Northeast Airlines

File:Douglas DC-6B, Northeast Airlines JP6994439.jpg

The airline began as Boston-Maine Airways,Not to be confused with Boston-Maine Airways founded in 1999 founded as a Pan Am contract carrier on July 20, 1931, by the Boston and Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad, flying from Boston to Bangor via Portland. It flew only sporadically until August 11, 1933, when National Airways began to operate its flights under contract. National also operated Central Vermont Airways, a subsidiary of the Central Vermont Railway, and the two carriers together had a network across New England to New Hampshire, Vermont, and Montreal. Amelia Earhart and Eugene Vidal were among the co-founders of National, and Earhart was a prominent salesperson for the airline in its early years.{{Cite book|url=http://deltamuseum.org/docs/site/family-tree/ne_pub_pictorial_history_1933-72.pdf?sfvrsn=0|title=A Pictorial History of Northeast Airlines, 1933-1972|publisher=Northeast Airlines|year=1972|location=Boston}} National initially operated Stinson Airliners, and switched to a fleet of 10-passenger Lockheed Electras in November 1936.

On May 31, 1939, Boston-Maine was certificated to be a United States scheduled airline by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) under the terms of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, which granted certificates to airlines that had been providing bona fide scheduled service prior to the Act. The CAA noted that Boston-Maine was 25% owned each by the Boston and Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroads.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Authority Reports|volume=1|title=Boston-Maine Airways, Inc.—Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity |date=February 1939 – July 1940 |publisher=Civil Aeronautics Authority|pages=145–150|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2938502|hdl=2027/uc1.b2938502}} The next year, the airline regulatory functions of the CAA would be moved to the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which would closely regulate Boston-Maine/Northeast as a trunk carrier for the rest of its existence.

The name Northeast Airlines was adopted on November 19, 1940, which was duly approved by the CAB, including the required signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=2|title=Northeast Airlines, Inc.—Amendment of Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity|date=July 1940 – August 1941 |publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|pages=444–446|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2938503|hdl=2027/uc1.b2938503}} During World War II Northeast pioneered transatlantic service for the military under contract from the U.S. Army Air Forces. In June 1944, the CAB approved the takeover of moribund Mayflower Airlines, giving Northeast routes to Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard from Boston.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=4|title=Acquisition of Mayflower Airlines, Inc., by Northeast Airlines, Inc.|date=December 1942 – June 1944 |publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|pages=680–685|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2988894|hdl=2027/uc1.b2988894}}{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=6|title=Acquisition of Mayflower Airlines, Inc., by Northeast Airlines, Inc.|date=July 1944 – May 1946 |publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|pages=139–141|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2988895|hdl=2027/uc1.b2988895}} After the war, Northeast began hourly service between Boston and New York using DC-4s. Northeast applied for authorization to operate passenger service across the Atlantic but were stymied by the Civil Aeronautics Board, which in June 1945 awarded the routes to Pan American World Airways, American Export Airlines and TWA.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=6|title=Northeast Airlines, Inc., et al., North Atlantic Route Case|date=July 1944 – May 1946 |publisher=Civil Aeronautics Board|pages=319–369|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b2988895|hdl=2027/uc1.b2988895}}

File:Convair CV-880, Northeast Airlines JP7772406.jpg

In 1956 Northeast began service to Washington National Airport, and received a temporary certificate to serve Florida, for which the airline purchased a fleet of new DC-6Bs.

Northeast ordered ten Vickers Viscounts in the late 1950s and used them until financial problems in the early 1960s forced the company to return them to the manufacturer. Beginning on December 17, 1959, Northeast became one of the early jet operators, flying a leased TWA Boeing 707-331 round trip between New York and Miami. In 1960 Northeast leased six Convair 880s and flew them to Florida for several years.

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Howard Hughes acquired control of the airline in 1962. The airline's temporary Miami route authority was terminated by a CAB decision that year, and Hughes decided to exit from the company, selling control to a trustee in 1964. Northeast launched an aggressive campaign against the CAB's decision, and got a permanent Florida certificate in 1965. In 1965 the airline was bought by Storer Broadcasting, who tried to rejuvenate Northeast in 1966 with a new marketing campaign and new aircraft. Northeast ordered a fleet of Boeing 727-100s for their Florida routes, and McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30s and Fairchild-Hiller FH-227s for shorter routes. These "Yellowbirds" featured a new 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 Airport until 1969 when they added three 727 nonstops between Miami and Los Angeles, with Fort Lauderdale getting a short-lived LAX nonstop soon after (fuel stops were sometimes required on these transcontinental 727 flights). Northeast obtained rights to fly between Miami and Montreal in 1967, followed by rights to serve the Bahamas in 1968, and rights to serve Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Bermuda in 1969, along with a new Miami-Los Angeles route authority.

