National Museum of Transportation Speaker Series: Aviation Historian Alan Hoffman and The Story of Ozark Airlines

By Carmelo Turdo

The National Museum of Transportation recently featured aviation historian Alan Hoffman in their monthly Speaker Series held at the museum's Earl C. Lindburg Automobile Center. Hoffman's presentation was based on his book, Up There with the Biggest: The Story of Ozark Airlines, an authoritative look at the rise and fall of the St. Louis-based regional carrier that dared to compete with the nationals following de-regulation of the airline industry. From DC-3s to DC-9s, Ozark Airlines played an essential part in the development of post-war commercial air travel along with the growth of St. Louis as a center of aviation and aerospace excellence.

In Up There with the Biggest, Hoffman gives a detailed account of the formation of Ozark Airlines through the historical lens of the times and, most importantly, through first-hand accounts from key employees. The book reads like a diary written by siblings growing up in an airline family, with the good times and the hard times included in the narrative.     

Starting out as a charter operation in 1945 using Beech Staggerwings and Cessna T-50 light twins, Ozark was awarded the routes served by the fledgling Parks Airlines from Cahokia, IL in 1950. The new airline used its growing fleet of DC-3s to serve smaller cities out of Lambert Field, later adding the more modern Fairchild F-27/FH-227 turboprops and the Douglas DC-9 series of jets as their route system expanded. The DC-9 Super 80 was coming online in place of the original Boeing 727 order in the early 1980s just as the effects of de-regulation were taking hold.   

Ozark Airlines had experienced significant growth in the mid 1970s, flying longer routes, building an all-jet fleet and increasing market share in the air charter business. But the perfect storm lay ahead, bringing the forces of fleet acquisition debt, labor strife, the energy crisis, airline de-regulation and head-to-head competition with St. Louis rival TWA to epic proportions. Enter Carl Icahn, who in 1986 gained majority shares in TWA and then went after Ozark. Both airlines would subsequently lose their identity and be absorbed into American Airlines, who then removed St. Louis from major hub status. 

Along with Up There with the Biggest, Alan Hoffman has contributed greatly to the preservation and distribution of St. Louis aviation history in two other literary works. He co-authored Come Fly with Me: The Rise and Fall of Trans World Airlines, with Dr. Daniel Rust and was instrumental in the publishing of Dr. Rust's book, The Aerial Crossroads of America: St. Louis's Lambert Airport. Both are highly recommended!