Essair Airlines, incorporated in 1939, was the first airline authorized to fly as a local service carrier in the USA. It changed its name to Pioneer Airlines in 1946 and merged with Continental Airlines in 1955.
As airlines became more reliable, remote small communities demanded their own airline service. One of the first of this new type of airline was Essair, of Houston, Texas. Originally incorporated in 1939, Essair began a temporary service between Houston and Amarillo, via Abilene. On July 11, 1944, the Civil Aeronautics Board formally agreed that an experiment in providing short-haul and local scheduled air service should be conducted. The experiment involved the establishment of a new airline category, known as "feeder" or "local service" carriers. On August 1, 1945, Essair became the first airline to fly under the new classification, operating with a temporary certificate. [1] In 1953, Pioneer Airlines was merged into Continental Airlines, contributing to the formation of a sizeable regional airline in the U.S. southwest.[2]