New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line
| Founded | 1929 |
|---|---|
| Commenced operations | 1929 |
| Ceased operations | 1930 |
| Destinations | New York City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires |
| Headquarters | New York |
| Key people | Ralph A. O'Neill |
New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line (NYRBA or NYRBA Air Lines) was an airline that operated seaplane service from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and intermediate points on the east coast of South America during the 1920s. It was forced to merge into its competitor, Pan American World Airways, in 1930.
NYRBA was founded by Colonel Ralph A. O'Neill, who had been a decorated ace fighter pilot in World War I and then been a main figure in the establishment of both civil and military aviation in Mexico. He was named the exclusive agent for Boeing and Pratt & Whitney in all of Latin America in 1927, and in his travels he conceived the idea for the airline.
O'Neill traveled to South American countries establishing stops for NYRBA, agreed designs for the company's seaplanes with leading manufacturers, and arranged financial backing for the new company. At every turn he met opposition from Juan Trippe, who with his associates had taken control of Pan Am. Trippe, his wealthy Yale roommate Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, and their Aviation Corporation of the Americas chairman Richard Hoyt were close to the Second Assistant Postmaster General, W. Irving Glover, the professional head of the U.S. Post Office as the position of Postmaster General was a political sinecure. Glover refused to grant air mail contracts to any company not controlled by Trippe's triumvirate.
O'Neill soldiered on, however, in the belief that an airline could actually support itself by carrying passengers, and managed to obtain backing from James Rand, Jr., head of Remington Rand, and others, and NYRBA took to the skies. Their proudest aircraft were the Consolidated Aircraft Commodore seaplanes, although they also used the Consolidated Fleetster, and the Sikorsky S-38.
...
Wikipedia