Northeast was the runt of the trunks. In 1971, the largest local service carrier, Allegheny Airlines, had operating revenue over 40% bigger than that of Northeast, while the next smallest trunk, National, had significantly more than twice as much revenue. The largest trunk, United, had revenue over twelve times that of Northeast.{{cite report|publisher=Air Transport Association|title=1972 Air Transport Facts & Figures|page=22|url=https://airlines.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1972.pdf|access-date=28 May 2024}} As George C. Eads said about Northeast in his definitive book on local service carriers (the next tier of airlines down from the trunks in the CAB's categorization of airlines), "Although classified as a trunk, since it was certificated under the grandfather provisions of the Civil Aeronautics Act, it has always resembled a local service carrier with a few trunk routes appended."{{cite book|last=Eads|first=George C.|title=The Local Service Airline Experiment|year=1972|page=7|publisher=Brookings Institution|isbn=9780815720225|url=https://archive.org/details/localserviceairl0000eads}} Like Local Service Carriers, Northeast needed government subsidies. Despite subsidies, it had a long history of incredibly poor financial results (see nearby table). Some of that had to do with its route network, as Eads said. But some of it was self-inflicted. In 1968 Northeast, for some reason, ordered eight Lockheed L-1011s which were to be delivered in a 268 seat configuration. The total order was to cost $128mm including spares. In early 1970, following another abysmal set of financial results in 1969, Northeast cancelled the order, taking a $3.6mm charge against 1969 to do so.

Northeast also wrote off its three year old FH-227s in 1969, the circumstances providing insight into the problems that plagued the airline. Northeast originally had seven FH-227s, delivered in 1966 to replace DC-3s.{{cite report|title=Look better [Northeast introductory brochure on FH-227s]|date=1966 |url=https://www.deltamuseum.org/docs/site/aircraft-pages/ne_fairchild_hiller_fh-227_brochure_1966.pdf|access-date=30 May 2024}} One (N380NE) crashed in Lebanon, NH as Flight 946 in 1968, leaving six (N374NE thru N379NE). But in 1969, as its finances deteriorated, Northeast pulled out of ten New England airports, grounding the FH-227s and taking a write-down on them.{{cite report|title=Adequacy of Northern New England Air Service: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Ninety-Second Congress, First Session, September 9, and 10, 1971|publisher=U.S. General Printing Office|location=Washington, DC|page=346|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015026256902|hdl=2027/mdp.39015026256902}} The ten airports were for small New England points (the biggest of these, Lewiston, also being only 38 miles from the airport at Portland, Maine).{{cite web|title=Directions from Lewiston to Portland International Jetport |url=https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lewiston,+Maine/Portland+International+Jetport,+1001+Westbrook+St,+Portland,+ME+04102|website=maps.google.com|language=en|access-date=30 May 2024}} Of the ten points, seven of them have, as of 2024, no form of commercial air service, while the other three have Cape Air service which flies aircraft in the 10-seat class, yet Northeast served them with 44-seat FH-227s. Every trunk airline started with small points on their network (some just for the purposes of refueling), but over time, most of them shifted these to local service carriers or otherwise abandoned them.{{sfn|Eads|1972|p=105-149}} Northeast still had these small points on its network in 1969.

That wasn’t the end of FH-227s for Northeast. It was able to walk away from some of the New England points by turning them over to Mohawk Airlines, which thought it could do better. Mohawk then had a disastrous strike in 1971 (which ultimately forced it to merge with Allegheny in 1972), after which it could no longer support Keene service. The CAB forced Northeast back into some of these points (like Keene, NH) and it had to pull two FH-227s out of storage, leaving three still stored with one leased out.[https://www.newspapers.com/image/924530549 Northeast Move: ‘Holding Pattern’ Concord Monitor, September 21, 1971]

File:N1646 B727-295 Northeast A-l JFK 09JUL70 (6064249119).jpg

At the end of 1969, following a long period of financial difficulties, Northeast announced its intention to merge with Northwest Airlines. The merger was approved by both the CAB and President Richard Nixon in 1970, but it was conditional upon relinquishing the Miami-Los Angeles route. Northwest terminated the merger negotiations in March 1971, and Northeast announced a new merger plan with Delta Air Lines the following month. The Delta merger was approved in May 1972, with the same condition that Delta could not operate the Miami-Los Angeles route. The merger was completed in August 1972. Note the delays between each merger announcement and final disposition. The CAB process took a long time, during which the company continued to lose a lot of money.

The airline's IATA code was NE.

