Mohawk Airlines

Mohawk Airlines
IATA code :	MO
ICAO code :	MO
Call sign :	MOHAWK
Founding:	1945
Operation stopped:	1972
Seat:	Utica (New York) United States
Home airport :	Oneida County Airport
Fleet size:	40 (February 1972)
Aims:	northeastern United States and internationally to Montreal and Toronto
Mohawk Airlines ceased operations in 1972. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Mohawk Airlines (originally Robinson Aviation , then Robinson Airlines ) was an American scheduled airline that was merged into Allegheny Airlines in 1972 .

history

The company was founded in Ithaca in early 1945 under the name Robinson Aviation by Cecil S. Robinson and began operations on April 6, 1945 with two three-seater Fairchild Model 24s . Robinson Aviation used the machines from Ithaca Municipal Airport on behalf of the state to take aerial photographs and for occasional services. Shortly afterwards, the company put twin-engine Cessna T-50s into service. The company received in 1946 the US Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) classification as an interstate carrier and thus a time-limited approval for scheduled flights within the state of New York . For this purpose, the name was changed to Robinson Airlines and used Beechcraft Model 18 machines were acquired. Initially, the Ithaca network, known as the "Route of the Air Chiefs" , included the cities of Albany , Binghamton , Buffalo and New York City . The CAB extended the company's line rights in the spring of 1948 for another three years, after which it put its first Douglas DC-3 into service on September 19, 1948 .

After Robinson Airlines had received unlimited line rights from the CAB, Cecil Robinson withdrew from the company in the spring of 1952 and ceded its management to Robert E. Peach. Peach then launched a customer competition to find a new name for the company. In the summer of 1952, Robinson Airlines was named Mohawk Airlines , named after the Mohawk Indian people . At that time, the company flew with a fleet of ten Douglas DC-3s from Ithaca Airport to twelve destinations in New York State as scheduled. The first beyond the borders of the state beyond line route were in the same year between Albany and Boston ( Massachusetts opened).

At the end of 1953, the management considered replacing the existing Douglas DC-3 with Sikorsky S-55 helicopters. With the takeover of their first Sikorsky S-55 on June 7, 1954 , Mohawk Airlines became the second US airline to operate a helicopter after National Airlines . However, the Sikorsky S-55 proved to be unsuitable in practice and was only used for a short time due to the high operating costs. As a replacement for their Douglas DC-3, Mohawk Airlines put Convair CV-240s acquired second-hand from July 1, 1955 into service, which had a pressurized cabin and a greater range.

In fiscal 1954, the company transported 222,148 passengers and taught among other connections to Bradford ( Pennsylvania ) and Keene ( New Hampshire on). Mohawk Airlines received scheduled flight rights from Niagara Falls via Erie (Pennsylvania) to Detroit ( Michigan ) from the CAB in 1956. The company operated eleven Douglas DC-3s and thirteen Convair CV-240s at that time. The facilities in Ithaca were no longer sufficient to maintain the aircraft, so that at the end of 1956 the company's headquarters were relocated to Utica and the operational base to the Utica Municipal Airport there. At the same time, Mohawk Airlines considerably expanded its route network within the state of New York and increased the number of its direct connections to New York City. From February 11, 1958, the company employed Ruth Carol Taylor, the first African-American female flight attendant in the country. The first Convair CV-440 was taken over by the manufacturer in September 1961. At the same time, the company changed its corporate identity and introduced black and gold paintwork on its aircraft.

A total of 16 Martin 4-0-4 aircraft , which were successively acquired by Eastern Air Lines , expanded the fleet from September 1961. At the same time, Mohawk Airlines opened its first international connection between Buffalo and Toronto . The national line network was extended to Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) and Cleveland ( Ohio ) in parallel . The company ordered in June 1962 as a second US carrier British jet aircraft of the type BAC 1-11 and shortly after eighteen turboprop machines of the type Fairchild Hiller FH-227 . The first of the four originally ordered BAC 1-11 was taken over by the manufacturer on May 16, 1965 and used as planned from July 11, 1965. The first Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 was delivered a year later. At the beginning of 1968 Mohawk Airlines had 2000 employees and operated a fleet of eleven BAC 1-11, four Convair CV-440s and 18 Fokker-Hiller FH-227s. Six more BAC 1-11 were put into service that same year.

