Originally Posted by
Indelaware
The easternmost would have been probably Grand Junction, CO. I guess that the northern most would have been served from Boise which means that it would likely have been either Spokane, WA or Pendelton, OR. (I'm quite certain they never go to Seattle or Portland). I'll go with Pendelton, just because it is smaller.
I seem to recall that Golden Gate served Lake Tahoo (TVL) which I thought was odd as they also flew to Reno.
I think the total count of 15 cities might be a bit low if one counts cities served by Golden Gate at any point in 1981.
Grand Junction (GJT) and Pendleton (PDT) are both
correct!
BTW, both of these small cities were legacy destinations for United Airlines as well. In the winter of 1976 during ski season, United was operating thirteen flights into Grand Junction every Saturday with B727-100, B727-200 and DC8 equipment nonstop from ORD, DEN, LAS, LAX and SFO. At the same time, it was possible for one to board a United B727-100 in first class in Pendleton and fly direct to Washington D.C. via stops in BOI, SLC and ORD. UA 278 (which originated at PDX) departed PDT daily at 11:28am and arrived in DCA at 10:00pm.
Golden Gate did serve Lake Tahoe (TVL) at one point with DHC-7 Dash 7 equipment (and even flew between TVL and RNO).....but not at this particular time in 1981.
And the Golden Gate route map which served as the basis for this quiz item (which also contains the Swift Aire routes) lists fifteen California cities served at this time in 1981.