Broadly-speaking, there were two legacies from Northeast:

{{main|Air New England (1970–1981)}}

Nominally, Delta took over all of Northeast, including some (but not all) of the New England routes that caused Northeast so many problems; the CAB did not require that Delta them all.{{cite report|title=Delta Air Lines, Inc. Annual Report 1974|date=August 1974|publisher=Delta Air Lines|url= https://dlg.usg.edu/record/delta_dal-ar_dal-ar-1974 |access-date=30 May 2024|pages=16–17}} For a couple of years, Delta operated ex-Northeast FH-227s, at least the five that had not been leased out, the only passenger turboprop Delta operated directly. The Delta Flight Museum has pictures of FH-227s in Delta livery.{{cite web|url=https://www.deltamuseum.org/delta-history/aircraft-by-type/turbo-prop/Fairchild-Hiller-FH-227C |website=deltamuseum.org|title=Aircraft By Type: Fairchild-Hiller FH-227C|language=en|access-date=30 May 2024}} Delta’s July 1974 schedule shows Lebanon, Keene, New Bedford, Hyannis, Martha’s Vinyard and Nantucket on-line,{{cite report|title=Delta Air Lines System Timetable 1974 July 1|date=1 July 1974|publisher=Delta Air Lines|url= https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/data/delta/dal-tt/pdfs/delta_dal-tt_dal-tt-19740701.pdf |access-date=30 May 2024}} and gone in July 1975.{{cite report|title=Delta Air Lines System Timetable 1975 July 1|date=1 July 1975|publisher= Delta Air Lines |url= https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/data/delta/dal-tt/pdfs/delta_dal-tt_dal-tt-19750701.pdf |access-date=30 May 2024}} However, in 1974, the CAB certificated Air New England (ANE), to that point a commuter/air taxi operator, specifically to operate the former problematic New England Northeast destinations with “big” aircraft, which it did from 1975.{{cite journal|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=65|number=1|title=New England Service Investigation|pages=220–460|date=June–October 1974|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32437011658453|hdl=2027/osu.32437011658453}} Delta lent ANE the money to buy the ex-Northeast FH-227s (and another loan to help ANE to transition to certificated status){{cite journal|title=Docket 27426, Air New England-Delta, Loan Agreement—order 79-3-73 adopted March 14, 1979|journal=Civil Aeronautics Board Reports|volume=80|page=628|date=January–March 1979|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/ien.35559002074650|hdl=2027/ien.35559002074650}} and N374NE thru N379NE duly appeared in Air New England’s fleet.{{cite book|title=World Airline Fleets 1979|last=Endres|first=Günter G.|date=1979 |publisher=Airline Publications and Sales|location=Hounslow (UK)|page=197|isbn=0905117530|url=https://archive.org/details/worldairlineflee0000unse}} Air New England was in some ways a partially reconstituted Northeast Airlines, at least insofar as New England routes were concerned. From 1975, when Air New England took over the routes, until the 1981 when it ceased operations, ANE was in significant financial distress notwithstanding CAB subsidies that reached up to 25% of ANE’s annual revenues. In this respect, at least, the Northeast Airlines tradition lived on.

Northeast’s lasting impact on Delta was that it was Delta’s entrée into Boston and points north\, plus the Northeast to Florida routes, and routes to Bermuda and Bahamas. These are the bits that Delta wanted. This was the origin of Delta’s presence in these markets. Northeast also contributed the Boeing 727-100 and 727-200 to Delta's fleet, types Delta did not operate prior to acquiring Northeast. Delta used these types as the workhorses of their fleet in the 1970s and 1980s and at one time was the world's largest operator of the Boeing 727-200.http://www.delta.com, Delta Museum, Delta's 85 Years of Service, Aircraft By Type

Northeast Airlines served the following destinations during its existence:{{cite web|title=Northeast Airlines June 1, 1969 System Timetable|url=http://www.departedflights.com/NE060169intro.html|publisher=DepartedFlights.com|access-date=6 September 2013}}

