Los Angeles Airways

Los Angeles Airways

Commenced operations	1947
Ceased operations	1971
Hubs	Westchester, Los Angeles, California
Destinations	Disneyland, Newporter Resort, Newport Beach, California, Los Angeles area airports
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Key people	Clarence Belinn (president)

Los Angeles Airways helicopter taking off from the roof of the Terminal Annex Post office to inaugurate helicopter air-mail service, 1947.

Los Angeles Airways helicopter service at the Orange County Airport in 1960.

Los Angeles Airways (LAA) was a helicopter airline based in Westchester, Los Angeles, California.^[1] Los Angeles Airways offered services to area airports, as well as Disneyland^[2] from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the heliport at the Newporter Resort, Newport Beach, California, now the Hyatt Regency. LAA had several firsts, including the first regularly scheduled helicopter mail service on October 1, 1947.^[3]

In April 1957 they scheduled 17 weekday departures from LAX to 11 heliports from North Hollywood to San Bernardino to Santa Ana to Long Beach; they didn't fly to downtown Los Angeles. The OAG doesn't say what helicopter, but the drawing shows an S-55.

LAA was the first civil operator of the Sikorsky S-61, introducing it on March 1, 1962, purchased at a price of $650,000 each.^[4]

Los Angeles Airways ceased operations in 1971 after failure to consummate a contract in which it would have been purchased by Golden West Airlines.^[5]

The approximate number of passengers boarded for scheduled flights were 30,000 in 1957, 39,000 in 1960, 396,000 in 1967, and 62,000 in 1970.

Aircraft operated

• Sikorsky S-51
• Sikorsky S-55
• Sikorsky S-61

Accidents

Los Angeles Airways Sikorsky S-61L helicopter, lifting off from the Disneyland Heliport, 1963. This is the aircraft that crashed in August, 1968, killing all on board. Note the Matterhorn Mountain in the background.

• On May 22, 1968, Los Angeles Airways Flight 841, operated by a Sikorsky S-61L, crashed in Paramount, California resulting in the loss of 23 lives.
• On August 14, 1968, another Sikorsky S-61L, operating Los Angeles Airways Flight 417, crashed in Compton, California resulting in the loss of 21 lives.

See also

• List of helicopter airlines

References

1. "World Airline Directory." Flight International. April 10, 1969. 581.
2. Freeman, Paul. "Disneyland Heliport, Anaheim, CA". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields.
3. Airmail and the Growth of the Airlines
4. "The Self-Supporting Helicopter" Time Magazine December 26, 1960
5. Ed Coates Collection

External links

• Los Angeles Airways on Airliners.net
• Disneyland Heliport
• Los Angeles Airways timetables
• 1958 timetable