Southwest Airways
Douglas DC-3 NC63104
(c/n 20214)
Southwest
Airways (no relation to the currently highly successful
Southwest Airlines) was
founded
in 1946 in San
Francisco. It provided service initially to Los Angeles and
Medford, with intermediate
stops and specialized
in quick turn-around operations ("two minute stops") at minor
stations. In fact,
the integral
built-in
stairs, which became a regular feature on many third level carrier's
DC-3s was first
developed
by
Southwest. The two rare shots in this entry show (above) NC63104
(an ex C-47A-DL)
in
the late 1940s at a very
undeveloped SFO, and a close-up of the integral stairway.
Southwest actually
developed the idea of a purser issuing tickets on board, but never
exploited the concept.. Years later the
practice was
taken up by other airlines culminating in the highly successful
Washington-New York-Boston
Shuttle.