The pioneer of international air travel — first across the Pacific and the Atlantic — that ceased to exist entirely
Deregulation (1978) exposed a cost structure built for a protected era; fuel shocks, debt from a premature widebody bet, asset sell-offs to raise cash, and the 1988 Lockerbie bombing's aftermath ended in total liquidation in 1991. The most famous airline in the world simply stopped existing.
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This field is the reason the archive exists. A record of the win without the years it took is a highlight reel, and highlight reels are how people get hurt.
Nearly every convention of international air travel — over-ocean routes, the jet-age playbook — was invented or proven here first.
Being first builds the map that competitors then fly cheaper. Pioneer status is a museum exhibit, not a business model — the archive keeps failures that STAYED failed, because most do.
Last verified 2026-08-01
This is a documented business record, not a judgement of a person. Being named here is not being accused of anything. Spot an error? Use Report an Error — corrections are logged, never silent.
The archive names 5 routes through work — employment, trade, ownership, investing, and combinations of them — and each one now documents at least one journey, with its failure and its cost on the page.
One figure per route is a beginning, not coverage: a sample of how a route can go, never a survey of how it goes. This section is derived from the archive on every build, so if a route ever loses its last figure, the missing list above returns on its own.
