Monarch Airlines Douglas DC-3   NC64423           (c/n   9251)

                                      

                                            Monarch Air Lines was formed in November of 1946 with a route from Denver to Durango,
                                            Colorado.  It soon expanded westward to Salt Lake City and south to Albuquerque, NM.
                                            Durango was never more than a pit stop along the way and hence one wonders what three
                                            of the entire fleet of only five DC-3s that Monarch boasted was doing at that snowy outpost
                                            on any given day ?  (See image below) .  In 1948 the airline teamed up with Challenger Airlines
                                            to provide through plane connections and ticketing to the latter's routes up into Wyoming and
                                            Montana.  December 1949 saw a complete merger of the two airlines, with Monarch pre-
                                            dominant.    In April, 1950 Monarch acquired another small carrier, Arizona Airways and
                                            in June of 1950 changed its name to Frontier Airlines.