THE THIRTEEN U.S. LOCAL SERVICE AIRLINES

DO YOU HAVE ANY STORIES ABOUT THESE AIRLINES?

Not long after World War II the U.S. government was promoting civilian air travel. With a surplus of Douglas DC-3 aircraft 13 different airline companies evolved to supply airline passenger and mail service to smaller communities. By the 1960's they were well established and included...



ALLEGHENY AIRLINES
MOHAWK AIRLINES
PIEDMONT AIRLINES
SOUTHERN AIRWAYS
LAKE CENTRAL AIRLINES
NORTH CENTRAL AIRLINES
CENTRAL AIRLINES
FRONTIER AIRLINES
OZARK AIRLINES
TRANS-TEXAS AIRLINES
BONANZA AIRLINES
PACIFIC AIRLINES
WEST COAST AIRLINES

This is a blog to collect your memories or comments about these 13 airlines.
I will start and hopefully we will have your feedback.

In the 1960's I did a lot of watching airliners at Cleveland Hopkins Airport (CLE). Among my favorite airlines were the regional airlines, or local service carriers. As a good connection point we had 4 of the 13 at CLE. Allegheny Airlines brought passengers in for connections from points in Pennsylvania like Erie and Bradford. Mohawk Airlines did the same mainly from New York State, North Central Airlines from Michigan, and Lake Central Airlines from Ohio and Indiana. By the time I saw them Allegheny was operating Martin 202A and Convair 440 types. North Central still flew a few DC-3's but mainly used Convair 340's and 440's. Lake Central flew mostly DC-3's and some Convair 340s they acquired from United Airlines. Mohawk used the Convair 240, and Martin 404 in CLE. Of course all of these later used jet-prop or jet airliners, but the days of the piston powered props was fascinating. There were a lot of cantankerous engines blowing blue smoke and backfiring. I was lucky enough to fly on each of these four over the years. Can you add some memories to this blog?

Please add, correct or comment on this article.
Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)


pugman1948, LLC is an ebay and Auctiva business that offers bidders vintage airline collectables such as timetables, brochures and other paper ephemera.  All of my listing can easily found each week at..   http://store.auctiva.com/pugman1948