Do You Know What Lufthansa’s Original Name Was? — #TBT Week of January 4

In the spirit of #TBT (“Throwback Thursday,” not Brazil’s Tabatinga Airport) FlyerTalk takes a look back at the events that helped shape modern aviation. Here are just a few moments from history that changed the face of the industry during the week of January 4.

January 4, 1964

Pope Paul VI became the first pope to use an aircraft to make an official state visit, flying from Rome to Amman, Jordan on a chartered Alitalia DC-8. Since then, popes on official visits have traditionally been flown by the Italian flag carrier on an aircraft popularly known as “Shepherd One.” It is also tradition for the pope to return to the Vatican on the flag carrier of the nation he is returning from.

January 5, 1952

Pan Am led the world in aviation service with the inauguration of the first dedicated cargo service. The flight, operated by a Douglas DC-6A, flew cargo over the North Atlantic. Since then, many major international carriers have instituted their own freight service.

January 6, 1953

German commercial aviation would be restored with the formation of Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft. The “new” airline came together in Berlin, inheriting the logo and history of Deutsche Luft Hansa, which served as the flag carrier of Germany prior to World War II. Years later, the airline would shorten its name to Lufthansa.

January 7, 1981

Weekly air service between China and the U.S. was officially re-opened after the Civil Aviation Administration of China landed a Boeing 747 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Six years later, the Civil Aviation Administration would split their commercial aviation operations into six independently operated airlines, which would ultimately be reduced to three by 2003.

January 8, 1982

Pioneering a new era in aviation, Airbus successfully certified the A300 as the first widebody with a forward-facing, two-person flight crew. This was achieved by using technology to automate the function of a flight engineer. By this time, Airbus had already sold more than 300 A300 aircraft and had active options for upwards of 200.

January 9, 1943

Arguably the most influential commercial aircraft of the 20th century, Lockeed completed the first flight of the L-049 Constellation as a converted war production C-69. Just over two years later, Trans World Airlines (TW) would take delivery of the first L-049, followed by Pan Am in 1946. At the height of operations, the Constellation could transport up to 81 flyers.

January 10, 1992

Impacted by airline deregulation and saddled down with debt, TWA filed for their first of three bankruptcies. This was the beginning of the end for the iconic airline. After subsequent bankruptcies and the crash of TWA Flight 800, the carrier once controlled by Howard Hughes merged into American Airlines in 2001.

[Photo: Deutsche Lufthansa AG]