On 27 November 1946, the CAB awarded Central Airlines an operating certificate for commercial service in Oklahoma and Texas. Despite this, flights still had not started in March 1949, and the CAB gave the airline until July 1 of that year to start service or lose its certificate. On 10 August, Kahle announced that Central had purchased eight Beechcraft Bonanzas, and that service would start soon. The airline's inaugural flight finally occurred on 15 September 1949 from Fort Worth to Oklahoma City with intermediate stops in Dallas and Gainesville. By the end of its first year of service, Central had carried 8,122 passengers.