AIRWAYS HISTORY
THE LUDINGTON LINE
On September 1 , 1930 , The Ludington Line ( formally the New York , Philadelphia and Washington Airway Corporation ) began flights between New York ( Newark ), Philadelphia ( Camden , New Jersey ), and Washington , DC , using Stinson SM-6000 tri-motors . The company was the brainchild of the Ludington brothers , Charles and Nicholas , of Philadelphia . In their employ were two gentlemen who had recently left Transcontinental Air Transport ( TAT ): Paul ( Dog ) Collins and Gene Vidal ( the father of author Gore Vidal ). Their idea was to offer ‘ everyhour ’ service over the heavily travelled corridor , competing with the railroads .
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The Ludington Line was a success . At the end of its first year of operation it had carried 66,000 passengers , for an average load factor of 66 %, and completed 8,300 trips — about 28 per day — all without accident . Perhaps even more stunning was a profit of more than US $ 8,000 by flying passengers only , without benefit of an air mail contract or subsidy .
Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown ’ s infamous ‘ Spoils Conferences ’, in which he doled out air mail contracts to carriers he favored because of their size or perceived strength — not because of the bids submitted — took place in 1930 . The Ludingtons , adept at conserving resources , felt certain that they would win a Post Office contract over their route with a bid of 25 cents per mile . They were stunned when Brown awarded the contract to Eastern Air Transport ( later Eastern Air Lines ), which had bid 89 cents per mile .
68 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2024 www . airwaysmag . com