List of original DC-3 operators

A DC-3 with Wright Cyclone engines, built in 1938 for Australian National Airways

The List of original Douglas DC-3 operators lists only the original customers who purchased new aircraft.

With the availability of large numbers of surplus military C-47 Skytrains or Dakotas after the Second World War, nearly every airline and military force in the 1940s and 1950s operated the aircraft at some point. More than eighty years after the type's first flight, in the second decade of the 21st century the Douglas DC-3 is still in commercial operation.

Commercial operators

Australia

Australian National Airways (ANA)^[1]

Belgium

Sabena^[a]^[2]

Brazil

Czechoslovakia

Československá letecká společnost [cz] (ČLS)^[a]^[3]

France

Air France^[a]^[4]

Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific

India

Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia

Ireland

Aer Lingus^[a]^[6]

Kenya

Speedbird Airways

KLM - in pre-war (1939-1940) orange for easy detection for fighter planes, as a neutral country

Netherlands

KLM^[a]^[7]

Japan

Pakistan

Pakistan International Airlines

Peru

PANAGRA^[9]

Romania

LARES^[10]

Russia

Mongolian Transport Company^[a]^[10]
Northeast^[a]^[2]

Sweden

AB Aerotransport^[a]^[10]

Switzerland

Swissair^[a]^[11]

United States

American Airlines^[12]
Braniff Airways^[13]
Capital Airlines - the only purchaser of the DC-3S Super DC-3 post-war variant^[14]
Chicago and Southern Air Lines^[15]
Canadian Colonial Airlines^[13]
Delta Air Lines^[16]
Eastern Air Lines^[7]
Hawaiian Airlines^[17]
Northeast^[18]
Northwest Airlines^[19]
Pan American-Grace Airways^[10]
Pan American World Airways^[10]
Pennsylvania Central Airlines^[18]
Transcontinental & Western Air^[20]
United Airlines^[7]
Western Air Express^[11]

Business and Executive operators

United States

Civil Aeronautics Authority^[21]
Swiftflite Inc^[16]

Military operators

Nicaragua

Nicaraguan Air Force

Sweden

Royal Swedish Air Force

The RSwAF operated two second-hand ex-AB Aerotransport DC-3 aircraft for SIGINT purposes. One was shot down on June 13 1952 on a secret mission outside the Baltic coast by Soviet fighters. All eight in the crew perished.

In 2003, the wreck was located and salvaged. It now resides in the Air Force Museum.

United States

United States Army Air Corps/United States Army Air Forces^[7]
- Includes aircraft built for the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force but taken over before delivery following the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies^[22]
United States Navy^[23]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Assembled and sold by Fokker

References

^ Berry 1971, p.28
^ ^a ^b ^c Berry 1971, p.29
^ Berry 1971, p.22
^ ^a ^b Berry 1971, p.30
^ "Case Study the Indian Scene, circa 1975". 20 August 2018.
^ Berry 1971, p.32
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Berry 1971, p.24
^ ^a ^b Best Air-Britain Archive Spring 2008, pp. 25–26
^ Pearcy (1987), p.29
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Berry 1971, p.27
^ ^a ^b Berry 1971, p.26
^ Berry 1971, p.23
^ ^a ^b Berry 1971, p.34
^ O'Leary (1992), p.69
^ Berry 1971, p.33
^ ^a ^b Berry 1971, p.37
^ Forman 2005 p.69
^ ^a ^b Berry 1971, p.35
^ Berry 1971, p.31
^ Berry 1971, p.25
^ Berry 1971, p.38
^ Pearcy (1987), pp. 101-105
^ Berry 1971, p. 43

Bibliography

Peter Barry, ed. (1971). The Douglas Commercial Story. Air-Britain Historians.
Best, Martin S. (Spring 2008). "The Development of Commercial Aviation in China: Part 5A: Japanese Airlines in Occupied China and Manchuria". Air-Britain Archive. pp. 17–31. ISSN 0262-4923.
O'Leary, Michael (1992). DC-3 and C-47 Gooney Birds. Osceola, Wisconsin: Motorbooks International. ISBN 0-87938-543-X.
Pearcy, Arthur (1987). Douglas DC-3 Survivors. Bourne End, Buckinghamshire: Aston Publications. ISBN 0-946627-13-4.
Forman, Peter (2005). Wings of Paradise. Barnstormer Books. ISBN 978-0-9701594-4-1.

[fokker-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Assembled and sold by Fokker

[ab28-1] Berry 1971, p.28

[ab29-3] Berry 1971, p.29

[ab22-4] Berry 1971, p.22

[ab30-5] Berry 1971, p.30

[6] "Case Study the Indian Scene, circa 1975". 20 August 2018.

[ab32-7] Berry 1971, p.32

[ab24-8] Berry 1971, p.24

[aba08p256-9] Best Air-Britain Archive Spring 2008, pp. 25–26

[10] Pearcy (1987), p.29

[ab27-11] Berry 1971, p.27

[ab26-12] Berry 1971, p.26

[ab23-13] Berry 1971, p.23

[ab34-14] Berry 1971, p.34

[15] O'Leary (1992), p.69

[ab33-16] Berry 1971, p.33

[ab37-17] Berry 1971, p.37

[ab50-18] Forman 2005 p.69

[ab35-19] Berry 1971, p.35

[ab31-20] Berry 1971, p.31

[ab25-21] Berry 1971, p.25

[ab38-22] Berry 1971, p.38

[23] Pearcy (1987), pp. 101-105

[ab43-24] Berry 1971, p. 43

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