Description: Southwest Airlines began revenue service on June 18, 1971, as an intra-Texas carrier molded in the image of California’s Pacific Southwest Airways (PSA). The initial service was from Dallas to San Antonio. The Texas Aeronautics Commission had approved Southwest’s application on February 20, 1968, but objections from Braniff, Continental and Trans Texas, along with court actions, delayed the initial service until 1971. Dallas to Houston service quickly followed the Dallas to San Antonio route. In November 1991, with a bold move against the conventional wisdom of the time, Southwest moved one half of its Houston operations from the Houston Intercontinental Airport to Hobby field which was much closer to downtown Houston. The amount of traffic on the route increased so dramatically that by May 1992 all of the Houston service operated from Hobby. Southwest also operates its Dallas service from Love Field instead of the newer D/FW International Airport.Southwest originally operated three Boeing 737-200 aircraft built for Aloha, Air California and PSA. Southwest used Boeing 727 aircraft leased from Braniff and People Express. These aircraft were later replaced by Boeing 737-300s. Southwest continued to use only 737s.Southwest Airlines made a major expansion to Florida with flights to Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale on January 22, 1996. Tampa was added from the existing Southwest cities of Baltimore, Nashville, New Orleans and St. Louis. Fort Lauderdale received its inaugural flight from Tampa.The Tampa Post Office dispatched covers to Baltimore, Ft. Lauderdale, Nashville and St. Louis. Of the Tampa dispatches, only the covers to Baltimore and some collector mail to Fort Lauderdale were not backstamped. No cachets were provided for the inaugural mail.This cover was one of the few pieces of mail carried on the inaugural Southwest Airlines flight from Tampa, Florida to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and is listed in The American Air Mail Catalogue as WN-D37E.
Price: 35 USD
Location: Cranford, New Jersey
End Time: 2025-01-16T19:42:24.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6 USD
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Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Type: Transportation
Place of Origin: United States
Quality: First Flight Cover
Country: United States
Event: First Flight
Grade: Ungraded
Exact Topic: Aviation History
Topic: Southwest Airlines
Exact Type: Postal History
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Certification: Uncertified
Modified Item: No
