NORTHEAST AIRLINES, LTD.: United Kingdom (1970-1976)

Equipped with 2 Hawker Siddeley Trident 1Es, 1 Bristol Britannia 102, and 6 Vickers Viscount 806s, BKS Air Transport, Ltd. changes its name on November 1, 1970.

A major charter operator, Northeast flies inclusive-tour charters out of Newcastle during the 1971 season. Destinations, flown on behalf of such tour companies as Airway Holidays, Sunway Holidays, Horizon Holidays, and Visit Norway include Italy, Yugoslavia, Holland, and Norway. The last Britannia service is flown on December 31, London-New-castle, after which the Bristol is withdrawn and scrapped.

Enplanements for the year total 619, 476.

Airline employment in 1972 stands at 688. Similar operations are undertaken as in the previous year.

Passenger boardings ascend 14.2% to 722,000 and freight traffic jumps up by 21.6%.

The company, a member of the British Air Services group since 1967, joins the British Airways, Ltd. (2) group in July 1973. Although call signs and titles are retained, company aircraft are painted in BA livery. Northeast is allowed to continue its inclusive-tour work for most of the next three years. The workforce is now reported as a part of BA’s, but individual traffic records are kept.

On the year, passenger boardings increase 10.8% to 800,000.

Operations continue apace in 1974, but on September 15, 1975, a Trident 1E is destroyed in a crash at Bilbao. On March 31, 1976, the carrier is designated a unit of BA’s Regional Division and ceases all independent identification.

NORTHEAST AIRWAYS: 7 Airport Road, Morristown Airport, Morristown, New Jersey 07960, United States; Phone (973) 2672450; Fax (973) 984-7646; Year Founded 1976. Northeast Airways is established as an FBO/charter operation at Morristown Airport in New Jersey in 1976. Fourteen years later, Vice President Cathy Brady oversees the work of 10 pilots. These fly regional and international passenger and express charters with a fleet that includes 2 Gates Learjet 35As and o1 each Beech Super King Air 200, Beech 90 King Air, and Cessna 402C.

NORTHEAST EXPRESS REGIONAL AIRLINES: United States (1989-1995). A subsidiary of Bar Harbor Airlines, Frenchville, Maine-based Valley Airlines is purchased, reformed, and renamed on September 18, 1989 by Allyn Caruso, founder of Bar Harbor Airlines. Northeast links its base with 12 other New England communities with a fleet of 3 owned and 2 leased Beech 99s. In December, founders Walt and Suki Fawcett sell out Precision Airlines, the other northeastern “Northwest Airlink” partner, to Northeast’s Caruso, who will operate it as a separate affiliate.

Combined enplanements for the year total 24,267.

The 102-employee Northeast succeeds Valley Airlines on February 5, 1990 as the “Northwest Airlink” partner of Northwest Airlines at Boston. The fleet is altered to include 6 Fairchild Metro IIIs and s6 Beech 99s.

Passenger boardings quadruple to 100,618.

Company employment skyrockets 74.5% in 1991 to 185 and the fleet is increased by 8 Metro IIIs as 1 Beech 99 is withdrawn. Just before the Paris Air Show in July, President Caruso and a crew that includes Aeroflot Soviet Airlines Capt. Yacov Sabodin, depart Bangor, Maine, and fly a 15,000-mile circumnavigation of the world in commemoration of the historic 1931 flight of Wiley Post and Harold Gatty. Atotal of 32 records are broken during the 8 day, 20 hr. odyssey by the Metro III Spirit of Partnership.

Customer bookings for the year zoom upward a spectacular 124.8% to 226,778.

New routes started to Canada in spring 1992 and passenger boardings ascend 35.1% during the 12 months to 306,365.

In 1993, President Caruso oversees a workforce of 225 and a fleet of 22 Fairchild Metro IIIs and 2 Beech 99s. Orders are outstanding for three de Havilland Canada DHC-8s.

Destinations visited at the beginning of the year include Baltimore, Norfolk, Newark, Atlantic City, New York (JFK), Rochester, Boston, Nantucket, Manchester, Burlington, Portland, Augusta, Bangor, and Presque Isle. The Canadian communities of Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John are also served. New service is initiated from Boston to Montreal and Halifax.

Customer bookings decline 29.9% to 206,563.

