PeopleExpress Boeing 737-400 – Photo: PeopleExpress

This story was written by John Cameron for AirlineReporter

If you are old enough to have been flying commercially in the early 1980’s, especially along the eastern half of the United States, then you might recall a certain low-cost airline that rose to prominence in the blink of an eye, and faded away just as quickly.

By the end of its first year of operation, it offered nearly 50 daily departures from its home base in Newark, NJ (EWR) and eventually provided non-stop flights from Newark to London’s Gatwick Airport (on a 747) for $149 each way. A few years later, it purchased numerous airlines (most notably Frontier Airlines) to add to its ever-expanding route network.

However, by 1986 the company was struggling to stay afloat, and in early 1987 – roughly six years after it began operations – the wild ride came to an end as the plucky low-cost carrier was absorbed into Continental Airlines.

I’m talking, of course, about PEOPLExpress Airlines (PEx).