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Michael A. Gitt
94 Kings Point Road, Kings Point, NY 11024

July 5, 1988.

Memorabilia:

The following is a brief account of Canadian Colonial Airways, as best as I can recall. The account is both factual and hearsay gathered gathered here and there in my long association with the Company. I am sure that Captains Fred Smith, Herb Clark, Keith Murray and Rad Janas could add much too this yarn or even offer some corrections and I hereby suggest they do so because this is a story that should be told. They and I are perhaps the only ones around that can do so. It is a story of the nostalgic, romantic and formative days in the airline industry.

Canadian Colonial Airways was two organizations i. e. a Limited Company registered in Canada and a incorporated Company in the U.S.A. It was just a holding company and American Airlines carried out it's operations with their equipment.

Some time prior too 1939 Mr. Sigmund Janas became a major stock holder in the Company. He had been a Vice-President with American Airlines and now as a major stockholder he began too set up Canadian Colonial as an operating company. American Airlines cooperated by furnishing the Company with two DC-2's and two DC-3's. Those pilots of American who wanted too were given the opportunity of joining the fledgling new company and some did. Including Fred Smith, Herb Clark and Keith Murray. Other American Airline people from Maintenance and Operations and other departments also joined up.

One of he DC-2's was registered in Canada. Since we were also a Canadian Company we had to have both Canadian as well as American Nationals as pilots to protect the Canadian as well as the American Radio requirements. This meant that we could not have two Canadian pilots flying a Canadian airplane nor could we have two American pilots flying a Canadian airplane. With the advent of WW 2 the Canadian airplane went to war and the Canadian Company was liquidated as an airline. The company was now known as Colonial Airlines. As a dual Company we had both Canadian and American mail contracts, now we had just an American mail contract. 

Canadian Colonial Airlines held Foreign Mail Contract No. One which gave us the distinction of being the first Foreigen operating Airline and which preceded Pan-Am. At that time, since air transportation was a new thing, Immigration and Customs treated us as an ocean going vessel engaged in coast wise trade. Since there was no proper paper work set up by the government to accommodate an operation of this kind the customs forms specified that we had no more than so many sheep, pigs or cattle aboard and so we signed the form.