Good Morning, Oppo

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 06/04/2020 at 09:26 • Filed to: good morning oppo, Planelopnik

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A Northeast Airlines Douglas DC-6B sits on the tarmac at Boston’s Logan International in 1966.

Northeast was founded in 1931 by the Boston and Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad at a time when the railroads were starting to get into the airline business. The company took the name Northeast Airlines in 1940 and operated contract flights for the US Army Air Forces during the war , but lost out on transatlantic routes when the Civil Aeronautics board awarded them to Pan Am and TWA following the war. In the 50s, the airliner branded out and began flying southward to Washington, DC and Florida, and entered the jet age flying a Boeing 707 and Convair 880s. Howard Hughes took control in 1962, but left when the CAB continued to deny the company routes to Europe. Faced with continued financial difficulties, Northeast finally merged with Delta Air Lines in 1972. The merger gave Delta access to Boston, and made them the largest operator of the Boeing 727 at the time.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > ttyymmnn 06/04/2020 at 09:41

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I found a really cool Northeast Airlines promo picture of a Convair 240 with flght crew at an antique store I gave it to my father for father’s d ay last year. That’s what he flew to Bangor Maine to start his 1st j ob in the p aper industry.

user314 > ttyymmnn 06/04/2020 at 09:44

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I wonder why they were denied routes to Europe for so long. CAB preference for bigger airlines?

Oh, that Yellowbird livery is gorgeous !

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 06/04/2020 at 09:50

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Part of the family!

I hope you and yours are safe and well. Looked like a rough few days in Austin. 

facw > user314 06/04/2020 at 09:52

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Man, ha.com must be a pretty valuable URL. Wonder if they paid for it (beyond usual registration fees) , or if they had someone with enough interest in tech to register it super early?

ttyymmnn > f86sabre 06/04/2020 at 10:04

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I made a post yesterday about another airline that eventually became part of the Delta family. And that airline also used “Air Lines” instead of “Airlines.”

Yeah, we’re fine. All in all, it’s not too terrible here. All of the foofaraw is happening downtown, well away from us, and seems to be calming down a bit. 

ttyymmnn > user314 06/04/2020 at 10:05

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Not denied so much as lost out to Pan Am and TWA. That yellow is great. I was never in the right part of the country to see those back in the day.

ttyymmnn > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 06/04/2020 at 10:10

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That’s cool. That Convair 240 family is one of my favorites. ICYMI, and if you’ve got some time to kill, this is a fantastic video for your inner aviation geek.

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/flying-the-convair-580-1843005694

facw > user314 06/04/2020 at 10:16

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Also I know inflation is a thing, but hundred million dollar fleet reall y doesn’t sound so impressive today. Even accounting for inflation, $100M in 1962 dollars (first year for 727 production, don’t know when the ad is from) is only like $850M today, which will buy you maybe 8 737s?

ranwhenparked > user314 06/04/2020 at 10:31

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Yes, under the regulations in place at the time, the CAB rigidly restricted airlines to certain routes, and TWA and Pan Am were the favored "flag carriers" for transatlantic. Both were big and politically well connected, and they fought hard to convince the feds that further competition on the Atlantic run would be against the national interest. At the time, their main competition was all government subsidised and/or government controlled (BOAC, Alitalia, Sabena, etc), and they argued that they needed some form of monopoly protection domestically to compete.

user314 > facw 06/04/2020 at 10:38

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From what I’ve found, NE launched the Yellowbirds in ‘67. A 727-100 was somewhere between $ 4.25 and $ 8 million at that time ($ 32 to $ 61 million in current USD ), so it’s actually better than it sounds now. Also, NE purchased a number of DC-9-30 s (unit cost ~$ 5m ) and Fairchild FH-227s (unit cost: $ 1.6m) at the same time.  

ranwhenparked > ttyymmnn 06/04/2020 at 10:42

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Boston Maine Railroad got back into the airline business later on, sort of. They were bought out by Guilford Industries in 1983, and Guilford used their name for a regional/commuter airline, Boston Maine Airways, which started up in the late ‘90s. Guilford also bought the Pan Am trademark, and briefly operated long distance flights under the Pan American Airways name, and local service under the Pan Am Clipper Connection brand flown by Boston Maine. Guilford renamed themselves as Pan Am Systems in 2006, and rebranded  Boston Maine Railroad as Pan Am Railways. 

ranwhenparked > facw 06/04/2020 at 11:03

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727s originally listed at $4.25 million a piece ($36 million today) , presumably less with volume discounts, so $100 million would buy you a decent fleet of them.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > f86sabre 06/04/2020 at 13:11

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Are you guys in atlanta getting busier? I was listening how AA is expecting 40%increase  for July.

f86sabre > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 06/05/2020 at 11:46

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A bit, yes.  Keep in mind, 40% increase on what is maybe 20% of normal demand is nice, but nothing to get too excited about!