| Airline: | American Flyers Airline |
| Founded: | 1949 |
| Ceased: | May 25, 1971 |
| Founder: | Reed Pigman |
| Headquarters: | Ardmore, Oklahoma, United States |
American Flyers Airline Corporation (AFA) was a United States supplemental air carrier (then the term for a charter airline) that operated from 1949 to 1971 before merging into Universal Airlines, another supplemental.
The airline initially commenced operations in Fort Worth with Douglas DC-3 aircraft. From 1960 to 1967 it took delivery of fifteen Lockheed Constellation and Lockheed L-188 Electra propeller aircraft. Following the owner's death in the late 1960s, AFA was acquired by an affiliate of the Hillman Co. of Pittsburgh. It then began equipping itself with jet aircraft, starting with two Boeing 727s.
The American Flyers 727s made history by being the first 727s to operate transatlantic flights, from the mainland US to London Gatwick and Manchester in the United Kingdom, as well as to Frankfurt, Germany. Around this time, the airline moved its operations to Middletown, Pennsylvania. By 1970, American Flyers was operating just two leased Douglas DC-8-63CF, having sold the Electras and later the 727s.[1]
AFA was taken over by Universal Airlines on May 25, 1971.
AFA was founded by Reed Pigman, who was an early aviation pioneer who was instrumental in developing the VOR navigation system that is currently used worldwide today. Many of the employees of both the airline and its related aviation school had a very affectionate relationship with Pigman, who frequently piloted AFA's Lockheed Electras on military charter flights nationwide.
See main article: American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D. Reed Pigman died on April 22, 1966, of a heart attack at the controls of a Lockheed Electra (N183H), and the resulting crash killed 83 military transients that were being flown under a Department of Defense contract charter from Monterey Regional Airport in California to Columbus Airport in Georgia, with a service stop and crew change in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The Electra had been used by the Beatles in their 1964 tour of the United States.
Existing weather at Ardmore that evening included scattered thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Indications of wind sheer in the approach route to Ardmore Municipal Airport.[3] Reed Pigman had apparently concealed his heart problems from the authorities. There is a memorial at the Ardmore Municipal Airport for the crew and passengers that were involved in this accident.[4] Pigman's widow, Virginia, continued to operate the American Flyers School of Aviation after her husband's death.