter business that had become substantially unprofitable industry-wide in the late 1950s.[24] AAT scheduled service included routes from northern cities like Chicago, Detroit and New York to southern points like Miami and San Juan.[25][26][27] Table 1 shows the strategy shift was not financially successful.

In November 1961, Imperial Airlines, another supplemental air carrier, suffered a military charter crash, killing 74 servicemen,[28] focusing official attention on such airlines. AAT had suffered three crashes in the past four years, attracting specific attention.[29] Two of those crashes occurred while engaged in military charters. While no one died,[30][31][32][33] in one case the conduct of the crew caused the CAB to revoke their licenses (see Accidents). In the third crash, the captain overseeing a training flight was AAT president Bell himself, who forgot to lower the landing gear,[34][35] for which he was fined shortly before the Imperial crash.[36] Shortly after the Imperial crash, AAT was suspended from military work and in March 1962, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) suspended the airline's operating license altogether. Bell disbanded the company.

However, a new group (including Hollywood actor Dale Robertson) bought the corporate shell (for $3,400, less than $40,000 in 2026 dollars), got the FAA to restore the operating license and AAT started flying again in August. But coincidentally, new legislation required the CAB to recertificate the economic authority of the supplementals that year. In October the CAB refused to recertificate AAT, noting it was essentially a new company. Further, AAT's business plan relied on once again flying for the military, the prospects for which were uncertain.[37] The CAB shut AAT as of 23 October 1962,[17] one of seven supplementals the CAB terminated in a similar fashion.[38]

Destinations

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Scheduled service included:[25][26][27]

  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • Miami
  • New York
  • San Juan

Fleet

[edit]

1947:[5]: Chapter 6 

Year-end 1949:[5]: Chapter 6 

Year-end 1952:[39]

15 December 1953:[40]

1 January 1960:[25]

Year-end 1960:[41]

1961:[42]

