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| Founded | 1944 (as Aviation Enterprises) | |||
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| Ceased operations | 1982 | |||
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| Parent company | Texas Air Corporation | |||
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas | |||
| Key people | Frank Lorenzo | |||
Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States airline, known from 1944 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways, and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Continental Airlines. It was headquartered near William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas.[1]
Operating out of hubs at Dallas and Houston, the airline provided regional passenger service in Texas and surrounding states for most of its life.
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During the 1960s the airline operated a Beechcraft Model 99 and six Convair 600s. By the early 1960s, Texas International had service from one side of Texas to the other, going as far west as El Paso and as far east as Texarkana, Arkansas (the airport for the city also serves neighboring Texarkana, Texas). Soon, flights into New Mexico were added.
In 1967 it purchased a fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jets: nineteen of the Series 10 model and seven of the Series 30 aircraft, operating them to airports as small as Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Beaumont, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas. The airline was derisively called "Tree Top Airlines" and "Tinker Toy Airlines" by its competitors. When Trans-Texas Airways changed its name to Texas International Airlines, the company ran newspaper ads showing a Tinker Toy airplane flying along treetops. The copy read "No More Tinker Toys. No More Treetops. We are now Texas International Airlines."
In 1972, after suffering annual losses of up to $3 million, it was acquired by Jet Capital Corporation, headed by 32-year-old Frank Lorenzo. The airline quickly saw a $6 million profit, largely due to aggressive wage cuts spearheaded by Lorenzo as well as sharp marketing efforts.
Historically, the airline had scheduled service to such cities as: El Paso, McAllen, Amarillo, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, San Angelo, Abilene, Midland-Odessa, Austin and Beaumont-Port Arthur. Outside of Texas, service included Arkansas (Hot Springs), New Mexico (Roswell, Albuquerque, Hobbs and Santa Fe), Colorado (Denver), California (Los Angeles), Nevada (Las Vegas), and Mexico (Veracruz and Tampico).
During the mid-1970s, in response to intense competition from Southwest Airlines, Texas International successfully petitioned the Civil Aeronautics Board to begin offering discounted fares on its awarded routes. These fares become a staple of the airline known as "Peanuts Fares". Following the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act the airline expanded its routes throughout much of the central and southern United States.
The first modern frequent flyer program was created at Texas International Airlines in 1979.[2] But lacking the computer resources of its larger competitors, Texas International was overtaken by American's introduction of AAdvantage in May, 1981.
On June 11, 1980, Lorenzo established a holding company, Texas Air Corporation, for Texas International.[3] Texas Air bought Continental Airlines in 1982, then merged Continental into Texas International, assuming the former's name. The last Texas International aircraft were seen in 1983.
On September 27, 1973, Texas International Airlines Flight 655, a Convair 600 crashed in Arkansas while on a scheduled flight from El Dorado, Arkansas to Texarkana, Arkansas; all 11 on board died.[4]