Frontier Airlines was the first airline to serve Billings on a regular schedule. Frontier was formed from Arizona Airways, Challenger Airlines and Monarch Airlines in 1950. Billings was quickly added to their consolidated route structure.
Frontier served Billings for 40 years before going bankrupt. Seems like airlines have been merging and going bankrupt since commercial flying began in earnest in 1946 after World War II.
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| Connie, Waiting for Rich (in airplane) |
The first time I flew into Billings was in 1958. I was on leave from the U.S. Navy while I was in transit from boot camp in San Diego to electronics school on Treasure Island in the middle of San Francisco bay. I arrived on a Frontier DC3 propeller driven aircraft after several stops, including Miles City, Montana. It seemed to me that the plane never got more than a few thousand feet airborne and the rough air over the Montana hills tossed the plane around quite a bit. This was pretty unsettling for me on my first flight. Many other passengers showed some uneasiness-- maybe they were new at this flying business also.
I was pretty happy to get off the plane in Billings. My mother Hazel and sister Connie met the flight.
This picture shows the Frontier DC3 I arrived in. Connie is about 9 or 10 years old in this picture (she is the girl on the left). I flew into Billings two more times on Frontier-- I recall that all the trips were bumpy. I don't miss the passing of the old DC3.
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