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| Ceased operations | 1995 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleet size | See Fleet below | ||||||
| Destinations | See Former destinations served below | ||||||
| Headquarters | Manchester, New Hampshire, United States | ||||||
| Key people | Roland Martin Allen Caruso (JobTitle1) | ||||||
Northeast Express Regional Airlines was a regional airline based in Manchester, New Hampshire. [1] Originally an independent commuter airline in Maine, it was bought by Bar Harbor Airlines and later as part of Eastern Express and Northwest Airlink before being liquidated in 1995.
Roland Martin, a businessman in Northern Maine's St. John Valley, founded Valley Airlines in 1978, first as a air taxi operator out of the Northern Aroostook Regional Airport in Frenchville, Maine. [2] Martin, who was one of the founders of the airport, began providing air service between Frenchville and airports in Southern Maine beginning in 1981. [3] In 1986, Martin sold Valley Airlines to Allyn Caruso, CEO of Bar Harbor Airlines. [2]
The acquisition by Bar Harbor Airlines led to Valley Airlines being rebranded as Northeast Express Regional Airlines in 1989 [4] began a partnership with New Hampshire-based Precision Airlines to provide commuter service to Boston Logan International Airport. This partnership provided services for both Eastern Airlines Express and later Continental Express. [5] Following the bankruptcy and liquidation of Eastern Air Lines in 1991, Northeast Express and Precision became a Northwest Airlines codeshare affiliate doing business as Northwest Airlink. [4]
The airline faced financial issues coming into the 1990s. In 1993, the airline moved its maintenance facility from Bangor to Manchester, New Hampshire, resulting in the loss of 45 jobs in the Bangor area. [6] In a fatal blow to the airline, Northwest Airlines decided in 1994 to use the Delta Air Lines-affiliated Business Express Airlines for its Boston feeder services, causing Northeast Express and its sister company Precision Airlines to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [5] At the time of its bankruptcy, the company employed "operate[d] 33 aircraft and employ[ed] more than 550 people" in Maine and New Hampshire. [5] The company's "debts were estimated at $25 million (including about $60,000 owed to Bangor International Airport) compared with the $20 million that the two companies had in assets. [5] Despite Allyn Caruso's attempt to establish a service partnership with USAir, the company was liquidated in 1995.
Former CEO Allyn Caruso would go on to run the MAC Air Group, a fixed base operator out of Portland International Jetport, until his death in 2024. [7] Roland Martin founded Pine State Airlines in 1995, which operated routes in Maine until it was closed in 1998. [8] Martin and his wife were named Citizens of the Year in Frenchville in 2002. [3] Martin passed away in 2010. [9]
Those airports marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer served by commercial air service.
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Northwest Airlink was the brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium-sized cities and towns where larger aircraft might not be economical to operate and also to larger markets to either provide additional capacity or more frequent flights than could be justified using mainline aircraft. Beginning in July 2009, the Northwest Airlink trade name was phased out, and replaced by the Delta Connection trade name for Delta Air Lines as part of the Delta/Northwest merger.
Endeavor Air is an American regional airline headquartered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The airline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and staffs, operates and maintains aircraft used on Delta Connection flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by Delta Air Lines.
Mesaba Aviation, Inc. was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1944 until 2012, when it merged with Pinnacle Airlines to form Endeavor Air. It was based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012 the airline was a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. with code sharing flights operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines and US Airways Express for US Airways. Previously, the airline operated code sharing service as Northwest Airlink and Northwest Jetlink on behalf of Northwest Airlines which subsequently merged with Delta. Mesaba also previously operated connecting flight services in association with Republic Airlines before this air carrier was subsequently merged into Northwest. Mesaba Airlines effectively ceased operations on January 4, 2012, when all aircraft and personnel were transitioned to the Pinnacle Airlines operating certificate. Mesaba's operating certificate was surrendered on July 31, 2012.
