service was inaugurated between Sioux City and Des Moines on April 15, 1947. On July 15, 1947, Mid-Continent inaugurated service at Longview/Kilgore/Gladewater, Texas, on its Tulsa to Houston flights. In addition, service to Ottumwa, Iowa, which had been suspended during wartime, was reinstated. Air Cargo Service Inaugurated On January 1, 1947, Mid-Continent rang in the new year with the inauguration of air cargo service over its route system. New Service and Growth Expansion In 1948, the Airline inaugurated service at Quincy, Illinois and Waterloo, Iowa. Also, in January 1948, the company also inaugurated new service between Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri. On May 5, 1949, the Airline's Board of Directors approved a measure for an agreement for the purchase of St. Louis-based Parks Airlines, Inc., which was planned to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Mid-Continent. The entire plan, of course, required Civil Aeronautics Board approval. The purchase agreement called for the exchange of stock rather than cash payments. Ultimately, the CAB did not approve the merger on August 1, 1950. However, the CAB did award all of the routes in the North Central Route Investigation Case to Mid-Continent but with certain restrictions. Service began between Sioux City and Chicago and Rockford and Milwaukee on September 26, 1950, which was the day the new award became effective. The cities of Sioux City, Waterloo, Dubuque, Rockford, Chicago and Milwaukee all received two flights daily, while a third roundtrip was added between Waterloo and Chicago on December 1, 1950. Several merger prospects were in the works for Mid-Continent during the 1940s. Northwest Airlines and American Airlines proposed mergers with the airline in the 1940s but they were not approved. During 1949, Mid-Continent's modern fleet of fine airliners flew over 105 million passenger miles. In comparison, Hanford Airlines flew 1 million passenger miles in 1936. Mid-Continent's Revenue Passengers flown totaled 340,636, in 1949, compared to 5,214 during 1936. The company completed 92.6 percent of its scheduled flights in 1942 but by 1944 that had increased to 96.68 and in 1949 an impressive 97.73 percent were completed. Since the first Hanford flight in 1928 and for the next 15 year, the combined companies flew 473 million passenger miles flown, without a single passenger or crew fatality. In October 1951, the company flew to 34 airports. The Convair 240 Enters Service On February 16, 1950, the Airline's Board of Directors approved the purchase of