Trans International Airlines (1985–1989)

Trans International Airlines (TIA) was the second airline of that name owned by Transamerica Corporation, which established the second TIA in 1984, building this non-union carrier while de-emphasizing a unionized subsidiary, Transamerica Airlines, which, until 1979, had itself been called Trans International Airlines. But in early 1986, as part of a restructuring, Transamerica Corporation put both airlines up for sale. An investor group bought TIA in 1987, while Transamerica Airlines was liquidated in 1986.

While this second TIA ceased operations in 1989, it had a lasting impact on the US airline industry because a federal appeals court confirmed the government was not required to impose labor protective provisions (LPPs) in approving its acquisition by Transamerica Corporation. LPPs were a routine part of airline acquisitions in the regulated era that ended 1978, but the court said that since Congress, in passing the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, sought to expose the industry to market forces, the CAB could interpret this as not requiring LPPs. Thus Transamerica Corporation was free to establish a non-union airline subsidiary alongside a union airline subsidiary.