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• California
• Los Angeles – Los Angeles International Airport
• Connecticut
• Hartford – Bradley International Airport
• New London – Groton–New London Airport*
• District of Columbia/Virginia
• Washington, D.C. – Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
• Florida
• Fort Lauderdale – Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport
• Jacksonville – Imeson Airport*
• Miami – Miami International Airport
• Tampa – Tampa International Airport
• Illinois
• Chicago – Chicago Midway International 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 Thurgood Marshall Airport
• Massachusetts
• Boston – Boston Logan International Airport (Hub)
• Fall River – Fall River Municipal Airport*
• Martha's Vineyard – Martha's Vineyard Airport
• Fitchburg – Fitchburg Municipal Airport*
• Hyannis – Barnstable Municipal Airport
• Lawrence – Lawrence Municipal Airport*
• Nantucket – Nantucket Memorial Airport
• New Bedford – New Bedford Regional Airport
• Springfield – Metropolitan Airport*
• Worcester – Worcester Regional Airport
• Michigan
• Detroit – Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
• New Hampshire
• Berlin – Berlin Regional Airport*
• Concord – Concord Municipal Airport*
• Keene – Dillant-Hopkins Airport*
• Laconia – Laconia Municipal Airport*
• Lebanon/White River Jct. – Lebanon Municipal Airport
• Manchester – Grenier Field
• New Jersey
• Newark – Newark Liberty International Airport
• New York
• New York City
• John F. Kennedy International Airport (Hub)
• LaGuardia Airport
• Ohio
• Cleveland – Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
• Pennsylvania
• Philadelphia – Philadelphia International Airport
• Rhode Island
• Providence – Pawtucket-Providence North Central Airport*
• Vermont
• Burlington – Burlington International Airport
• Montpelier/Barre – Edward F. Knapp State Airport*
• Newport – Newport State Airport*

{{div col end}}

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• Bahamas
• Freeport – Grand Bahama International Airport
• Nassau – Lynden Pindling International Airport
• West End – West End Airport*{{cite web | url=https://www.departedflights.com/NE0871.html | title=Northeast Airlines August 1971 Route Map }}
• Bermuda
• L.F. Wade International Airport
• Canada
• New Brunswick
• Moncton – Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport
• Saint John – Saint John Airport
• Nova Scotia
• Halifax – Halifax Stanfield International Airport
• Quebec
• Montréal – Montréal–Dorval International Airport

{{div col end}}

An asterisk (*) denotes this airport is no longer served by scheduled air service.

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Prop Aircraft

• Douglas DC-3
• Douglas DC-6 ("A" and "B" models)
• Convair 240
• Curtiss C-46 - one aircraft acquired in 1954

Turboprop Aircraft

• Bristol Britannia (ordered but not delivered to the airline)
• Fairchild Hiller FH-227
• Vickers Viscount 798 (operated until repossessed by Vickers)

Jet Aircraft

• Boeing 707 (leased from Trans World Airlines (TWA))
• Boeing 727-100
• Boeing 727-200{{cite web |title=Aircraft By Type |url=https://www.deltamuseum.org/exhibits/delta-history/aircraft-by-type/jet/boeing-727 |website=www.deltamuseum.org |access-date=6 September 2020}}
• Convair 880
• Convair 990
• Douglas DC-9-15
• McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31
• Lockheed L-1011 (ordered but not delivered to the airline)

{{col div end}}

A series of crashes damaged the airline's image:

• On 27 August 1931, a Sikorsky S.41B (NC41V) on a Boston-Maine Airways flight from Halifax to Boston, with a stop in Portland, ditched in the Atlantic off of Gloucester, Massachusetts. The pilot had been forced to descend to maintain visibility in thick fog and decided to ditch the plane, tearing a hole in the left pontoon. A fishing schooner rescued all but 1 of the 13 occupants from the wing, and the plane sank.{{Cite web |last=Ranter |first=Harro |title=ASN Aircraft accident Sikorsky S.41B NC41V Gloucester, MA |url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19310827-0 |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=aviation-safety.net}}
• On 11 August 1949 Portland, Maine — Convair CV-240-13{{Cite web|url=https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/336355|title=ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-13 NC91241 Portland Airport, ME (PWM)}}
• On 30 November 1954, Northeast Airlines Flight 792 crashed on approach to Berlin Regional Airport, with two fatalities.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19541130-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-3A N17891 Berlin Airport, NH (BML)}}
• On 1 February 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 823 crashed shortly after takeoff from New York City's LaGuardia Airport, with 20 fatalities.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19570201-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-6A N34954 Rikers Island, NY}}
• On 15 September 1957, Northeast Airlines Flight 285 crashed on approach to New Bedford Regional Airport, killing 12 of the 24 passengers and crew.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19570915-0|title=ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-53-DO (DC-3) N34417 New Bedford, MA}}
• On 15 August 1958, Northeast Airlines Flight 258 crashed on approach to Nantucket Memorial Airport, killing 25 of the 34 passengers and crew.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580815-1|title=ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-2 N90670 Nantucket Memorial Airport, MA (ACK)}}
• 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.{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19611115-1|title=Accident description|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=2 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19611115-0|title=Accident description|publisher=Aviation Safety Network|access-date=2 October 2009}}
• On 25 October 1968, Northeast Airlines Flight 946 crashed on approach to Lebanon Municipal Airport, killing 32 of the 42 passengers and crew.{{Cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19681025-2|title=ASN Aircraft accident Fairchild FH-227C N380NE Lebanon Airport, NH (LEB)}}

• Air New England (1970–1981)
• List of defunct airlines of the United States

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