Accidents

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  • 7 January 1953 Curtiss C-46F N1648M flying military flight 1-6-6A crashed into mountains near Fish Haven, Idaho on a flight from Seattle to Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing all 37 passengers (soldiers returning home from Korea), along with the crew of three. The Civil Aeronautics Board determined probable cause was inadvertent entry into an area of icing and turbulence, leading to degradation of performance and inability to maintain altitude. The aircraft was supposed to be at 13,000 ft but crashed at 8,500 ft.[43]
  • 13 February 1960 Super 46 N46Q flying a military charter from Louisville, Kentucky to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey started experiencing heavy icing two hours before arriving at McGuire, but pressed on regardless. The aircraft, which had over six inches of ice on its windshield when it landed (the crew had to bust out the windows to see), stalled on arrival, crashing short of the runway. None of the 53 passengers and 4 crew on board were killed.[32][33] The CAB revoked the commercial licenses of the pilots based on the reckless behavior of needlessly flying, for hours, into heavy icing.[44][45]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 Contractions (Report). Federal Aviation Agency. 15 March 1963. p. 47. hdl:2027/uc1.c101986578.
  2. ↑ Contractions, Sixth Edition (Report). Civil Aeronautics Administration. 1 March 1954. p. 29. hdl:2027/pst.000072082324.
  3. ↑ Delaware Corporations (Report). Secretary of State, Delaware. December 1946. hdl:2027/uc1.b3024608.
  4. ↑ "North American P-51C, "Excalibur III"". Smithsonian Institute National Air and Space Museum. Smithsonian Record ID nasm_A19530088000. Retrieved 1 July 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Blair, Charles F. Jr (1969). Red Ball in the Sky. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780091039103.
  6. ↑ "United States Air Freight and Irregular Carriers". Air Transportation. 13 (4): 47. October 1948. ISSN 0745-5100.
  7. 1 2 "Revenue, Expenses, Traffic—Large Irregular Carriers". American Aviation. 15 (44): 110. 28 April 1952. ISSN 0096-4913.
  8. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Operating Factors (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1954. p. 58. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081284.
  9. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Operating Factors (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1955. p. 71. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081284.
  10. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1956. p. 52. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081276.
  11. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1957. p. 56. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081276.
  12. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1958. p. 78. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081490.
  13. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1959. p. 76. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081490.
  14. ↑ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1960. p. 79. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081482.
  15. 1 2 Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1961. p. 85. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081482.
  16. ↑ Supplement to the Reports of Air Carrier Financial and Traffic Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 31 December 1962. p. 29. hdl:2027/coo.31924090369376.
  17. 1 2 Air Carrier Analytical Charts and Summaries, Including Supplemental Air Carrier Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 31 December 1963. pp. 29, 39. hdl:2027/coo.31924090369376.
  18. ↑ "41 Aboard Missing S.A. Plane". San Antonio Evening News. 35 (108): 1. 7 January 1953.
  19. ↑ Stringer, David H. (2016). America's Local Service Airlines. American Aviation Historical Society. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780980109214.
  20. ↑ "Buys Gas Business". Indianapolis News. 86: 29. 29 April 1955.
  21. ↑ "Large Irregular Air Carrier Investigation". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 28. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 328–330. December 1958 – February 1959. hdl:2027/uc1.b2938519.
  22. ↑ "Commercial Aircraft: Deliveries". Air Transportation. 35 (6): 39. December 1959. ISSN 0745-5100.
  23. ↑ "C-46 Changes Begin to Meet CAB Ruling". Aviation Week. 67 (7): 71. 19 August 1957. ISSN 0005-2175.
  24. ↑ Military Air Transportation (1961): Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Eighty-Seventh Congress, First Session, June 19, 20 and 23, 1961 (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1961. p. 86. hdl:2027/coo.31924032636866.
  25. 1 2 3 Amendments to the Transportation Act of 1958: Hearings before the Aviation Subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, United State Senate, Eighty- sixth Congress, second session, on S. 1543, May 24, 26, and 27, 1960 (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1960. p. 176. hdl:2027/uc1.b5165428.
  26. 1 2 "Advertisement for Associated Air Transport". Miami Herald. 50 (337): 13C. 3 November 1960. ISSN 0898-865X.
  27. 1 2 Annual Report 1961–1962 (Report). Puerto Rico Ports Authority. 25 January 1963. p. 7. hdl:2027/mdp.39015021094720.
  28. ↑ Civil Aeronautics Board (February 6, 1962). "Aircraft Accident Report: Imperial Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Constellation L-049, N 2737A, Byrd Field, Richmond, Virginia, November 8, 1961". Civil Aeronautics Board. doi:10.21949/1500789. SA-365, File No. 1002. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Congressman Walter on Nonsked Airline Finances-Installment I Extension of Remarks of Hon. John H. Rousselot of California in the House of Representatives". Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 87th Congress 2nd session. 108 part 2. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 1274. 30 January 1962. hdl:2027/hvd.32044116491812. ISSN 0363-7239.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  30. ↑ Resume of U.S. Civil Air Carrier and General Aviation Accident: Calendar 1958 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 15 July 1959. p. 17. hdl:2027/mdp.39015009824494.
  31. ↑ Davis, John M.; Martin, Harold G.; Whittle, John A. (1978). The Curtiss C-46 Commando. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 63. ISBN 0-85130-065-0. Serial 26710.
  32. 1 2 Statistical Review and Resume of Accidents, U.S. Air Carriers: Calendar 1960 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 1960. p. 42. hdl:2027/uc1.c3410707.
  33. 1 2 Davis et al. 1978, p. 62, Serial 26684.
  34. ↑ Statistical Review and Resume of Accidents, U.S. Air Carriers: Calendar 1961 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 1961. p. 43. hdl:2027/pst.000072084854.
  35. ↑ Davis et al. 1978, p. 111, Serial 22376.
  36. ↑ "Violations". Airlift World Air Transportation. 25 (6): 53. November 1961. ISSN 0096-4913.
  37. ↑ "Associated Air Transport, Inc., Interim Authority". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 37. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 178–184. October 1962 – February 1963. hdl:2027/uc1.b3534394.
  38. ↑ "Dockets 13894, 13895, 13896, 13884, 13885, 13902, 13899, 13900, 13987, 13871, 13872, 13873, 13897, 13898, 13990, 13877, 13878, 13879, 13904, 13905, 13915, and 13916, Air Cargo Express et al., Interim Authority". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 37. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 733–736. October 1962 – February 1963. hdl:2027/uc1.b3534394.
  39. ↑ The Large Irregular Service Air Carrier Industry in 1952 (Report). Air Transport Association of America. 26 August 1953. p. B-19. hdl:2027/uc1.c100994841.
  40. ↑ The Large Irregular Air Carrier Industry in 1953 (Report). Air Transport Association of America. 15 December 1954. p. B-19. hdl:2027/uc1.c100995252.
  41. ↑ Statistical Study of U.S. Civil Aircraft (Report). Federal Aviation Agency. July 1961. p. 8. hdl:2027/ien.35556029279049.
  42. ↑ "New Business In The Hangar". Flight Magazine. 50 (12): 82. December 1961.
  43. ↑ Accident Investigation Report: Associated Air Transport, Inc., Near Fish Haven, Idaho, January 7, 1953 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 31 December 1953. doi:10.21949/1500582. 1-0006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  44. ↑ "Dockets SE-188 and SE-189, Robert J. Jones and Fred Scott, respondents—opinion and order S-1149". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 36. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 1018–1033. April–September 1962. hdl:2027/uc1.b2938527.
  45. ↑ "Dockets SE-188 and SE-189, Robert J. Jones and Fred Scott, respondents—opinion and order S-1192". Civil Aeronautics Board Reports. 38. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office: 1223–1227. March–August 1963. hdl:2027/uc1.b2939170.
[edit]
  1. ↑ Davis et al. 1978, p. 97, Serial 33294.
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