North Central Airlines

North Central Airlines

IATA NC ICAO NC Callsign NORTH CENTRAL
Founded	December 16, 1952
Ceased operations	July 1, 1979 (integrated into Republic Airlines)
Hubs	O'Hare International Airport (Chicago) Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport
Fleet size	50
Destinations	92
Headquarters	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Key people	Francis Higgins (President) Hal Carr (Vice President)

North Central Airlines was founded as Wisconsin Central Airlines in 1944 in Clintonville, Wisconsin. It was also headquartered in Clintonville until 1947 when they moved headquarters to Madison,Wisconsin. This is also when "Herman the duck" was born on Wisconsin Centrals' First Lockheed Electra 10A, NC14262, in 1948^[1]

History

Early history

In 1939 the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD), a major manufacturer of four-wheel transmissions and heavy-duty trucks based in Clintonville, Wisconsin, opened a flight department and traded a company truck for a Waco biplane for their company's use.^[2] In 1944 company executives decided to start an airline. In 1946 airline service was started between six Wisconsin cities. This led the company to purchase two Cessna UC-78 Bobcats. Soon after this the airline purchased three Lockheed Electra 10As. They increased service to 19 cities, and (with increasing revenues) purchased three more Electra 10As, and then 6 DC-3s.

Post Wisconsin Central history

In 1952 the airline moved its headquarters from Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Along with the move the name was changed to North Central Airlines.^[3] Soon after this the airline ran into some financial troubles when their President, Francis Higgins, left, making Hal Carr the President. Carr quickly got the company out of debt and made it more reliable. Over time, the company expanded its fleet to 32 DC-3s.

A growing airline

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Two North Central CV-580 at Chicago Airport in 1973.

In the late 1950s the airline began to outgrow its fleet of DC-3s and bought five Convair 340s from Continental Airlines, the first entering service in 1959. In 1960 North Central hit the one million passenger mark and had flights to 90 cities (and somewhat fewer airports). The airline added routes to Canada. The airline even worked with the United States Government to aid troubled airlines in South America. As the airline grew it needed larger planes; the first of five Douglas DC-9-31s entered service in 1967. The Convair 340s were converted from piston power to turboprop Convair 580s. The airline bought more DC-9s and numerous Convairs.^{[citation needed]} In 1969 North Central Airlines moved its administrative and operational headquarters to a building on the south side of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport; as of 2009 the building was the Building C Maintenance and Administrative Facility of Northwest Airlines.^[4]

The CAB classified North Central as a "local service carrier," operating a combination of turboprop and jet aircraft to serve cities within one region of the United States and helping feed passengers to larger "trunk airlines" that served cities nationwide. North Central did eventually fly to more distant cities such as Washington, D.C.-National, New York-LaGuardia, Boston, Denver and Tucson.

Merger

Following North Central's success, it moved to buy Atlanta-based Southern Airways. In 1979 a merger of the two airlines formed Republic Airlines. Republic later acquired San Francisco-based Hughes Airwest. Republic kept North Central's hubs at Minneapolis and Detroit, and Southern's hub at Memphis, Tennessee. But within a few years it closed down Hughes' hub in Phoenix, Arizona; reduced North Central's sizeable station at O'Hare International Airport; and reduced Southern's sizeable station at Atlanta. Republic also quickly downsized North Central's operations to and among smaller airports in the upper Midwest, concentrating its fleet at the Minneapolis and Detroit hubs.

In 1986 Republic merged with Northwest Airlines, which also operated a hub at Minneapolis and had a large operation at Detroit, thus ending the legacy of Wisconsin Central and North Central.

Historical fleet

• Lockheed Electra 10A
• Douglas DC-3
• Convair CV-340-580
• Convair CV-440-580
• Douglas DC-9-31
• Douglas DC-9-32
• Douglas DC-9-51

Accidents

• On December 27, 1968 North Central Airlines Flight 458, a Convair CV-580, crashed into a hangar while attempting to land at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, killing 27 of the 45 people on board and killing one and injuring six people on the ground.^[6][7]
• On June 29, 1972 all five people on board North Central Airlines Flight 290, a Convair CV-580, were killed when the plane collided with Air Wisconsin Flight 671 and crashed into Lake Winnebago near Appleton, Wisconsin.^[8][9]
• On December 20, 1972 North Central Airlines Flight 575, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31, was cleared by an air traffic controller for takeoff from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, while Delta Air Lines Flight 954, a Convair CV-880, was taxiing across the runway. Ten of the 45 people on board the North Central DC-9 were killed in the resulting collision and 15 were injured; there were two minor injuries on the Delta CV-880.^[10]
• On July 25, 1978, North Central Flight 801 departed Kalamazoo-Battle Creek International Airport in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Shortly after take-off, the Convair 580 struck a bird. It flew 1 minute, 19 seconds longer before crashing into a cornfield east of the airport. There were 40 passengers and 3 crew on board, with 2 passengers and a crewman reporting serious injury. There were no fatalities.^[11]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: North Central Airlines

Aviation portal

• Herman the Duck
• Logos over the years