Central Airlines

Central Airlines was a regional airline (then called a "local service" airline) in Texas and Oklahoma from 1949 to 1967. Central was founded by Keith Kahle in 1944 to operate charter and fixed base services in Oklahoma. It did not begin scheduled flights until September 15, 1949, just before its original certification expired. Central was then headquartered at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, Texas.
Backers and members of the board of directors initially included Ft. Worth oilman F. Kirk Johnson, former City Councilman R.E. Harding, Jr., Don Earhart and actor James Stewart; Stewart remained on the board for many years. Lamar Muse was president before going to Universal Airlines, Southwest Airlines and then founding Muse Air.
Central started with a fleet of eleven Beechcraft Bonanza A35s, replacing them with Douglas DC-3s between November 1950 and May 1951. The DC-3s were reinforced by Convair 240s beginning in 1960; starting in 1965 the CV-240s were converted to Convair...