Flights begin to Sydney, Nova Scotia, in early 1994. The workforce slides to only 82 workers after the carrier’s “Northwest Airlink” affiliation is lost during the summer. The code-sharing revocation is such a major catastrophe that the company stops flying scheduled services and files for Chapter XI bankruptcy protection. Northwest Airlines goes before the bankruptcy court to claim $10 million in passenger revenues accumulated by Northeast and Precision since 1989 on “Northwest Airlink” commuter routes from Boston, which president Caruso has never turned over.

Charters are continued by Northeast and, for the year, a total of 130,703 travelers are flown.

Nonscheduled flights continue to be made in 1995 as founder Caruso plans to bring his company out of Chapter XI. On July 1, the bankruptcy court rules that he must turn over to Northwest Airlines the $10 million in passenger revenues the major had claimed the previous summer. Unable to do so, Caruso liquidates both Northeast and Precision.

NORTHEASTERN AVIATION CORPORATION: 65-07 Fresh Meadow Lane, Fresh Meadows, New York 11365, United States; Phone (718) 961-4600; Fax (718) 961-2820; Year Founded 1977. National is established at Republic Airport at Farmindale, New York, in 1977 to provide domestic and regional executive and small group passenger charters. Over the next 20 years, the company grows and international flights are started.

In 2000, NAC employs 7 pilots and operates 1 each Learjet 55 Longhorn, Learjet 24F, Beech Super King Air 200, Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, and PA-34 Seneca II.

NORTHEASTERN INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS: United States (1980-1986). Founded by Northeastern Travel executive Robert Rutkowski at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in March 1980, this new entrant receives CAB charter authority in December. While still largely on paper, the concern is purchased by Stephen L. Quinto in June 1981, who had founded Sagittair, Ltd. in England in 1968. Scheduled permission is received following resolution of the PATCO air traffic controllers’ strike.

Employing two Douglas DC-8-52s leased from Evergreen International Airlines, the airline initiates low-fare, single-class service between Islip, Long Island (MacArthur Airport) and Fort Lauderdale on February 11, 1982. As the start-up year progresses, two more DC-8-52s are leased from Evergreen along with two Boeing 727-22s; the route network is expanded to include flights to the Sunshine State from Hartford and Boston.

During its first nine-and-a-half months, NIA flies 111,613 passengers.

Airline employment in 1983 is now 1,500 and the fleet includes the 2 leased DC-8-52s, plus 3 DC-8-62s and 4 Boeing 727-100s. From the beginning, NIA has no official color scheme for its aircraft and they are all painted in different livery.

It is reported in March that, during the first year of operations, the company has lost $2 million on operating revenues of $60 million.

New destinations visited include Oklahoma City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, Miami, Chicago (MDW), Fort Lauderdale, Islip, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Petersburg, West Palm Beach, Tulsa, Kansas City, Little Rock, and New Orleans.

Growth continues apace as traffic rises a remarkable 350% to 504,534 passengers flown.

The payroll is boosted by 34% in 1984 to 792. The company succeeds Pan American World Airways (1) in January as the lessee of what was formerly the pioneer’s terminal at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Pioneer discounter Sir Freddie Laker is named to the board of directors in February.

The DC-8-52s are returned at the end of the first quarter due to noise restrictions at various airports. On April 1, Quito’s firm inaugurates service to Florida from New York (JFK) employing two (later four) leased Airbus Industrie A300B2s formerly operated by Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G.

It is now suggested that the concern take over the failing Air Florida. Nothing will come of the idea, largely because the privately held company is severely underfinanced. NIA begins intense service reductions after October. Initial cutbacks also include the removal of the A300B2-1Cs and suspension of flights to Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

In November, an arrangement is made with Braniff, Inc. for the lease of 10 Braniff B-727-200s, but when the deal is rejected in a December 15 legal action, the company is forced to suspend services to five cities. Unable to fortify its winter schedules, Northeastern International cuts services to New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

By December, the company has shrunk to 4 leased B-727-100s, 500 employees, and its original route. NIA will later claim that as the result of computerized reservations system manipulation by its rivals, hundreds of no-show reservations are encountered as Christmas weekend begins and that 85 passengers are stranded at Hartford on Christmas Eve when a Boeing does not show up for them.

Still, passenger boardings increase a remarkable 260% to 1.8 million and operating revenues of $64.95 million are earned.

Having overstretched its resources and with no large holding company behind it, the carrier declares bankruptcy on January 8, 1985 and files for Chapter XI reorganization, listing assets of $28 million and debts of $48 million. The workforce is reduced to 200 and flights are resumed on January 25 to Chicago, St. Petersburg, and West Palm Beach. Bankruptcy Judge Sidney Weaver grounds the carrier on March 4 by ordering it to return its four chartered Boeings to the rental agency, Guinness Peat Aviation, after the Irish concern reports NIA’s failure to pay $1.3 million.

