A major player in greater Los Angeles aeronautics was Western Air Express. The company took a major step in advancing the transport of paying travelers with the inauguration in late May 1928 of air service between the Angel City and San Francisco with a trio of Fokker twelve-passenger craft (two F-10s and a slightly smaller F-7) making the journey in three hours thanks to an $80,000 loan from the foundation of Harry Guggenheim, who was devoted to the promotion of aviation.