American First Flight Chicago Illinois - Long Beach California - 1983

Description

On June 9, 1983 American Airlines introduced its newest airplane, the McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-
80, along with service to three new cities.
For several years, the Federal Aviation
Agency had encouraged the use of the Los Angeles satellite airports in order to off-load traffic
from Los Angeles International. American had previously provided service to Ontario, but the
service to Long Beach, home of the McDonnell-Douglas plant and the DC-9-80, and to Santa Ana
(served through the Orange County or John Wayne Airport) left only one Los Angeles satellite
airport, Burbank, without American service. Both Long Beach and Santa Ana were added as stops
on flights between Dallas / Fort Worth and Chicago.
The number of covers flown to and from Long Beach
were fewer than normal since official recognition was announced only a
few days before the flights.
This cover was one of
only 106 pieces of mail
carried on the American Ailines inaugural flight from Chicago, Illinois to Long Beach, California
(where it was backstamped) and is listed in The American Air Mail Catalogue as AA-D136SW.