The carrier, however, is able to put together several single-aircraft, single-operation wet-leases with Emerald Air that allow it to operate a number of charters. Employing a B-727-222 leased from United Airlines, NIA initiates its own routes from Islip to Fort Lauderdale via Philadelphia. As a result of a fall fare war in the Florida market, the company shuts down again on November 5. In this dismal year, the company flies a total of 42,000 passengers—a decline of 98.5%.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-82 is leased from the Italian carrier Alis-arda, S. p.A. between January and March 1986 to restart service. At this point, the FAA grounds NIA and requires that any carriers it should contract with for aircraft and crews undergo a route check before service begins. Although the Italian aircraft arrives, the operator is so financially strapped that it is unable to resume flights and has no option but to return the plane.

In early May, the bankruptcy court orders all remaining assets sold, allowing creditors 100 on a dollar of investment.

NORTHERN AERIAL MINERALS EXPLORATION, LTD.: Canada (1928-1930). Late in 1928, Capt. Harold A. “Doc” Oaks and his Western Canada Airways, Ltd. associates form this specialized carrier to fly prospectors into remote areas. Bases are established at Churchill, Baker Lake, and other locations. Employing a Loening C-2H cabin amphibian, T. M. “Pat” Reid undertakes the first aerial coastal circumnavigation of Hudson Bay during August.

In January 1929, Oaks and Reid, flying a Fokker Model 4 Universal and a Fairchild FC-2W, respectively, make the first commercial northern flights in winter between Sioux Lookout and Richmond Gulf on Hudson’s Bay. Flying in via Longlac, Remi Lake, Moose Factory, and on up the east coast, they rescue a party of 13 trapped missionaries.

On the last day of the month, Reid and Jimmy Vance become the first pilots to reach Coppermine on the Arctic Coast in Coronation Gulf, flying in via Baker Lake, Beechey Lake, and Bathurst Inlet. In October, Reid participates in the search for Olaf Swenson’s schooner Nanuk, stuck in the ice off Siberia’s North Cape. Famed aviator Ben Eielson, lost during the search in November, is also sought.

The search, coordinated between flyers from Canada, the U. S., and Russia, ends in February 1930 when both the ship and the aviator’s body are found. This subsidiary is closed down when WCA becomes a part of Canadian Airways, Ltd. late in the year.

NORTHERN AIR (PTY.), LTD.: Box 27, Maun, Botswana; Phone 660385; Fax 312015; Year Founded 1990. Northern Air is established as a subsidiary of Safari South (Pty.), Ltd. at Maun in 1990 to operate charter services throughout Southern Africa, along with aerial photography and air ambulance flights. A subsidiary, Western Air (Pty.), Ltd., is set up at Gaborone. Ralph E. Langemann is named manager of operations and he recruits a workforce of 18.

Northern begins revenue operations with a fleet that includes 2 Cessna 206s, 1 C-208 Caravan I, 1 C-404 Titan, 1 Beech 58 Baron, and 2 Britten-Norman BN-2 Islanders. Western Air is provided 1 each C-206 and C-210.

Flights continue in 1991-1999, during which years, Northern’s fleet is reduced to include 3 C-206s, 1 Cessna 404 Titan, and the Caravan I. On September 1, the Titan, with 12 customers aboard, crashes into terrain in Tanzania. There are no survivors.

NORTHERN AIR CARGO: 3900 West International Airport Road, Anchorage, Alaska 99502, United States; Phone (907) 243-3931; Fax (907) 249-5190; Http://www. nacargo. com; Code NC; Year Founded 1956. Founded in 1956 by Robert G. “Bobby” Sholton and Maurice Carlson as Alaska’s first and only scheduled all-cargo carrier, NAC begins operations from Anchorage to destinations throughout the territory, employing two Fairchild C-82 Flying Boxcars.

NAC undertakes flights over the next 13 years with a fleet of war-surplus Douglas C-47s linking the company base with Aniak, Bethel, Dillingham, Galena, Gambell, Iliamna, King Salmon, McGrath, Nome, St. George Island, St. Mary’s, St. Paul Island, Savoonga, and Unalak-leet. The Boxcars allow the company to specialize in the delivery of out-sized cargos, many made to destinations along the Distance Early Warning (DEW) Line.

