West Coast Airlines

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

West Coast Airlines was organized in Seattle in 1941 by Nick Bez’s aviation venture. The Civil Aeronautics Board awarded it an operating certificate on May 22, 1946, and scheduled interstate service began December 5, 1946, with Douglas DC-3s on the Portland–Seattle coastal run. Small-town air travel, before every terminal became a mall with runway access.

The Seattle carrier expanded its Pacific Northwest network and absorbed Empire Air Lines in 1952, taking over the combined operation that September. Its routes eventually joined communities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, northern California, and Calgary, Alberta. Boeing Field was its Seattle operating base, while Spokane developed into a useful connecting point.

West Coast entered the turbine era early, inaugurating Fairchild F-27 service on September 28, 1958. It added Douglas DC-9 jet service on September 26, 1966, mixing modern jets with F-27s, enduring DC-3s, and a few Piper Navajos. The fleet had range, nerve, and just enough propeller noise to make a newspaper tremble.

Our West Coast Airlines collection celebrates the crisp, optimistic look of a regional carrier that made the Northwest feel closer together. On July 1, 1968, West Coast merged with Pacific Air Lines and Bonanza Air Lines to launch Air West—one more classic airline identity disappearing into the corporate contrail.