system throughout the central Midwest of the United States stretching from as far north as Minot, North Dakota, and as far south as New Orleans, Louisiana. The short-haul route system complimented the Braniff Airways network and added what became Braniff strongholds such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Kansas City, Des Moines, St. Louis, Shreveport and New Orleans. Oklahoma service would now include McAlester and Muskogee with Paris added in Texas, connecting Tyler and Houston. The merger gave Braniff more of a presence east of a Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Dallas line whereas Braniff was prevalent on the western side of that line. The presence switched north of Kansas City with Braniff more predominant on the east side of a Kansas City to Chicago line and Mid-Continent the predominant carrier on the Western side. The amalgamation of the two carrier's created a solid north and south flow to feed Braniff's Latin American route system. Braniff began official negotiations with Mid-Continent on January 16, 1952, when a letter of application was filed with the CAB for the merger on January 24, 1952. However, Braniff had been studying a possible merger with Mid-Continent since 1940. The Civil Aeronautics Board approved the merger on May 26, 1952, with an effective date of August 16, 1952. Mid-Continent Chairman Thomas Ryan and President J. W. Miller became officers of Braniff Airways, Inc., at that time. On August 16, 1952, Mid Continent Airlines operated over 6200 route miles to 35 cities in the Midwest United States. The fleet consisted of 23 Douglas DC-3 aircraft, four Convair 240 aircraft as well as six Convair 340's that were on order. Interchange with Eastern Airlines By 1952, Mid-Continent had entered into a "through plane" interchange agreement with Eastern Air Lines which enabled single plane service between Kansas City and Miami, Florida, via intermediate stops in St. Louis, Atlanta, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida. Celebrates 90th Anniversary Mid-Continent Airlines celebrated its 90th Anniversary during 2018. This anniversary coincided with the 90th Anniversary Celebration of Braniff Airways, which also began service during the same year on June 20. Fleet in 1952 When they merged on August 16, 1952, Mid-Continent had a fleet of Douglas DC-3s as well as five Convairliners including Convair 240 and Convair 340 aircraft. The DC-3s were operated for several more years while the Convair 240s were retired during 1953. The new Convairs continued flying for Braniff