- Northeast Airlines
-
For other uses, see Northeast Airlines (disambiguation).This article is about the company founded as Boston-Maine Airways in 1931. For Boston-Maine Airways that was founded in 1999, see Boston-Maine Airways.
Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts. They began as Boston-Maine Airways, which was founded as a Pan Am contract carrier on July 20, 1931, by the Boston and Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad offering service from Boston to Bangor via Portland. They flew only abortively until August 11, 1933, when they began contract service for National Airways, an agreement which lasted four years. The name Northeast Airlines was adopted on November 19, 1940.
During World War II, Northeast pioneered regular transatlantic service for the military under contract from the U.S. Army Air Force. After the war they applied for authorization to operate passenger service across the Atlantic but were stymied by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which awarded the routes to Pan American World Airways and TWA.
Northeast's Convair 240s and DC-3s did not fly south or west of New York La Guardia until 1956 when they added flights to Washington National. In 1957 they added three DC-6B "Sunliner" nonstops from La Guardia to Miami.
A series of crashes damaged the airline's image:
- 30 Nov 1954 — Berlin, New Hampshire — Douglas DC-3
- 01 Feb 1957 — Riker's Island, New York — Douglas DC-6A
- 15 Sep 1957 — New Bedford, Massachusetts — Douglas DC-3
- 15 Aug 1958 — Nantucket, Massachusetts — Convair CV-240-2
- 25 Oct 1968 — Lebanon, New Hampshire — Fairchild-Hiller FH-227C
Northeast ordered ten turboprop Vickers Viscounts in the late 1950s and operated them successfully for a few years until financial problems in the early 1960s forced the company to return them to the manufacturer. The jet age came to Northeast in 1959 when they leased a single Boeing 707 from TWA for the Florida route. In 1960 Northeast leased six Convair 880s that were operated between the northeast and Florida for several years.
In 1965 the airline was bought by Storer Broadcasting, who tried to rejuvenate Northeast with a new marketing campaign and new aircraft. Northeast ordered a fleet of Boeing 727s for their Florida routes as well as DC-9 and FH-227 turboprops for shorter routes. These new aircraft were known as Yellowbirds due to their two-tone yellow and white livery. In 1966 Northeast was the launch customer for the Boeing 727-200, which they began flying in December 1967. Except for Florida their network was all north and east of Washington National until 1969 when they added three 727 nonstops Miami to Los Angeles, with Fort Lauderdale getting an LAX nonstop soon after. (Fuel stops were sometimes needed.)
Despite a modern fleet and successful Yellowbird marketing campaign, Northeast remained at a disadvantage against larger competitors such as Eastern Airlines and National Airlines. By the early 1970s Northeast's financial condition was such that they sought a merger or sale. On August 1, 1972 Northeast merged with Delta Air Lines. Northeast's contribution to Delta included access to the Boston market, which Delta did not serve under the then-regulated airline industry. Delta assimilated the Boeing 727 into their fleet, a type they did not operate prior to absorbing Northeast. Delta used this aircraft as the workhorse of their fleet during the 1970s and 1980s.
- IATA Code: NE
Contents
Previous destinations served
- Bermuda
- Bermuda International Airport
- California
- Connecticut
- District of Columbia
- Washington, D.C. (Washington Reagan National Airport)
- Florida
- Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport)
- Jacksonville (Imeson Airport)*
- Miami (Miami International Airport)
- Tampa (Tampa International Airport)
- Illinois
- Chicago (Chicago Midway Airport)
- Massachusetts
- Boston (Logan International Airport)
- Hyannis (Barnstable Municipal Airport)*
- Nantucket (Nantucket Memorial Airport)*
- Fall River (Fall River Municipal Airport)*
- Fitchburg (Fitchburg Municipal Airport)*
- Lawrence (Lawrence Municipal Airport)*
- New Bedford (New Bedford Regional Airport)
- Springfield (Metropolitan Airport)*
- Worcester (Worcester Regional Airport)
- Maine
- Auburn/Lewiston (Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport)*
- Augusta (Augusta State Airport)
- Bangor (Bangor International Airport)
- Bar Harbor (Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport)
- Caribou (Caribou Municipal Airport)*
- Houlton (Houlton International Airport)*
- Machias/Calais (Machias Valley Airport*
- Millnocket (Millinocket Municipal Airport)*
- Portland (Portland International Jetport)
- Presque Isle (Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle)
- Rockland (Knox County Regional Airport)
- Waterville (Waterville Robert LaFleur Airport)
- Maryland
- Baltimore (Baltimore Washington International Airport)
- Michigan
- Detroit (Detroit Metro Airport)
- New Brunswick, Canada
- Moncton (Moncton International Airport)
- Saint John (Saint John Airport)
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Newark (Newark International Airport)
- New York
- New York City (LaGuardia Airport and JFK International Airport)
- Nova Scotia
- Halifax (Halifax International Airport)
- Pennsylvania
- Quebec, Canada
- Montreal (Montreal-Trudeau International Airport)
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
Newport An asterisk (*) denotes this airport is no longer served by scheduled air service.
-
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Fleet
- Douglas DC-3
- Douglas DC-9-15 and DC-9-31
- Convair 880
- Convair 990
- Boeing 727-95 and 727-295
- Douglas DC-6B
- Convair 240
- Fairchild Hiller FH-227
- Vickers Viscount 798 - operated until repossessed by Vickers
- Bristol Britannia - ordered but never flown
Accidents and incidents
- On 15 August 1958, Northeast Airlines Flight 258 crashed on approach to Nantucket Memorial Airport, killing 25 of the 34 passengers and crew.[1]
- On 15 November 1961, Vickers Viscount N6592C was written off when it collided with Douglas DC-6 N8228H of National Airlines after landing at Logan International Airport. The DC-6 had started to take off without receiving clearance.[2][3]
Notes
- ^ http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580815-1
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19611115-1. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
- ^ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19611115-0. Retrieved 2 Octotember 2009.
References
Delta Air Lines Alliance and Frequent Flyer Program SkyTeam · SkyMilesAirline Components Air marketing brands Destinations Fleet History History of Delta Air Lines · Pan American World Airways · Republic Airlines · Wings Alliance · Atlantic ExcellenceOther subsidiaries Former certificated
airline subsidiariesAtlantic Southeast Airlines · Chicago and Southern Air Lines · Compass Airlines · Mesaba Airlines · Northeast Airlines · Northwest Airlines · Western AirlinesFormer marketing brands Categories:- Northeast Airlines
- Airlines established in 1940
- Airlines disestablished in 1972
- Delta Air Lines
- Defunct airlines of the United States
- Defunct companies based in Massachusetts
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.