One Airline One Union 55,000 Members - District 141

United, Continental share history
Most IAM Members probably have never heard of Walter
Varney or of his connection to the beginnings of both United
and Continental Airlines.
Back in the early 1900s, when cross-country air races and
barnstorming were the rage, the United States Post Office
even began using aircraft to transport the mail.
The need for adequate landing fields soon became apparent.
In 1916, a pilot named Silas Christofferson purchased
a strip of land in Redwood City, Calif., that was used as an
airstrip and a flying school.
A few years after Christofferson’s death, a local resident,
What about the future?
Walter Varney, a World War I pilot, purchased the landing strip
and school and began a company called Varney Airlines.
Shortly thereafter, Varney bought the United Aircraft and
Transportation Company and distributed flowers by air from
greenhouses in Redwood City.
The Post Office soon required better and more dependable
air service to carry increasing quantities of mail. In 1924,
it began to contract with private companies for that purpose.
In April 1926, Varney Airlines flew 64 pounds of mail from
Paseo, Wash., to Elko, Nev., in the first contracted airmail flight.
In 1930, Varney Airlines and United Aircraft merged, and
in 1933 changed its name to United Airlines. In 1934, Varney
and a partner founded Varney Speed Lines. The company
later became Continental Airlines.
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