Early backers and members of the board of directors included Fort Worth oilman F. Kirk Johnson, former City Councilman R.E.

[6] The airline's inaugural flight finally occurred on 15 September 1949 from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City with intermediate stops in Dallas and Gainesville.

Central's 1955 network blanketed Oklahoma and extended to Amarillo, Dallas-Fort Worth, Little Rock and Kansas City; in April 1957 it served 29 airports.

[10] On 20 September 1966, Central filed a petition with the CAB to merge with Ozark Air Lines, which would have created one of the largest local service carriers in the United States.

[12] When it was acquired by and merged into the original Frontier Airlines on October 1, 1967, Central was operating a fleet of Convair CV-600 turboprops as well as sixteen Douglas piston-powered DC-3s.

[15] National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) records indicate that no passenger was ever seriously injured or killed aboard a Central Airlines flight from 1962 to 1968.