The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the subsidiary was being closed by its parent corporation, General Motors.  Consolidated became famous during the 1920s and 1930s for its line of flying boats. The most successful of the Consolidated patrol boats was the PBY Catalina, which was produced throughout World War II and used extensively by the Allies. Equally famous is the B-24 Liberator, a heavy bomber which, like the Catalina, saw action in both the Pacific and European theaters.

Consolidated's first design was one of those purchased by Fleet from Dayton-Wright, the TW-3 primary trainer, sold to the U.S. Army and designated the PT-1 Trusty. In September 1924 the company moved from the Gallaudet plant in Connecticut to new facilities in Buffalo, New York, and within a year won a contract from the U.S. Navy for a naval version of the PT-1 designated the NY-1.

In September 1935 Consolidated moved across the country to its new "Building 1", a 247,000-square-foot (22,900 m²) continuous flow factory in San Diego, California. The first production PBY Catalina was launched in San Diego Bay in 1936, and the first XPB2Y-1 Coronado test aircraft made its first flight in 1937.  The XB-24 Liberator prototype made its first flight in December 1939, and the first production order was from the French in 1940 just days before their surrender to Germany, six of these YB-24 Liberators were designated LB-30A and ferried to Britain.

In November 1941 Fleet sold his 34.26% interest in Consolidated for $10.9 million to Victor Emanuel the president of AVCO with the idea that Consolidated would be merged with AVCO's Vultee subsidiary.

In 1943, Consolidated merged with Vultee Aircraft to form Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft or Convair. General Dynamics purchased a majority interest in Convair in March 1953, where it continued to produce aircraft or aircraft components until being sold to McDonnell Douglas in 1994. McDonnell Douglas shut down the division after just two years of operations in 1996.