Capital Airlines was a commercial airline for the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States from 1936 to 1961. In the 1950s, it was the fifth-largest airline in the United States. The airline was the first to offer service from the west to Washington D.C., coach class service, in-flight television, and jet-powered commercial aircraft.

Capital Airlines can trace its roots back to the Clifford Ball Airline, which operated out of Pittsburgh’s Bettis Field Airport. The Clifford Ball Airline was established in 1926 by Clifford Ball (1892-1972), who founded the country’s first air mail service and was a pioneer of commercial aviation.

Clifford Ball Airline was sold to Pittsburgh Aviation Industries Corp (PAIC) in 1930 and became Pennsylvania Air Lines. In 1936, Pennsylvania Air Lines and Central Airlines merged, becoming Pennsylvania Central Airlines (PCA). PCA flew in the Washington-Detroit area and became the fifth-largest airline in the United States in the 1940s. In early 1947, PCA unofficially changed its name in advertisements to Capital and designed a new logo; however, the name change wasn’t approved by the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board) until April 1948.

In 1955, the company purchased forty Vickers Viscounts. These were the first commercial passenger prop-jet airliner. Capital Airlines went on to own sixty-seven Viscounts. By the late 1950s, the company began to falter due to increased debt. In 1958, Capital employees went on strike for a month. From 1958 to 1960, they had five aircraft accidents. In 1960, Vickers-Armstrong filed a foreclosure suit on the entire Capital Airlines Viscount fleet. In August 1960, a merger of Capital and United was proposed. On June 1, 1961, United Airlines purchased Capital Airlines and took over its Viscount fleet.