In the 1968 financial year, the company made losses for the first time, which subsequently increased continuously. Due to the financial situation and a significant decrease in the number of passengers, Mohawk Airlines canceled three Boeing 727-200s ordered in November 1969 , which were to be used on newly requested routes, including to Atlanta , Kansas City and Nashville . The decision of the company's board of directors to thin out the existing route network and to cede unprofitable regional routes to smaller partner companies led to a labor dispute with the pilots' union lasting several months from November 12, 1970, which further weakened Mohawk Airlines economically. In search of donors, the management started negotiations with Allegheny Airlines in early 1971 . A minority stake in the company was considered, instead Allegheny Airlines bought the company completely on April 14, 1971. Robert E. Peach then committed suicide on April 20, 1971. Mohawk Airlines initially continued flight operations as a subsidiary of Allegheny Airlines under its own brand identity and was completely incorporated into it on April 12, 1972.

Planes

A Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 in 1970.

During the company's history, the following aircraft and helicopters have been operated:

• Beechcraft Model 18
• BAC 111-200
• Cessna T-50
• Convair CV-240
• Convair CV-440
• Douglas DC-3
• Fairchild Model 24
• Fairchild-Hiller FH-227
• Martin 4-0-4
• Sikorsky S-55

In spring 1972 the fleet consisted of 23 BAC 1-11 and 17 Fairchild-Hiller FH-227.

Incidents

From 1945 to the cessation of operations in 1972 Mohawk Airlines suffered four total write-offs of aircraft. Every one of them had fatalities; a total of 72 people were killed.

• On September 4, 1950, a Douglas DC-3 crashed after taking off from Utica after losing parts of the left engine . The three crew members and 13 of the 20 passengers were killed in the crash.

• On July 2, 1963, a Martin 4-0-4 had an accident during a thunderstorm while taking off from Rochester Municipal Airport in Monroe County (New York) . Shortly after take-off, the left wing hit the ground. Two crew members and five passengers were killed in the accident.

• On 23 June 1967, a crashed BAC 111 to 200 as a result of a fire that inside the vertical tail had broken out near the town of Blossburg ( Pennsylvania ab). Hot engine gases had flowed into the vertical stabilizer through faulty valves on the auxiliary power unit and set the hydraulic fluids on fire. This led to the failure of the elevators and the demolition of parts of the tail unit . All 34 occupants were killed (see also Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 ) .

• On November 19, 1969, the pilots of a Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 on approach to Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Warren County (New York) fell below the safety altitude . The machine hit Pilot Knob Mountain east of Lake George . All 14 inmates were killed.

• On March 3, 1972, the crew of a Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 (N7818M) reported a problem with the pitch of the left pitch propeller while approaching Albany International Airport . They also failed to bring the propeller into the sail position . The machine collided with a building about six kilometers from the runway threshold. Of the 48 occupants, 16 lost their lives, and one person was killed on the ground (see also Mohawk Airlines flight 405 ) .

See also

• Former Airlines List (America)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} William Lehman: Images of Aviation, US Airways . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston 2013, ISBN 978-0-7385-9623-5 .
2. ^ Robinson Airlines, flight plan December 2, 1946
3. ↑ Rzjets, Mohawk Airlines
4. ^ ^{A b} Aviation Online Magazine, Mohawk Airlines
5. ↑ Mohawk Airlines, flight plan January 1, 1953, route network
6. ^ Flight International, March 6, 1953
7. ↑ Mohawk Airlines, flight schedule January 1, 1953, Coming Events
8. ^ Flight International, November 3, 1953
9. ^ Flight International, April 16, 1954
10. ^ Flight International, March 11, 1955
11. ^ Mohawk Airlines, flight schedule April 25, 1954
12. ↑ Mohawk Airlines, flight plan August 1, 1957
13. ↑ Rzjets, Mohawk Airlines, Convair CV-440
14. ↑ Rzjets, Mohawk Airlines, Martin 4-0-4
15. ↑ Mohawk Airlines, flight plan June 21, 1962, route network
16. ↑ Rzjets, Mohawk Airlines, Fairchild Hiller FH-227
17. ^ Flight International, April 11, 1968
18. ^ Flight International, November 7, 1968
19. ^ Walter David Lewis: Airline Executives and Federal Regulation: Case Studies in American Enterprise from the Airmail Era to the Dawn of the Jet Age . The Ohio State University Press, Columbus 2000, ISBN 0-8142-0833-9 .
20. ↑ JP aircraft-markings 72
21. ↑ Accident statistics Mohawk Airlines , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on July 26, 2020.
22. ↑ Aircraft Accident data and report of the Robinson Airlines flight 32 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
23. ↑ Aircraft accident data and report for flight MO112 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
24. ↑ Flight accident data and report of flight MO40 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
25. ↑ Flight accident data and report of flight MO411 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
26. ↑ Accident report FH-227 N7818M , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 31, 2020.