1976 Western Airlines Poster Celebrating 50 Years in Service

This vintage poster by R. McKee was made in 1976 as a celebratory piece for the 50th anniversary of Western Airlines. Artistically rendered, this vintage poster features a pilot waiving from a 1926 Douglas M-2 biplane, the first aircraft operated by Western Air as a mail service plane in California. In addition, the poster features important figures of Western Air and scenes depicting the luxury and historic milestones of the company. In the lower right corner the poster proudly proclaims Western Air as America's First Half-Century Airline. Western Airlines, founded in 1925 as Western Air Express, was one of the earliest American commercial airlines. It began with mail service between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City and soon expanded to include passenger flights. In the 1930s, Western Air Express merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to form Transcontinental & Western Air, which later became TWA. However, Western Airlines re-emerged as an independent company in 1934 after comme