Air New England (ANE) was founded on 15 November 1970 by Joseph C. Whitney. Born at Summit, New Jersey and raised in Massachusetts, the enterprising Whitney had been instrumental in the initial success of Executive Airlines. Following his 1970 departure from Executive, that airline went on to expand very rapidly during the short tenures of the four CEOs that followed. Executive succumbed to the realities of the difficult northeastern air commuter market, filing for Chapter 11 in 1971. Feeling there was a better way to serve the New England geographic area, Whitney raised $500,000 and created Air New England (ANE). The operation was modeled on the structure of Cape and Islands Air Service, founded in the late 1940s by George Parmenter of Hyannis, Massachusetts. Headquartered in Hyannis until the late 1970s, ANE purchased four Twin Otters from Transair, of Bangor, Maine and acquired a route network from Maine to Nantucket. New York, New Bedford, Augusta and Portland in Maine, and Martha's Vineyard were soon added. Locations in New Hampshire and Vermont followed, and eventually routes as far west as Rochester and Cleveland would eventually be operated. On 24 January 1975, the CAB certificated Air New England as the first new local service operator since Ozark Airlines attained this status a quarter-century earlier. ANE thus became the only commuter airline to be elevated to the CAB's second level. In 1977-1978, ANE's general operations were moved to the fourth floor of the old Northeast Airlines building at Boston's Logan Airport. During its eleven years of operation, Air New England fielded a diverse fleet of aircraft. Included were the Aero Commander, Beech D.18, Beech 99, Convair 580, Douglas DC-3, DeHavilland Twin Otter, and Fairchild FH-227. Sources: The author would welcome contact with anyone willing to supply photos of ANE aircraft |
Click each photo below for large version |
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The Beech 18s came from Cape and Islands Airways,and were operated by ANE in the 1970-1972 time frame. Photo via Rand Peck. |
Aero Commander photographed at Boston in June, 1975. |
Beech 18 N148L photographed at Logan in July, 1971 by Tom Cuddy. |
Beech 99 photographed at Boston in March, 1975. A new Hangar was built at Montpelier,VT for maint- enance of these aircraft. |
The DeHavilland-Canada(DHC)Twin Otter was a favorite with the commuter airlines. This one was photographed at Lebanon, NH on 22 October, 1977. |
A pair of Twin Otter at the gate in Boston on 2 March, 1974. |
Delivered to American Airlines on 20 May 1939, this 1974 view shows DC-3 N18141 in ANE service at Boston. |
DC-3 N33654 photographed at Boston on 7 June, 1974. The CAB lifted the 12,500 lb maximum limit for commuter airlines on 19 July 1972 and gave the venerable Douglas transport a new lease on life. |
Photographed at Lebanon, NH on 20 ctober, 1977, FH-227C N374NE had originally been operated by Northeast Airlines, then briefly by Delta. |
FH227C N378NE at Boston June, 1975. Badly damaged on wet overrun at New Bedford in June, 1975. Trucked to Hagerstown to be rebuilt. |
Still wearing Canadian registration C-GJRP, this Convair 580 was photographed at Burlington, VT on 6 October, 1981. |
This CV580 shot was taken by Captain Hamersley at Burlington on the last day of service, 31 October 1981.Captain Ron Turner is in the left seat and FO Dick Bonnoyer in the right. |
Convair 580 in ANE colors. Photo via Rand Peck. |
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