  hughes airwest  was an airline in the western united states, backed by the summa corporation of howard hughes. hughes airwest flew routes in the western u.s. and to a few cities in mexico and canada; it was purchased by republic airlines on october 1, 1980. its headquarters were on the grounds of san francisco international airport in unincorporated san mateo county, california."world airline directory." flight international. april 28, 1979. 1379. == history == on april 17, 1968 three "local service" airlines in the western u.s. merged to form air west: * pacific air lines, called southwest airways when it was founded in 1941, was based in san francisco and flew along the coast and california's central valley, linking cities from medford, oregon, to southern california. pacific operated boeing 727-100s and fairchild f-27s in 1968. * bonanza air lines routes reached west from its phoenix base to southern califor
1980_disestablishments_in_California Airlines_disestablished_in_1980 Airlines_established_in_1968 Defunct_airlines_of_the_United_States Defunct_companies_based_in_the_San_Francisco_Bay_Area Howard_Hughes