A Short-Lived Airline That Shuttled Sightseers to America’s National Parks

Since Stearman C3MB planes were so small and had so few seats, airline owners like Frank could make additional revenue from transporting mail from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Great Falls, Montana (a 500-mile route). Western wanted to expand their route structure in the western United States, and since this overlapped with NPA’s route stop in Salt Lake City, they eventually acquired the entire National Parks Airways airline. “We have a 1936 brochure that promotes a joint NPA-WAE package vacation ‘Sky Tours / America’s Greatest Vacation by Air,’ with highlighted attractions including San Diego, Los Angeles, Boulder Dam, Zion National Park, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone National Park, and Montana dude ranches,” says Force of the Delta Flight Museum’s archives.

Source: www.atlasobscura.com