Cargo feeder flights are also operated, in cooperation with local bush operators, from Galena, Unalakleet, McGrath, King Salmon, Aniak, Iliamna, and Dillingham. The company pioneers the bush delivery of outsized cargo, such as vehicles and generators, to miners, settlements, and the DEW Line. In 1964, it provides emergency relief flights in the aftermath of the Good Friday Earthquake.

Previously flown by Slick Airways, the first Douglas DC-6A is purchased in September 1969; a former USAF C-118A is acquired from the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, at the same time. Another, built for Riddle Airlines and later owned by Howard Hughes, arrives in 1973 with the remarkably low total of 9 hrs. 50 min. flight time recorded in its log.

The fleet by 1982 has grown to include 6 DC-6As, on1 DC-3, 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and 2 twin-boom Fairchild C-82 Flying Boxcars. One of the former has been converted into a tanker, which is able to transport 4,500 gallons of fuel, while plans are made to replace the Boxcars.

Founder Sholton dies during the year and is succeeded by his wife Rita and president W. Edward Fisher.

The tanker in 1983 is employed to fly petroleum product from Fairbanks to the Dall Creek gold mine located close to the Arctic Circle. During the year, a total of 7.76 million FTKs are flown.

The fleet in 1984 includes 2 C-82s and 9 DC-6s. Flights are now scheduled to 23 Alaskan communities and operate 24 hours per day. The Boxcars are retired during the year, leaving the company the world’s largest DC-6 operator. Cargo grows a slight 0.8% to 7.82 million FTKs.

Airline employment in 1985 stands at 75, including future presi-dent/CEO Marjorie McLaren, who comes aboard as chief financial officer. Freight accelerates again, up by almost half or 49.8%, to 18.42 million FTKs.

The two retired C-82s are replaced in 1986 by a DC-6B. The aircraft is famous for its swing-tail, a conversion carried out in April-July 1968 while the plane was in service with Karair O/Y.

Cargo rises to 21.03 million FTKs.

A well-traveled DC-6A/C is purchased from Carnegie Holdings of Edmonton, Canada, in 1987, along with a DC-6A/C operated during the past 12 years by Detroit-based Zantop International Airlines. Still, freight declines by 2.1% to 20.6 million FTKs. The losses total $266,000 (operating) and $156,000 (net).

The workforce increases by 35.2% in 1988 to 196 and the fleet includes 11 DC-6As and 1 DC-6B.

Freight climbs a welcome 18.9% to 26.75 million FTKs and revenues jump 22.2% to $29.8 million. With costs held in line, operating income reaches $6.2 million and net gain is $8.7 million.

Airline employment rises 2% in 1989 to 200 and the fleet is enlarged by the addition of 2 DC-6STs. The company’s 13 DC-6s now serve 12 distribution hubs in rural Alaska, feeding about 75 villages.

Despite this expansion, cargo traffic falls an unhealthy 35.5% to 15.07 million FTKs. On the other hand, revenues ascend 11.6% to $33.2 million and there are profits: $4.13 million (operating) and $4.27 million (net).

There is no change in either employment or fleet during 1990. A Boeing 727-100F is leased during May and on August 1 begins a brief weekly cargo service from Anchorage to Khabarovsk, Russia via Magadan.

Freight descends again, this time by 7.5% to 14.63 million FTKs. And again, revenues rise, by 13.6%, to $37.72 million. Expenses jump 14.6% to $33.33 million and as a result, operating income inches up a quarter million dollars to $$4.39 million. The net gain slides up to $4.63 million.

The workforce is increased by 10% in 1991 to 220 and the fleet now includes 15 DC-6s. In September, the Seattle to Anchorage all-cargo frequencies are increased to five per workweek.

Cargo traffic stops falling and grows by 12.1% to 16.4 million FTKs. Revenues dip 1% to $37.35 million, expenses increase 5.5% to $35.17 million, and the operating profit is cut in half, to $2.17 million. Net income is also cut in half, to $2.29 million.

Although traffic falls in 1992, profits are made. A total of 18 points in Alaska receive scheduled visits and occasional charters are made to the “lower 48.”

During the first quarter, Wilbur’s Flight Operations encounters problems in transporting its contracted mail shipments from Anchorage to King Salmon and Dillingham. Difficulties appear imminent and pilots start to apply to Northern, which begins to complete the Wilbur’s Flight Operations mail deliveries. Wilbur’s is shut down on April 4.

