Air New England
15 November 1970-31 October 1981
by Tom Hildreth

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:
R.E.G.Davies and I.E.Quastler,Commmuter Airlines of the United States,(Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995).
Wikipedia, 7 September 2011, Air New England[online] Available at: [Accessed 25 October 2011].

The author would welcome contact with anyone willing to supply photos of ANE aircraft
to be added to this tribute page. Photos, slides and negatives will be quickly scanned and returned to contributor with appropriate credit provided.

Click each photo below for large version



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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