SUSQUEHANNA AIRLINES: United States (1978-1985). Bernard Ford establishes Ford-Aire at Sidney, New York, in May 1978. Employing a Piper PA-23 Aztec, Ford inaugurates scheduled air taxi flights to Syracuse in June. In October 1979, the company is renamed Susquehanna Airlines.
Ford increases his fleet in 1980 by the addition of two Piper PA-31-310 Navajos. Daily roundtrip revenue services are started to New York (LGA) via Monticello and from the Big Apple to Sidney via Binghampton.
In 1981-1984, Susquehanna makes Binghampton its primary hub and opens additional markets at Newark, New York (John F. Kennedy Airport), Wilkes-Barre, Boston, and Chicago (ORD). The fleet is increased to comprise 1 Grumman Gulfstream G-1, 1 Beech 99, 2 Navajos, and 3 de Havilland DH 114 Herons.
While on approach to Bainbridge, New York, following a service from Binghamton on December 17 of the latter year, a Navajo, with a pilot and three passengers, crashes into trees and hits a wooded hill 85 mi. N of the runway; there are no survivors.
Due to alleged safety violations, the FAA orders the carrier grounded on January 16, 1985 and its certificate is suspended until its recordkeeping violations can be cleared up. Permission to resume is obtained within two months and having restarted, President Ford’s airline is shut down a second time on April 28 for five alleged safety deficiencies and the falsification of records.
This time, the government revokes the operating certificate and despite company appeals, it is not restored.
Unable to fly, the carrier, on May 30, sells a Beech 99 and a route between Binghamton and New York to Ransome Airlines. The remainder of the operation is liquidated.
World History