Augusta State Airport is a public use airport located one nautical mile (2 km) west of the central business district of the state capital of Augusta, a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The airport is owned by the state of Maine, but managed and operated by the city of Augusta. It is served by one commercial airline, with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
Colgan Air was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1965 until 2012. It became a subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. in 2012. The initial headquarters of Colgan Air was located in Manassas, Virginia until 2010, and then Memphis, Tennessee until closure in 2012.
Big Sky Airlines was an American commuter air carrier that operated from 1978 to 2008. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, United States. Big Sky was wholly owned by Big Sky Transportation Company, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of MAIR Holdings.
Bangor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport on the west side of the city of Bangor, in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Owned and operated by the City of Bangor, the airport has a single runway measuring 11,440 by 200 ft. Formerly a military installation known as Dow Air Force Base, Bangor International Airport remains home to the 101st Air Refueling Wing of the Maine Air National Guard, although most of the Air Force's aircraft and personnel left in the late 1960s. BGR covers 2,079 acres of land. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2023–2027 categorized it as a non-hub primary commercial service facility.
Presque Isle International Airport, formally Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle, is a mile northwest of Presque Isle, in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. It serves the residents of Presque Isle and a vast area of northern Maine and northwestern New Brunswick. Airline flights to Newark Liberty International Airport are subsidized by the federal government's Essential Air Service program at a cost of $3,892,174.
Bar Harbor Airlines was a commuter airline in the United States that operated from 1950 until 1991, when it merged with Britt Airways. It was headquartered at Hancock County–Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton, Maine, and later in Houston, Texas.
Trans World Express (TWE) was the fully owned and certificated, regional carrier for Trans World Airlines (TWA) and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation.
Northeast Airlines was an American airline based in Boston, Massachusetts that chiefly operated in the northeastern United States, and later to Canada, Florida, the Bahamas, Los Angeles and other cities. It was acquired by and merged into Delta Air Lines in August 1972.
Manchester–Boston Regional Airport, commonly referred to as Manchester Airport, is a public use airport 3 miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Manchester, New Hampshire, United States on the border of Hillsborough and Rockingham counties. It is owned by the City of Manchester, and is in the southern part of the city on the border with Londonderry, New Hampshire.
Air New England was an American commuter airline with service to New England communities during the 1970s. It was headquartered at Logan International Airport in the East Boston area of Boston, Massachusetts.
Northern Aroostook Regional Airport is a public airport three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of Frenchville, a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. It is owned by the Northern Aroostook Regional Airport Authority.
Business Express Airlines, often referred to as Business Express or BizEX, was an American regional airline founded as Atlantic Air in 1982. In an effort to appeal to its predominantly business commuter clientele, the airline assumed the Business Express name in 1985. In 1986 Pilgrim Airlines, which itself had acquired NewAir about a year prior, was acquired by the airline. This opened the valuable New York and Washington, D.C. markets. Shortly thereafter, Business Express became one of Delta Air Lines's first Delta Connection carriers, along with Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Comair and SkyWest Airlines. The company slogan was Fly BizEx Jets!
Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 was a scheduled flight from Logan International Airport to Bangor International Airport in the United States on August 25, 1985. On final approach to Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport, the Bar Harbor Airlines Beechcraft Model 99 crashed short of the runway, killing all six passengers and two crew on board. Among the passengers was Samantha Smith, a 13-year-old American schoolgirl who had become famous as a goodwill ambassador to the Soviet Union and had been cast on the television show Lime Street.
Concord Coach Lines, Inc., formerly known as Concord Trailways, and often referred to as Concord Coach, is an inter-city bus company based in Concord, New Hampshire. It serves parts of Maine, New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts, and has a route to New York City.
Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to operate services via code sharing agreements in order to increase frequencies in addition to serving routes that would not sustain larger aircraft as well as for other competitive or operational reasons.
Portland International Jetport is a public airport two miles (3 km) west of downtown Portland, Maine, United States. It is owned and operated by the City of Portland. A portion of the Jetport's property, including the main runway, is located within the neighboring city of South Portland. PWM covers 726 acres of land.
Public transportation in Maine is available for all four main modes of transport—air, bus, ferry and rail—assisting residents and visitors without their own vehicle to travel around much of Maine's 31,000 square miles (80,000 km2).
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