Hcmshue Builds a Network

Steady Expansion

During the first two or three years of its existence, Western Air Express spread its wings mainly by providing connecting services to the traditional transcontinental air mail route from San Francisco to New York (see map, page 17). No doubt Harris Hanshue felt that he should play more than just a subsidiary role in the national scheme of things, and consequently turned his eyes towards the East.

His most important step in that direction was to open, on 15 May 1929, a direct service from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, and extending this on 1 June to Kansas City. In May 1930, branch lines were opened to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, and to Fort Worth and Dallas. He had also provided, on 21 September 1929, a north-south link from Cheyenne to El Paso, by founding Mid-Continent Air Express. Even without a mail contract, Hanshue must have felt that he was establishing a revenue-earning base from passengers alone.

A line-up of Western Air Express aircraft at the Alhambra airport serving the Los Angeles area. The aircraft are (left to right) a Fokker F-10, Fokker F-14, Boeing 40, Boeing 95, Douglas M 4, and a Steannan 4D. They