New England Airlines

Not to be confused with Air New England (1970–1981) or Air New England (charter airline).

New England Airlines

IATA ICAO Call sign EJ NEA NEW ENGLAND
Founded	1970
AOC #	NEAA703G [1]
Operating bases	Westerly State Airport
Fleet size	10
Destinations	2
Parent company	New England Airlines, Inc.
Headquarters	Westerly, Rhode Island, U.S.
Key people	William Bendokas (President)
Website	blockislands-airline.com

N404WB At Block Island State Airport

New England Airlines is a regional airline based in Westerly, Rhode Island, U.S. With a main base at Westerly State Airport, it provides scheduled service to Block Island and operates charters to other airports along the Northeast coast.

History

The airline was established and started operations in 1970. ^[2] New England Airlines has been in continuous service since then, under the same private ownership. It was and is the only scheduled airline with its primary bases of operation in Rhode Island. This was designed to fulfill the loss of service from a short-lived airline called Viking Airways, which folded in the 1960s. ^[3]

N409WB With its normal livery

N403WB at Westerly State Airport

N405WB on the ground at Block Island State Airport

The airline is noted for its provision of cargo delivery services, including Chinese food (and other restaurant orders) delivered from the mainland to the Block Island airport in as little as 90 minutes. ^[4] The airline only has a half dozen pilots during the winter and over a dozen during the summertime. According to the owner, half of the business comes from charter requests for business workers in the New York area and other locations along the northeast coast. ^[3]

N404WB

N401WB With its normal livery

N403WB coming into land

N401WB on the ground

N404WB on the ground at Block Island State Airport

The airline has 10 Aircraft, N401WB, N403WB, N404WB, N409WB, N304SK, N408WB, N405WB and others. as said in an interview with a pilot, "We use these [ BN-2 s] for charter flights too." and "Those are used for training" (referring to N304SK and another yellow aircraft)

They also have a commuter card, for those who like to fly to the island a lot, the prices are $1435 for 20 one-way flights and $735 for 10 one-way flights

N409WB With its old "Flamingo Livery"

Destinations for scheduled flights

City	Airport	IATA Code	Destinations	Notes
Rhode Island
New Shoreham	Block Island State Airport	BID	Westerly	Only route they do.
Westerly	Westerly State Airport	WST	Block Island	Only route they do.

N409WB With its old "Flamingo Livery" on the ground at Westerly State Airport

Fleet

N408WB at Westerly State Airport

The New England Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: ^{[5] [2]}

New England Airlines fleet

Aircraft	In fleet	Orders	Notes
Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander	6	0	Scheduled Flights to Block Island State Airport & Charter Flights in the Greater Northeast
PA-32-300 Cherokee Six	3	0	Charter Flights in the Greater Northeast
PA-28-180 Archer	1	0	Charter Flights in the Greater Northeast
Total	10	0

Accidents

• November 28, 1989: BN-2 Islander, N127JL, flying to Westerly crashed into the sea 3 to 5 miles northwest of Block Island. All 8 people on board, 7 passengers and pilot John Beck Jr., were killed. Among the victims, Shirley Wood, was the publisher and co-editor of The Block Island Times, founding editor of People magazine, and former chief of research for Time Life Books. ^[6] The flight proceeded under a cloud layer on a moonless night while a SIGMET was in effect for moderate to occasionally severe turbulence and possible low level wind shear. The reason for the crash was undetermined. ^{[7] [8]}

• 

  N409WB on ground.

  September 5, 1999: A Piper Cherokee PA-32-260, N4830S, departing Westerly on a scheduled flight to Block Island lost control and crashed shortly after takeoff, killing two passengers and the pilot; two passengers survived with serious injuries. ^[9] Pilot Michael Hadik was described as a skilled pilot and flight instructor, with 5259 hours total and 202 in the Cherokee. ^[10] The NTSB final report determined the cause of the crash was loss of control and stall during a turn. ^[11]

References

1. "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
2. "Directory: World Airlines Part 3 (2009)". Flight International : 29–90. 2009-04-14.
3. Trodson, Lars (July 2016). "Been 'round the Block". The Independent. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
4. Charles Passy, "Meet the Pilot Who Doubles as Block Island’s Chinese-Food Delivery Guy: Regional airline brings Chinese takeout, sushi and pizza to popular summer resort", The Wall Street Journal , August 26, 2015.
5. "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
6. "Search for Plane Suspended Off Block Island". The New York Times. 1989-11-30. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
7. "Brief of Accident". ntsb.gov. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
8. "NTSB Accident Final Report" (PDF). ntsb. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
9. Writer, DAVE ALTIMARI; Courant Staff (6 September 1999). "PLANE CRASH KILLS 3 IN RHODE ISLAND". courant.com. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
10. "Pilot error blamed in fatal crash". Block Island Times. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
11. "National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report - NYC99FA220". National Transportation Safety Board. 2001-05-09. Retrieved 2021-06-03.

External links

• New England Airlines