Transocean Air Lines was an Oakland, California based airline that operated from 1946 until 1960.
Contents |
The men and women of Transocean Air Lines helped make modern air transport possible for today's world. At its height the Transocean organization included ten companies, making it the first aviation conglomerate. The airline itself employed 1,500 persons. Including the personnel of its subsidiary companies, the total number exceeded 6,700. Transocean’s gross annual sales climbed as high as 50 million dollars.
By April 1958, after 12 years of business, Transocean’s aircraft had flown a total of 1,290,966,900 passenger miles, 126,990,642 cargo ton-miles, and 66,828,237 aircraft miles – the equivalent of more than 135 round-trips to the moon!
Organized by a handful of maverick aviators with more dreams than money in their pockets, Transocean Air Lines became the largest supplemental air carrier in the world, employing at its peak over 6,700 workers at some 57 bases around the globe.
THE BIRTH OF TRANSOCEAN…Word that a new airline was in the offing spread quickly with Captain Nelson's first call, and the response was overwhelming. Looking for employment and happy that the war was over, applicants from all branches of the armed services rushed to the Oakland Airport, hoping to land a job with this fledgling airline. I remember seeing the long rag-tag line that stretched away from the International Terminal Building, out the door, down the steps, and all the way back to the airport restaurant, a distance of a hundred yards or more. Many were in civilian clothes but others, still wearing various military uniforms, were trailing duffel bags.
Yes, indeed, those were halcyon days. We were all young and overflowing with enthusiasm for what we saw as a chance to break ground with a new airline. We wanted to have our place in the sun as pioneers and innovators. The romance and promise of commercial flying ... the excitement and exuberance of this bunch of young hopefuls would provide the spirit that was soon to become Transocean Air Lines. (Ralph Lewis, By Dead Reckoning, Paladwr Press)
Soon after taking to the skies in 1946 to fly anything, anywhere, anytime, Nelson began to expand into other areas, usually with great success. But by the mid-fifties and after acquiring several subsidiary businesses, some of the men closest to Nelson began to express concern that perhaps Transocean had over-diversified its resources and that the company was in danger of decline. Nevertheless, from its inception in 1946 until as late as 1959, Transocean basked in the glow of spectacular success in most of its endeavors. The airline and its divisions often received commendations from both military and civilian groups for its contributions to aviation.
A complete company history can be found on *Transocean Air Lines’ Alumni site
Total: 146 aircraft, of which 68 were DC-4s. In addition, Taloa Academy of Aeronautics had a total of 56 single-engined trainers at its peak. http://www.taloa.org/academy.html
During almost 14 years of continuous and concentrated aviation and airline activity, totaling in excess of 70 million aircraft miles, more than a billion and a half passenger miles, and over 85 million cargo-ton miles (often in areas with few or non-existent navigational aids or ground installations), Transocean's total casualties were 90 passengers and 16 crew. Considering the pioneering nature of much of Transocean's flying, in peacetime and in war, this record alone is a measure of the unparalleled dedication to safety and service which made Transocean one of the greatest airlines - though certainly the least recognized - in U. S. air transport history.
|