AeroCalifornia Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

The early 1970s were a time of optimism and change for the unofficial Californian flag carrier. The fleet comprised of a hodgepodge of aircraft some new some purchased from other airlines and was mostly comprised of the 727 and DC-9 at the time.

Concern set in after Texas Air Lines ordered the DC-10-10 with the intention to operate the wide body on routes from Texas via Los Angeles onto Hawaii. AeroCalifornia had long harboured ambitions to operate flights with wide bodies since it was given authorisation to operate out of state and spurred on by Texas Air Lines announcement, discussions were held with AeroCalifornia's neighbour, Lockheed.

Their TriStar in development at the time didn't offer the range AeroCalifornia needed for LAX and SFO flights to Honolulu as such the airline had to wait for the improved L-1011-100 with increased range.

The deal was done and the first of 6 TriStars arrived in 1975 flying to Honolulu later in the year.