Boeing 747 'Jumbo Jet'

Aero Favourite 4

Aero Favourite 4

Page 5

During the 1980s Overseas National Airlines (ONA) was a major US charter airline. The livery of the aircraft on the picture shows the colours of earlier users, including Alitalia.

Flying with US airlines

At the moment only two US airlines fly Boeing 747 passenger aircraft: Northwest Airlines and United Airlines. In the early 1980s when I started aircraft spotting, there were many more airlines in the US operating passenger Jumbo Jets.

This page shows some examples of black and white pictures from my collection. Shown are pictures of aircraft flying for Overseas National Airlines, Global International, Transamerica Airlines and PeoplExpress, while operating transatlantic flights.

Global International leased this Boeing 747-100 from Air Canada for a few months in 1983. The airline was involved in the delivery of arms to Iran in the Iran Contra Scandal and ceased operations because the FAA found safety violations. The aircraft on the right picture is of Transamerica Airlines. The airline stopped operations in 1986 and was dissolved because it was not profitable within Transamerica Corporation.

PeoplExpress started cheap flights from Newark to London Gatwick. The airline later merged with Continental Airlines. The Boeing 747-200B on the picture is being pushed back at Gatwick in the early 1980s.

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