GEORGE SNYDER 1945 - 1948 PRESIDENT - CHALLENGER AIRLINES SLC Promotion Record of Utahns in Service U. S. Army To first lieutenant: George Willard Snyder Jr., service pilot, Deming, N. M. Son of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Snyder, 1361 Butler avenue; wife, former Georgia Willey. and daughter, Georgia, reside with Dr. and Mrs. R. T. Willey, 1174 Thirteenth East street. Graduate of East high school; attended University of Utah; was manager of Snyder Mines machine shop and commercial pilot before entering service In May, 1942. -The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah (11/12/43) In January, 1947 George W. Snyder, Jr. took over as Challenger's President. He stayed as President until Feb. 1948 when Donald Duff became President. Challenger merged with Monarch and Arizona in June, 1950 to form Frontier Airlines. -Jake Lamkins (2/20/00) Biography from 1949 GEORGE WILLARD SNYDER, JR. In Utah, a state which has been closely bound up with commercial aviation since the first paying passenger took off from the Salt Lake City Airport, the name of George Willard Snyder, Jr., looms large. For Mr. Snyder, interested in aviation since the days he was a high school student, has been identified with some of the most progressive activities in that field for years. A service pilot in the Unitied States Army Air Forces in World War II, he is now President of Challenger Airlines Company, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana aviation firm, as well as a director and official of Altair, Inc., regional distributor of Beechcraft planes and parts. He is also the holder of extensive mining interests. Mr. Snyder was born in Salt Lake City on August 31, 1917, the son of George Willard and Dorothy (Gilmer) Snyder. The senior Mr. Snyder, a mining operator, is President of the Combined Metals Reduction Company, Inc., and Snyder Mines, Inc., with headquarters in the Felt Building, Salt Lake City. The younger Mr. Snyder was educated in Salt Lake City's public schools; his graduation from the East High School occurred in 1934. He has been active in the aviation industry ever since that time. In 1935 and 1936, Mr. Snyder was in the aircraft sales business. In 1936, also, he formed the Intermountain Aircraft Company. Though it has been inactive since 1945, this company is still in existence, and Mr. Snyder, its president at the beginning, continues to hold that office. In 1939, Mr. Snyder filed applications with the Federal Government for various original airlines routes in the Intermountain region. It was at that time that he organized what proved to be a forerunner of today's Challenger Airlines Company. The line then formed was called Midwest Airways. In 1945, Mr. Snyder changed its name to Challengers Airlines, Inc., and Claude Neon of New York City purchased the controlling interest in it. After the close of this operation, Summit Airways, Inc., was purchased and the name subsequently was changed to Challenger Airlines Company. Mr. Snyder was President and General Manager of Challenger Airlines Company until March 1948, when he resigned to devote more time to his mining activities. This company which Mr. Snyder organized makes eight daily flights, using Douglas DC-3 Standard transports. Its routes include, aside from Salt Lake City, the following points: Denver, Greeley, Fort Collins, Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Cody, Riverton, Greybull, Lovell, Powell, Billings, Worland, Lander, Kemmerer and Rock Springs. "Fly There by Sunliner," is Challenger's slogan. Altair, Inc., of which Mr. Snyder is assistant manager as well as a director, is a Nevada corporation with the regional distribution franchise for Beechcraft in Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Its headquarters also are in the Felt Building, but additional offices are at the Salt Lake City Airport in the Administration Annex Building. An associate of Mr. Snyder's in Altair, Inc., is C.H. Lowell, General Manager. Mr. Snyder's other interests include mining and, for recreation, hunting and fishing. His World War II experience began in 1942 when he entered the Air Forces as a service pilot. Subsequently, Mr. Snyder served as a bomber pilot, instructor and experimental test pilot. When he was discharged in 1944, he was holding the rank of first lieutenant, senior service pilot. Mr. Snyder married Violet B. Bordonaro, who is the daughter of Joseph and Eva Jane (Abbey) Bordonaro. The former is a retired businessman. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of three children: Vonna, born September 15, 1943, Rita Jane, born April 23, 1945, and Janice Susan, born June 15, 1948. -Excerpt from UTAH: A CENTENNIAL HISTORY, Volume III, published 1949 (Photocopy from Ken Schultz 3/30/00) George W. Snyder Jr. of Salt Lake City, Utah, who had been engaged in aeronautical activities since 1936, as a pilot-civilian and military, and airplane charter service operator, also submitted an application to the CAB in the SERVICE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATES AREA CASE, Dockets Nos. 700 and 1071, as Challenger Airlines, Inc., (Midwest Airways). Challenger Airlines Inc., was organized as a Nevada corporation in June 1945 for the purpose of carrying out the plans and prosecuting the applications filed under the name of Midwest Airways. Midwest Airways is a trade name which was adopted by George W. Snyder Jr., at the time the original applications were filed. Challenger Airlines Inc., was organized with Snyder as president, and with the financial backing of Claude Neon Inc., of New York, inaugurated an intrastate airline service in Utah, and non-scheduled flights to Phoenix, Arizona, on March 4, 1946, using Beech Model D-18S aircraft. He started the service to Phoenix, to demonstrate and establish the need for these routes. The CAB however, denied the applications in its decisions of March 15, 1946, in the SERVICE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATES AREA CASE, Docket No. 152 et al. The airline could not survive without receiving a certificate of public necessity and convenience, and mail pay from the CAB, so all flying operations ceased on November 9, 1946, and the Corporate name was changed to Altair Inc. in December 1946, which then continued to do business as a Beechcraft Distributor, and fixed base operator. Snyder still wanted to start up an airline, so with the financial backing of Claude Neon Inc., he purchased the dormant Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience from Summit Airways Inc. In January, 1947, the controlling stock of Summit Airways Inc., was purchased from Fred M. Manning, George J. Forbes, and Fred 0. Rice, by Claude Neon Inc. At the annual stockholders meeting January 7, 1947, the name was changed from Summit Airways Inc., to Challenger Airlines Company, and George W. Snyder Jr. was elected President and General Manager. On January 9, 1947, the Laramie Republican and Boomerang, on pg. 1, reported; .. Forbes [V.P. of Finance] also announced today that Summit Airways [Challenger] had purchased three DC-3 planes from the Pennsylvania Airline Company ... [NC 65135, NC 65276, NC 65385] Snyder moved all operations to Salt Lake City, Utah, where a hangar was leased on the airport and the main office was located downtown in the Felt Building. -History by Ken Schultz in 2004 George Snyder was Challenger Airlines' third president, 1947 - 1948. He was also head of another Challenger Airlines earlier that failed to get certification. He died May 11, 1983, age 65, of cancer. His memorial webpage is at http://FAL-1.tripod.com/George_Snyder.html (6/11/10) Frontier Club Subject: Updated memorial webpage GEORGE SNYDER 1945 - 1948 PRESIDENT - CHALLENGER AIRLINES SLC http://fal-1.tripod.com/George_Snyder.html -Jake Lamkins (6/18/10) FLacebook - FL Club FLight West: George Snyder SLC Challenger president George Snyder's memorial webpage has been updated: http://FAL-1.tripod.com/George_Snyder.html George was one of the pioneers of Frontier's predecessor airlines. -Jake Lamkins (8/11/16)