Career
During the "Golden Age" of flying, Richter played a decisive role in commercial aviation and military air transport. Richter began as a stunt pilot with Hollywood"s famous Thirteen Black Cats in 1925. In 1926, Paul Richter, Jack Frye and Walter Hamilton, founded Aeronautical Corporation of California, one of the first nationally certified flight schools.
Aeronautical Corporation was an accredited maintenance and repair facility.
They operated a cross-country charter services and were the first to do aerial surveying, aerial sightseeing and teach crop dusting. Richter, Frye and Hamilton founded Standard Airlines in 1927 as a subsidiary of Aeronautical Corporation and started one of the first scheduled all passenger service between Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tucson and El Paso, Texas.
Standard Airlines, later absorbed by American Airlines, remained in business for about 30 months. Because of the Great Depression, Frye and his associates sold the airline to Western Air Express in March 1930.
Concomitant with the sale, Frye joined Western Air Express on the Board of Directors and as Chief of Operations.
Later in 1930, Western Air Express merged with Transcontinental Air Transport in 1930 to form T&Washington (Trans World Airlines). Frye became president of T&Washington in 1934 and Richter became Vice President. Trans World Airlines was known as "The Airline Run by Flyers." Standard Airlines was bought out by Western Air Express in 1930 which merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to become Transcontinental & Western Air in 1930.
Paul Richter was also a founding director of Hawaiian Airways in 1929.
Richter received his pilot"s license #309 in 1924, Air Transport license #501 in 1927 and Aircraft and Engine Mechanic license #702 in 1927. Trans World Airlines, Transcontinental & Western Air was known as "the Airline Run by Flyers".
Richter"s progression through the 1930s and 1940s was as Trans World Airlines Western Regional Operations Manager, 1931-1934, Vice President of Operations and Director, 1934-1938, Executive Vice President and Director, 1938-1943. Richter and Jack Frye regained control of Trans World Airlines stock in 1939.
He returned to Trans World Airlines as Executive Vice President from 1945-1947 and resigned from Trans World Airlines in 1947 (three months after Jack Frye left) in dispute with then controlling stockholder, Howard Hughes.
From 1947 to 1949, Richter served as Chairman and President of T.A.C.A. Airways of Central and South America. He died on May 15, 1949 shortly after he took a position with the Coca Cola Company on the west coast.