Samoan Airlines

Samoan Airlines, Ltd. was incorporated in Delaware in September 1951.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/162228190 New Charters Filed, Wilmington (DE) News Journal, 24 September 1951] Founder and president Lawrence M. (Larry) Coleman, also known as High Chief Tagomailelagi, was the brother of Peter Tali Coleman (who was originally a vice president of the airline), the first Samoan Governor of American Samoa (whose first term encompassed the period of Samoan Airlines' operation).[https://www.newspapers.com/image/259076931 New Hotel in Pago Pago Plan of Samoan Airlines Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 24 July 1959]

Larry Coleman applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB, the now defunct federal agency that then controlled almost all US commercial air transport) for certification of Samoan Airlines to fly between Pago Pago and Apia with a 24-seat Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat and was rejected in January 1952. At the time, there was no air service to American Samoa. Getting to American Samoa involved a 10-hour boat trip from Apia.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|title=Samoan Airlines, Certificate Application|volume=15|pages=199–203|date=January–June 1952|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435022360598?urlappend=%3Bseq=217%3Bownerid=112924793-221|hdl=2027/osu.32435022360598|hdl-access=free|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board}}

The CAB reconsidered and in 1954, gave Samoan Airlines a five-year temporary certificate for the route, also permitting irregular/charter service to any point within 1,700 statute miles of Pago Pago to increase the revenue potential for Samoan. The airline was not permitted to carry mail - the CAB did not want to subsidize the service.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|title=Samoan Airlines Case, Reopened|volume=18|pages=533–541|date=October 1953 – July 1954|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32437011658420?urlappend=%3Bseq=559%3Bownerid=107199979-563|hdl=2027/osu.32437011658420|hdl-access=free|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board}} The airline was now part of a plan that would involve the construction of a hotel in Pago Pago.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/258848073 $2 Million Hotel for American Samoa, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 12 November 1954]

The airline had an extended gestation. Finally, in December 1958, Samoan leased a DC-3 from Hawaiian Airlines[https://www.newspapers.com/image/259389766 Samoan Airlines Leases HAL Viewmaster Plane, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 23 December 1958] and in January the aircraft flew to Pago Pago,[https://www.newspapers.com/image/269365737 Leased HAL Plane At Canton Isle On Way to Samoa, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 13 January 1959] only to be damaged in a February windstorm, apparently for not being properly tied down, but was repaired by Hawaiian. Two senior employees quit, complaining of not being paid.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/556213314 2 Top Men Of Samoan Airlines Quit, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, 2 May 1959] The airline finally launched 14 July 1959.

But Hawaiian repossessed the aircraft the evening of October 26, 1960, making that Samoan's last day of operation. Samoan had failed to pay monthly rent of $3,300 on the aircraft since February.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/258980368 Seizure Of Plane Stops Samoa Line, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 28 October 1960] On 8 August 1963, the CAB ordered the airline back in the air by 4 February 1964, or it would lose its certificate, which then expired 23 June 1964.{{cite report|title=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports to Congress 1968|date=9 December 1968|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|location=Washington, DC|page=161|hdl-access =free |hdl=2027/pst.000067708055|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000067708055?urlappend=%3Bseq=803%3Bownerid=13510798900153966-781}}

In a 1963 case determining subsidies for Hawaiian Airlines, the CAB ordered the airline to write off a $65,000 (over $650,000 in 2024 dollars) uncollectable receivable from Samoan.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|title=Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., Mail Rates|volume=39|pages=118–141|date=September 1963 – February 1964|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3534396?urlappend=%3Bseq=148%3Bownerid=9007199258456538-154|hdl=2027/uc1.b3534396|hdl-access=free|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board}}

The CAB listed Honolulu as Samoan's headquarters.{{cite report|title=Monthly Report of Air Carrier Traffic Statistics|publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|date=January 1960|page=Inside Front Cover|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112104060329?urlappend=%3Bseq=1%3Bownerid=32030907-0|hdl=2027/uiug.30112104060329|hdl-access=free}}

• 1 Douglas DC-3

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• Apia, Western Samoa
• Pago Pago, American Samoa

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{{Airlines of the United States|state=collapsed}}

Category:Airlines based in Hawaii

Category:Airlines established in 1951

Category:Defunct airlines of the United States