Southwest Airways/Pacific Air Lines stations

The following photos and narrative was sent to us by Drew Van Horne.  Drew has researched and photographed airports throughout the United States.  In California, Drew has photographed all but three airports (Vandenburg AFB, NAF El Centro and Edward's AFB) that had service with aircraft the size of a DC-3 or greater. 

Most of these photos were taken during the 80's and 90's. Do you remember CLG (Coalinga), MCO (Fort Bragg), or SIY (Yreka)?  I love it!

More photos of Pacific Air Lines stations are coming.

Enjoy. . . .

ACV (Eureka/Arcata) 1st term - May, 1992. I believe this picture of the former NAAS Arcata administration building and control tower served as the first airport terminal for United and Southwest following WWII. I don't have a date for the 2nd terminal, but I believe it dates to the early 1950s and was replaced in 1981 by the current airport terminal. This building has since been torn down.

CEC (Crescent City) - July, 1984. This is the Crescent City airport terminal which dates to Southwest's first service in the late 1940s and is still in existence today. The July 84 picture shows an old Hughest Airwest baggage cart next to the airline ticket office (at that time, West Air flew 3 to 4 daily Cessna's into CEC).

CEC (Crescent City) - May 1992

CEC (Crescent City) - May 1992

CEC (Crescent City) - May 1992

CLG (Coalinga) - January 1988. A person at the airport hangar in Coalinga told me at the time that this was the building used by Southwest for the duration of their service. A new airport was built in the late 1990s and the former airport closed at that time. All buildings and structures have been removed, but when I visited 7 or 8 years ago, foundations still existed as did the runways.

IYK (Inyokern) - February, 1988.

IYK (Inyokern) - February, 1988.

IYK (Inyokern) - February, 1988. This 3rd picture is of the old outdoor baggage pickup area where Pacific Air Lines had clearly been painted and chiseled away. Satellite imagery shows that the terminal has been expanded but that this structure still exists.

MCO-LLR (Fort Bragg) - April, 1994. Mendocino/Fort Bragg was always serviced through Little River Airport (also called Mendocino County Airport). The initial airline code was MCO (now used for Orlando's McCoy AFB and present airport). The code changed to O48 and more recently has changed to LLR. This building is clearly the building used by Southwest until they discontinued service in 1956. The interior shot below is of the old airline ticket counter.

MCO-LLR (Fort Bragg) - April, 1994

MYV (Marysville) - June, 1985. This appeasr to have been the 2nd airline terminal in use at Marysville and appears to date to sometime in the 1960s. The airport web site states that "a portion of the existing old restaurant was used as a terminal building". This means that I need to make a trek up to Marysville to look around some more as it has been years.

PRB (Paso Robles/San Liuis Obispo) - January, 1988. This is a picture of the original terminal building in Paso Robles. 1987 into 1988 was the year that SkyWest experimented with PRB being an overnight station for 4 to 5 of its planes but that was short lived. This building was replaced sometime around the year 2000 and is no longer in existence.

RBL (Red Bluff) - May, 1991. Interesting to compare this 1991 picture with the ones from 1947.

RDD (Redding) - July, 1984. This is the terminal building that serviced Redding in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. These pictures were taken in 1984 - 4 years after the current terminal building opened. The main lobby has definitely been expanded subsequent to the Pacific pictures that are on the www.PacificAirLinesPortfolio.com Web Site from the 1960's - likely due to new security requirements in 1973/74. Hughes Airwest, Fronter and West Air all served this terminal prior to the current terminal being opened. This building disappeared by 1991 when I next drove through town but the slab foundation and red flooring existed for a number of years after that.

SCK (Stockton) - August, 1995. This terminal was opened in 1962 and by and large hasn't changed until recently when the passenger waiting area was expanded. This particular shot is of what I believe to have been the Pacific ticket counter. United was at the far left and I believe the space in the middle was modified when PSA started serving Stockton.

SIY (Yreka) - May, 1991. Siskiyou County Airport - Yreka/Montague. I do not know for certain that these pictures were of the terminal building used by Southwest and Pacific up until 1958 when service was discontinued, but I believe it was. The facility was definitely used as a Flight Service Station. The first shot is from the parking lot with airside out to the right and the second shot is from the airfield.

SIY (Yreka) - May, 1991.

WJF (Lancaster/Palmdale) - 1999. Pacific switched its service from Palmdale Air Station to William J Fox Airport in Lancaster in 1960. The placard on the wall is dated 1960. Service then moved back to PMD in 1971 but this building would have served for 11 years and in the 1980s, commuter service also existed from WJF to LAX.

WJF (Lancaster/Palmdale) - 1999.

WVI (Santa Cruz/Watsonville) - 1990. This building appears to have been Southwest's airline terminal during its service which was discontinued in 1956. The parking lot is to the right, the entrance would have been right under the United Flight Services sign and the exit to the aircraft out the other side. Based on satellite imagery, this building appears to have been standing until just recently.

WVI (Santa Cruz/Watsonville) - 1990.