,
Orange County Airport, circa 1958 Bonanza Air Service began charter operations in 1945 in Las Vegas with a single-engine Cessna. In 1946 it acquired a
C-47 from
Flying Tiger Line and had it converted to civilian
Douglas DC-3 configuration. The airline started
intrastate airline service from Las Vegas to Reno on 5 August 1946 as Bonanza Air Lines, initially three times a week, increasing up to daily by 2 September 1947, requiring another DC-3. In 1947 the airline applied to the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for a certification as a feeder or local service airline. In June 1947, the airline announced a proposed merger with
Arizona Airways, then also operating as an intrastate carrier, but within Arizona. However, there is no mention of such a merger in either of the CAB cases that awarded local service certificates to Arizona Airways and Bonanza. In June 1949, the CAB awarded Bonanza a feeder certificate from Reno to Phoenix via intermediate points including Las Vegas. The award was unusual in that it involved the transfer of Las Vegas to Phoenix authority from
trunk carrier Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA) to Bonanza. The CAB had deferred any decision until it awarded the feeder certification for the state of Arizona. In November 1949, the CAB approved a deal by which Bonanza bought the rights from TWA for $672.09, significantly less than what Arizona Airways had proposed to pay in 1945. Certificated operations began 19 December 1949. There is no railroad between Las Vegas and Reno, and roads were primitive. Las Vegas and Reno were isolated from each other, with Las Vegas being better connected to Southern California and Reno to Northern California than to each other. Bonanza was credited with bringing the two parts of the state together. It also did a better job of the Vegas to Phoenix route than TWA had done, also credited with building traffic and bringing those two cities together. The founder and first president of Bonanza was Edmund Converse, who also funded much of its development. In July 1952, the airline started service on a new route from Phoenix to Los Angeles via many intermediate points. In 1959, Bonanza introduced
Fairchild F-27s and unsuccessfully applied for routes to Texas. The F-27 was a U.S. built version of the Dutch built
Fokker F27 Friendship. The last scheduled DC-3 flight was in late 1960, and Bonanza became the first all-turbine airline in the U.S. Bonanza F-27s flew to
Grand Canyon National Park Airport (GCN) in northern Arizona with flights to Las Vegas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Tucson. Funjet at
Las Vegas in 1966 Bonanza ordered three
BAC One-Elevens in October 1962; this request was denied by the federal
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), although U.S. authorities allowed
American Airlines,
Braniff International Airways,
Aloha Airlines and
Mohawk Airlines to purchase the same aircraft. An order was then placed for the U.S. built equivalent, the
Douglas DC-9 series 10. Deliveries of the DC-9 began in late 1965 and flights commenced on March 1, 1966. The DC-9s, dubbed
Funjets, flew the following routes in the first year: Las Vegas—Reno, Las Vegas—Los Angeles, Reno—Los Angeles, Salt Lake City—Phoenix, and Reno—Las Vegas—Phoenix. The headquarters moved to Phoenix during 1966. Bonanza's April 28, 1968, timetable listed DC-9 jet service on the following routes: • Las Vegas - Los Angeles • Las Vegas - Phoenix • Las Vegas - Orange County Airport (now
John Wayne Airport) • Las Vegas - Reno • Las Vegas - Tucson • Los Angeles - Las Vegas - Reno • Los Angeles - Tucson - Phoenix • Los Angeles - San Diego - Tucson • Phoenix - Las Vegas - Reno • Phoenix - Orange County Airport • Phoenix - Tucson - La Paz - Mazatlan - Puerto Vallarta • Salt Lake City - Phoenix - Tucson • Reno - Las Vegas - Phoenix - Tucson With
Civil Aeronautics Board approval on April 17, 1968 Bonanza Air Lines merged with
Pacific Air Lines and
West Coast Airlines to form Air West on July 1. Bonanza's DC-9-10s and F-27As joined the new Air West fleet. A
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 (construction number 47246/
registration N9333) was ordered by Bonanza but was delivered to
Air West after the merger. It flew with Bonanza's successors until about 2009. == Destinations in 1968 ==