The airline worked under contract to the United States
Air Corps Ferrying Command, primarily for supplying the
South West Pacific theatre of World War II. Its very first flights, starting 23 April 1942, however, were
Lend-Lease deliveries of American-built aircraft to Great Britain and the Netherlands. The airline operated land-based aircraft, as opposed to similar airlines operating flying boats, out of
Hickam Field,
Guam,
Guadalcanal, Australia and
New Guinea. Consairway was reported to have flown more than 101 million
ton-miles of cargo and 299 million
passenger miles by its closing in 1945. The airline flew the LB-30 Liberator II,
Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express and
Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber, as well as a converted XB-24B that was used as a luxury airliner for the
United States Army Air Forces. In 1992, the civilian employees who had worked overseas for Consairway between 14 December 1941, and 14 August 1945, received status and benefits as military veterans under the
Veterans Benefits Administration. == See also ==