Cargo traffic declines 20.7% to 26.3 million FTKs and revenues total $31.2 million. The operating profit grows to $4.06 million and net income reaches skyward to $4.2 million.

In 1993, airline employment stands at 190 and the fleet comprises 11 DC-6As, 2 DC-6STs, and 1 DC-6B. Mary Sholton Witte, daughter of owner/CEO Rita Sholton and a former executive at Horizon Air, becomes president. Much of the previous Wilbur’s business is acquired, including key contracts with Federal Express, United Parcel Service (UPS) , and the U. S. Postal Service.

Freight increases by 5.9% to 29.54 million FTKs and revenues jump 13.9% to $35.54 million. Expenses are up only 5.2% to $28.56 million and allow an operating gain of $7 million. Net profit surges to $7.1 million.

The workforce is increased by 15.8% in 1994 to 220 as cargo jumps 12.5% to 10.92 million FTKs. Revenues advance by 20.2% to $42.73 million, while costs climb 17.9% to $33.67 million. The operating surplus thus increases to $9.06 million, while net gain reaches $9.27 million.

Sixteen employees are laid off in 1995, a 7.3% decrease in the workforce. NAC’s DC-6As fly scheduled service into 20 communities and twice that number on unscheduled flights.

The 10 planes operate 20.82 million FTKs, a 23.1% growth. Operating income exceeds costs and there are profits, down somewhat from the previous year, of $8.72 million (operating) and $8.9 million (net).

The employee population grows 10.3% in 1996 to 225 as the first jet freighter, a Boeing 727-23F, is placed into service. It is almost immediately employed to ferry a consignment of oil-rig equipment from Dallas (DFW) to Prudhoe Bay.

While on final approach to Russian Mission after a July 20 all-cargo service from Emmonak, a DC-6A with three crew and a passenger suffers a fire in its No. 3 engine. The aircraft flies over the airport and attempts to make a turn to come back, at which point those on the ground witness its right wing folding upward. The Douglas noses over and hits the ground short of the runway; there are no survivors.

The company headquarters building is renovated during the fall.

Cargo traffic slides 6.5% to 19.47 million FTKs. Revenues of $31.38 million are generated and expenses are $27.27 million. The operating gain falls to $5.7 million and a net $5.61-million profit is reported.

Mary Sholton is president in 1997 and the fleet now includes 1 B-727-23F, 11 DC-6As, 1 DC-6B tanker, and 1 DC-6BST swing-tail freighter.

The employee population is increased 2.3% to 225 but freight slides 2.5% to 18.99 million FTKs. Operating revenues advance 14.9% to $39.47 million and expenses total $34.36 million. The operating profit ascends to $5.11 million, while a net $5.1-million profit is recorded.

Flights continue in 1998. Two more B-727Fs are acquired, one each Dash-46F and Dash-23F, at a bargain price of $10 million; a load of spare parts is thrown in as part of the deal.

A new system, NACLINK, is introduced. It allows cargo to be forwarded to it from anywhere in the contiguous U. S. and delivered to any point in Alaska.

Cargo traffic drops another 2.5% to 25.15 million FTKs. Revenues rise 6.9% to $42.18 million, while costs are held at $39.58 million. The operating gain slides back to $2.59 million, while net gain drops down to $1.5 million.

By the beginning of 1999, the workforce has been cut 2.2% to 220. Chief Financial Officer McLaren retires during the year, while in November, Edward Fisher director and former president, returns as CEO.

During the fourth quarter, the company enters into a joint venture with Kuukpik; Kuukpik and NAC quickly win a contract with ARCO Alaska for cargo service between its Alpine oil field and Deadhorse.

Cargo traffic falls 33.7% on the year to 16.67 million FTKs.

A total of 225 workers are employed at the beginning of 2000, a 2.3% increase over the previous 12 months. Former Chief Financial Officer Marjorie McLaren is persuaded to become the company’s president/CEO on July 20, allowing Fisher to become a full-time director once more.

NORTHERN AIR LINES: United States (1928). Organized at Min-neapolis/St. Paul during the summer of 1928, Northern begins passenger service on August 16, paralleling operations also being conducted by Northwest Airways. Routes flown extend from Chicago to Minneapo-lis/St. Paul, Minneapolis/St. Paul to Fargo, and Minneapolis/St. Paul to Duluth.

Planning to expand its system from Minneapolis out into the upper Midwest, the Universal Aviation Corporation purchases Northern on December 31 and turns it into a subsidiary division of its Universal Air Lines System.