Hughes Airwest: The Top Banana In The West

Throughout aviation history, two primary purposes are well established: travel and warfighting. At times, there has been a significant overlap between the two. In the case of air travel, dozens and dozens of air carriers have come and gone, start-ups absorbed or dissolved, and sometimes major legacy air carriers (TWA is not the least of these) went the way of the buffalo. Today, we’ll take a look at Hughes Airwest, a long-defunct regional airline owned and operated by the iconoclast Howard Hughes.

The Early Years 

Before becoming Hughes Airwest, Air West was a conglomerate that was formed in April 1968. It was made up of three regional airlines, which all served a rapidly growing market along the West Coast. These were Pacific Air Lines, Bonanza Air Lines, and West Coast Airlines. Rather than compete over limited routes along the California, Oregon, and Washington coasts, the three airlines form Airwest and operate a mixed fleet of Boeing 727s, Douglas DC-9s, Fairchild F-27s, and, at the smaller end, Piper Navajos. 

Enter the Titan

Right after the merger and formation of Airwest, the former TWA owner and legendary Howard Hughes was sniffing around for another business venture, as so many serial entrepreneurs want to do. Hughes bought Air West in 1968 and finalized the purchase in 1970.   

The Biggest Banana 

So why the banana reference? Just a nod to the warm, tropical climate that Airwest serviced? Not even close, partner. No, it was just a reference to the obvious. Hughes Airwest airplanes resembled gigantic bananas, and there was no way of getting around it. The Boeing 727 was the biggest banana of the bunch. 

A Profitable Venture and Famous Incidents

Hughes Airwest and its fleet of banana-esque DC-9s et al. was a reasonably short-lived endeavor.

During their era, they operated a mixed fleet of 48 bananas out of their central hub in San Francisco. They had eight secondary hubs in the Pacific region, spanning from California to Idaho, Nevada to Washington. 

Ultimately, Hughes Airwest flew into an equally yellow sunset in 1980, when it was purchased by Republic Airlines, and its infamous livery was stripped. By the time their services merged with Republic, Hughes Airwest had become a successful regional airline. Their services included international travel to Mexico and routes reaching all across the western states, as well as to Iowa. 

Hughes Airwest enjoyed a good safety track record but did have noteworthy incidents.

Unable to see Hughes Airwest DC-9

Early in the tenure of Hughes Airwest, a DC-9-31, N9345, was involved in a midair collision with an F-4B Phantom from the USMC, MCAS El Toro, just outside of LA.  Due to the inability to see and avoid and a faulty radar system on the Phantom, the Phantom struck N9345 over Duarte, California. 

There were several contributing factors, and this accident ultimately led to legislative reform and review. 

In 1972, a banana was targeted for hijacking in a copycat incident of the famous (and successful) hijacking and robbery by D.B. Cooper. Flight 800 was in the process of departing McCarran Airport in Vegas when a young former Army private and paratrooper, Richard LaPoint, claimed to have a bomb and demanded cash, parachutes, and a helmet. Once his demands were met, the jet took off and was trailed by a pair of F-111s.

LaPoint didn’t do much homework because the chutes were hi-viz and had ELTs built in. He decided to punch out over the highly inhospitable plains of eastern Colorado (did I mention it was in January?), without a coat and wearing unlined cowboy boots. He was promptly picked up and likely was thankful that eastern Colorado’s plains are unpleasant enough in the winter with appropriate clothing.   

Remembering the Great Hughes Airwest

Hughes Airwest, aka the top bananas in the west, had a pretty good run. It was an exciting storyline, if nothing else, from a marketing perspective, branding themselves as the best banana.

They enjoyed a healthy reputation over their time as a regional air carrier. A modest fleet serviced the entire western half of the states and Mexico. We can look back in a historical perspective to a better time and enjoy their bright livery and 70’s branding.