North Central Airlines

North Central Airlines

IATA NC ICAO NC Callsign NORTH CENTRAL
Founded	December 16, 1952
Ceased operations	July 1, 1979 (integrated into Republic Airlines)
Hubs	O'Hare International Airport (Chicago) Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Fleet size	50
Destinations	92
Headquarters	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Key people	Francis Higgins (President) Hal Carr (Vice President)

North Central Airlines was founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin. It was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.^[1]

History

Early history

In 1939, the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD), a major manufacturer of four-wheel transmissions and heavy-duty trucks based in Clintonville, Wisconsin, opened a flight department and traded a company truck for a Waco biplane for their company's use.^[2] In 1944 company executives decided to start an airline. In 1946 airline service was started between six Wisconsin cities. This led the company to purchase two Cessna Bobcats. Soon after this the airline purchased three Lockheed Electra 10As. They increased service to 19 cities, and (with increasing revenues) purchased three more Electra 10As, and then 6 DC-3s.

Post Wisconsin Central history

In 1952, the airline moved its headquarters from Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Along with the move the name was changed to North Central Airlines.^[3] Soon after this the airline ran into some financial troubles when their President, Francis Higgins, left, making Hal Carr the President. Carr quickly got the company out of debt and made it more reliable. Over time, the company expanded its fleet to 32 DC-3s. It also became the busiest local carrier in the North Central United States.^{[citation needed]}

A growing airline

Two North Central CV-580 at Chicago Airport in 1973.

In the late 1950s the airline began to outgrow its fleet of DC-3s. The airline purchased 5 Convair 340s from Continental Airlines. In 1960 North Central hit the one million passenger mark and had service to 90 cities. The airline added routes to Canada. The airline even worked with the United States Government to aid troubled airlines in South America. As the airline grew it needed larger planes. The firm decided to buy 5 Douglas DC-9-31s in 1965, and the Convair 340s were also changed from piston power to turboprop power, the converted aircraft becoming Convair 580s. The airline continued to buy more DC-9s and numerous Convair planes.^{[citation needed]} In 1969 North Central Airlines moved its administrative and operational headquarters to a building on the south side of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport; as of 2009 the building was the Building C Maintenance and Administrative Facility of Northwest Airlines.^[4] The airline flew to many major cities by the 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

At the time the Federal government deregulated the airline industry in 1978, North Central was designated a "local service carrier," operating a combination of turboprop and jet aircraft to mostly serve cities within one region of the United States, and also helping feed passengers to larger "trunk airlines" that served cities nationwide. North Central did fly to some more distant cities, such as Washington, D.C.-National, New York-LaGuardia, Boston, Denver and Tucson.^{[citation needed]}

Merger

Following North Central's success, it moved to buy Atlanta-based Southern Airways. In 1979, a merger of the two airlines formed Republic Airlines. Republic later acquired San Francisco-based Hughes Airwest. Republic kept North Central's hubs at Minneapolis and Detroit, and Southern's hub at Memphis, Tennessee. But within a few years it closed down Hughes' hub in Phoenix, Arizona; reduced North Central's sizeable station at O'Hare International Airport; and reduced Southern's sizeable station at Atlanta. Republic also quickly downsized North Central's operations to and among smaller airports in the upper Midwest, concentrating its fleet at the Minneapolis and Detroit hubs.

In 1986, Republic was merged with Northwest Airlines, which also operated a hub at Minneapolis and had a large operation at Detroit, thus ending the legacy of Wisconsin Central and North Central.

Historical fleet

• Lockheed Model 10 Electra
• Douglas DC-3
• Convair CV-240-340
• Convair CV-240-580
• Douglas DC-9-31
• Douglas DC-9-32
• Douglas DC-9-51

Accidents

North Central Airlines planes were involved in four accidents in which there were fatalities, two in 1968 and two in 1972. Among them were:

• On December 27, 1968, North Central Airlines Flight 458, a Convair CV-580, crashed into a hangar while attempting to land at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing 27 of the 45 people on board and killing one and injuring six people on the ground.^[5][6]
• On June 29, 1972, all five people on board North Central Airlines Flight 290, a Convair CV-580, were killed when the plane collided with Air Wisconsin Flight 671 and crashed into Lake Winnebago near Appleton, Wisconsin.^[7][8]
• On December 20, 1972, North Central Airlines Flight 575, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, was cleared by an air traffic controller for takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, while Delta Air Lines Flight 954, a Convair CV-880, was taxiing across the runway. Ten of the 45 people on board the North Central DC-9 were killed in the resulting collision and 15 were injured; there were two minor injuries on the Delta CV-880.^[9]

References

1. ^ World Airline Directory. Flight International. March 20, 1975."482.
2. ^ Northwest Airlines nwa.com - About Northwest - NWA Up Close
3. ^ "Northwest Historical Timeline 1950's." Northwest Airlines. Retrieved on December 30, 2009.
4. ^ "Northwest Historical Timeline 1960's." Northwest Airlines. Retrieved on December 30, 2009.
5. ^ airdisaster.com
6. ^ NTSB Accident Report NTSB-AR-70-27, November 12, 1970, p. 6.
7. ^ Aviation Safety Network: ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-580 N90858 Appleton, WI
8. ^ National Transportation Safety Board Report Number NTSB-AAR-73-09 “Aircraft Accident Report North Central Airlines, Inc., Allison Convair 340/440 (CV-580), N90858, and Air Wisconsin, Inc., DHC-6, N4043B, Near Appleton, Wisconsin, June 29, 1972,” adopted April 25, 1973
9. ^ [1]

External links

• Herman the Duck
• Logos over the years