AIRWAYS HISTORY Northeast Airlines
POSTWAR YEARS
Northeast applied for routes south of New York and for a route to Bermuda . But the Bermuda request was withdrawn and the other applications were denied . Northeast continued to serve the New England states , locked into a route system that stretched from New York north to Montreal and Presque Isle . And the airline would remain trapped in that geographic territory for the next 11 years .
With the Boston & Maine Railroad no longer subsidizing the air operation , Northeast struggled to stay alive . Operating air service over a shorthaul route system , with the only ‘ long haul ’ being a 184-mile ( 296km ) segment between Boston and New York , was not a prescription for financial prosperity . Like other airlines before and after , Northeast ’ s new management studied the possibility of a merger .
They found a partner in Pennsylvania Central Airlines ( PCA ), which was in the process of changing its name to Capital Airlines . Capital would be the surviving carrier . The boards of both airlines approved the merger and things were going well until PCA found itself mired in as much red ink as Northeast was . Postwar overconfidence had not produced a frugal frame of mind at PCA , and the merger plans were scratched . Both airlines wound up replacing their top officers after the marriage was called off . George Gardner , selected by Atlas Corporation , was installed as Northeast ’ s President , shuffling Paul Collins back to the Board of Directors .
Northeast had acquired three Douglas DC- 4s to compete against American and Eastern on the bread-and-butter route to New York , and Northeast did a good job of scheduling a number of daily flights in each direction between the two points . The company also spread its wings to more airports throughout its territory . The acquisition of Mayflower Airlines brought Northeast to Martha ’ s Vineyard and Nantucket Island . By 1949 , the airline was serving 24 airports in the New England states .
Modern airliners arrived in 1949 , when the company acquired pressurized , twin-engine Convair 240s , which quickly replaced the DC-4s . The selection of the Convairs was no surprise , as Atlas Corporation held the majority of stock in Consolidated Vultee Aircraft ( Convair ). The bulk of Northeast ’ s flights were still operated with Douglas DC-3s . At the end of 1949 , the airline had five Convairs and eight DC-3s in its fleet .
In 1950 , another merger , this time with Delta Air Lines , was proposed . The merger would have required the CAB to authorize Delta to extend its system northward to New York to
21 Though classified as a trunk airline , Northeast ’ s route system resembled that of a local service carrier serving many small cities in New England . DC-3 N16060 is seen here at Keene , New Hampshire . // PHOTO : PROCTOR- LIVESEY-THOMAS COLLECTION
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