Frank Lapidus Frank's role in the first half of season four was diminished, and some planned storylines were carried over into the fifth season. Frank's introduction, along with the three other new characters from the freighter introduced in season four, was well received, as was his return in season five. "Lost" executive producer Damon Lindelof confirmed in an interview that Lapidus would be a series regular for the show's sixth and final season. Originally from The Bronx, New York, Frank was the intended pilot of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, which crashed on an island in the South Pacific. He is first encountered
American Trans-Oceanic Company also included a full-time flight school in Long Island and Palm Beach using Curtiss aircraft. New innovations were deployed, such as a Sperry autopilot. Rates varied from $15 for a 15-minute flight to $250 for a 320-mile flight to Cuba. Four five-hour flights a week were flown to Bimini at night. By 1918, the company carried four to five thousand passengers without incident. The company's most distinctive aircraft was "Big Fish", A Curtiss H-16 painted as a fish that flew between Palm Beach, Havana, Nassau, and New York City. In 1927, Wanamaker sponsored Richard E. Byrd through the American Trans-Oceanic