United and American Airlines are celebrating their 90th birthdays this month, with both carriers able to trace their beginnings to flights taken in April 1926.
United’s history began on April 6, with a Varney Air Lines mail service between Pasco, WA and Elko, NV, via Boise, while American Airlines started out with aviator Charles A Lindbergh flying a mail service between Chicago and St Louis on April 15.
To celebrate AA's 90th anniversary, customers on today’s flight 90 between Chicago and London Heathrow will receive a special commemorative photo album, and cockpit crew were set to display a flag with the original American Airlines logo out of the aircraft window on taxi out.
Today United is the world's largest airline measured by the number of destinations served, while AA is the largest carrier by fleet size and revenue.
united.com, aa.com
Mark Caswell
