Walter Thomas Varney (age 79) was born Dec. 26, 1888 in San Francisco, the son of Thomas and Ella Varney. Mr. Varney and his late wife, Aileen, who died in 1963, lived in San Francisco until 1957.
He was a World War I Army Aviator. After the war he operated a flying school in San Mateo and an air express ferry service in northern California. In October 1925, he bid on and was awarded the US Post Office Contract Air Mail (CAM) to fly the mail from Pasco, WA to Elko, NV via Boise, ID. He founded Varney Air Lines, to service the mail contract and fly passengers in the Pacific Northwest from 1926 to 1933. The first day of operation of the new airline was April 6, 1926 on a route from Pasco, WA to Boise, ID and on to Elko, NA. The pilots on that first day of operation were Leon Cuddeback and General Franklin Rose both longtime friends and employees of Walters'.
In 1930 Varney Air Lines was purchased by United Aircraft and Transport but continued to operate under the Varney name until 1933, when United Aircraft and Transport changed the name to United Air Lines bringing together the five separate airlines the Company then owned. These were Boeing Air Transport (BAT), National Air Transport (NAT), Pacific Air Transport (PAT), Varney Air Lines and Stout Air Lines.
On July 15, 1934, Walter Varney and his partner Louis Mueller founded Varney Speed Lines. This new airline flew it's first flight on a 530-mile route from Pueblo, CO to El Paso, TX with stops in Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Varney Speed Lines was later sold to businessman Robert Six and in an effort to better reflect the growing ambitions of the expanding airline it was renamed, Continental Airlines.
Mr. Varney later joined the staff of Lockheed Aircraft in Los Angeles and worked there until his retirement from the aviation industry in 1951.
On May 2, 2010 United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced the merger of the two airlines which I'm sure would bring a smile to Walters face. See the Corporate Genealogy chart in the (photos section) for a graphic depiction of United Airlines history of growth. Both Walter and his chief pilot Leon Cuddeback are at rest under the flight path of the San Francisco (SFO) airport which has dozens of United Airlines departures per day flying overhead both of their final resting places.
Bio by:
Captain Corey Ferguson
United Airlines (Retired)
Walter Thomas Varney (age 79) was born Dec. 26, 1888 in San Francisco, the son of Thomas and Ella Varney. Mr. Varney and his late wife, Aileen, who died in 1963, lived in San Francisco until 1957.
He was a World War I Army Aviator. After the war he operated a flying school in San Mateo and an air express ferry service in northern California. In October 1925, he bid on and was awarded the US Post Office Contract Air Mail (CAM) to fly the mail from Pasco, WA to Elko, NV via Boise, ID. He founded Varney Air Lines, to service the mail contract and fly passengers in the Pacific Northwest from 1926 to 1933. The first day of operation of the new airline was April 6, 1926 on a route from Pasco, WA to Boise, ID and on to Elko, NA. The pilots on that first day of operation were Leon Cuddeback and General Franklin Rose both longtime friends and employees of Walters'.
In 1930 Varney Air Lines was purchased by United Aircraft and Transport but continued to operate under the Varney name until 1933, when United Aircraft and Transport changed the name to United Air Lines bringing together the five separate airlines the Company then owned. These were Boeing Air Transport (BAT), National Air Transport (NAT), Pacific Air Transport (PAT), Varney Air Lines and Stout Air Lines.
On July 15, 1934, Walter Varney and his partner Louis Mueller founded Varney Speed Lines. This new airline flew it's first flight on a 530-mile route from Pueblo, CO to El Paso, TX with stops in Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Varney Speed Lines was later sold to businessman Robert Six and in an effort to better reflect the growing ambitions of the expanding airline it was renamed, Continental Airlines.
Mr. Varney later joined the staff of Lockheed Aircraft in Los Angeles and worked there until his retirement from the aviation industry in 1951.
On May 2, 2010 United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced the merger of the two airlines which I'm sure would bring a smile to Walters face. See the Corporate Genealogy chart in the (photos section) for a graphic depiction of United Airlines history of growth. Both Walter and his chief pilot Leon Cuddeback are at rest under the flight path of the San Francisco (SFO) airport which has dozens of United Airlines departures per day flying overhead both of their final resting places.
Bio by:
Captain Corey Ferguson
United Airlines (Retired)
