Transport: One Merger, One Sale

In April 1927 an open-cockpit plane belonging to one Clifford Ball carried the first pouch of airmail between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. In 1929 Clifford Ball Inc. extended operations to Washington, carried the first scheduled passengers across the Alleghenies. Year later the company was reorganized as Pennsylvania Airlines. In 1934 it lost its mail contract in Postmaster General Farley's celebrated blanket cancellation. Complying with changed requirements, it extended its lines to Detroit, sought a new contract, but was underbid by a brand-new concern named Central Airlines which began flying the same route....

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