Brockway Air was a

regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...

in the United States, which was formerly known as Air North and originally as Northern Airways.

History

Headquartered in Burlington, Vermont, the airline began operating in the late 1960s under a marketing relationship with

Mohawk Airlines Mohawk Airlines was a regional passenger airline operating in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, mainly in New York and Pennsylvania, from the mid-1940s until its acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972. At its height, it employe ...

, replacing or supplementing Mohawk's service at small communities in northern New York state and New England. These services connected Boston, Albany, New York and Syracuse, New York with Worcester, Massachusetts, Keene, New Hampshire, Burlington and Rutland in Vermont and the northern New York state cities of Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, Massena, Ogdensburg and Watertown. Northern Airways' initial fleet consisted of the deHavilland Canada

DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...

(short take off and landing) capable commuter turboprop airliner. Following the acquisition of Mohawk Airlines by

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself me ...

in April 1972, Air North (the name that Northern Airways was then operating under) became an

Allegheny Commuter Allegheny, Alleghany or Allegany may refer to: Places Geologic and geographic features * Allegheny River, in Pennsylvania and New York * Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vir ...

air carrier, operating

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

services for

connecting northern cities in New York state along with Burlington and Rutland in Vermont to larger airports at Syracuse, NY and Albany, NY. Air North ended its Allegheny Commuter relationship in the late 1970s and expanded service in New York state and New England into the early 1980s. The airline's fleet was also expanded with the addition in 1979 of 30-seat

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

commuter airliners. These larger turboprop aircraft joined the Air North fleet shortly before the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

held at

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburgh. ...

near Air North's service point of Saranac Lake. Further fleet growth came in 1980 when Air North became an operator of the

Grumman Gulfstream I The Grumman Gulfstream I (company designation G-159) is a twin-turboprop business aircraft. It first flew on August 14, 1958. Design and development After first rejecting an idea to develop the Grumman Widgeon as an executive transport, the comp ...

-C (G-159C) regional airliner, a 37-seat stretched version of the

turboprop executive aircraft. Powered by

Rolls-Royce Dart The Rolls-Royce RB.53 Dart is a turboprop engine designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Limited. First run in 1946, it powered the Vickers Viscount on its maiden flight in 1948. A flight on July 29 of that year, which carried 14 paying passe ...

engines, the Grumman I-C was used by Air North on routes requiring greater speed and passenger capacity than was possible with the airline's Shorts 330s. Air North was one of the very few airlines to ever operate the Gulfstream I-C propjet in scheduled passenger service. In April 1982 Air North acquired three

Fokker F.27 The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

-600 airliners that had previously been operated in California by the defunct

Swift Aire Lines Swift Aire Lines was a U.S. commuter air carrier that was based in San Luis Obispo, California. The airline's two letter code was "WI". Swift Aire provided scheduled passenger air service wholly within California from the late 1960s until 1981 ...

which had acquired these turboprop aircraft new from the manufacturer. Air North adopted Swift Aire's green and white livery design and added the Fokkers' 48-seat capacity to the airline's expanding route network that by then included New York City, Philadelphia and Washington along with a connecting hub at Binghamton, NY. During 1984 the

Brockway Glass Brockway Glass Company was founded in 1907 in Brockway, Pennsylvania by the Brockway Machine Bottle Company (which later became Brockway Glass). Brockway manufactured and sold glass containers and tubing along with plastic products manufactured th ...

Co. of Brockway, Pennsylvania expanded its aviation holdings and engineered a dual acquisition of Air North and Clinton Aero, a regional airline headquartered in Plattsburgh, New York. Clinton Aero had been formed to operate to several small cities in northern New York state, replacing service previously provided by Air North. Brockway Glass was also the owner of

Crown Airways Crown Airways was a regional airline operating for USAir Express with its headquarters on the grounds of DuBois Regional Airport in Washington Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, near Falls Creek."World Airline Directory." ''Flight Inte ...

, an Allegheny Commuter airline headquartered at DuBois, Pennsylvania. The combination of

Air North Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as , is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, ...

and Clinton Aero took place on October 1, 1984, and the new airline began operations as Brockway Air with the fleet receiving Brockway blue and tan liveries. The Clinton Aero fleet had included the

Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

19-seat

regional airliner A regional airliner or a feederliner is a small airliner that is designed to fly up to 100 passengers on short-haul flights, usually feeding larger carriers' airline hubs from small markets. This class of airliners is typically flown by the re ...

and additional orders for the B1900 turboprop were made by the new Brockway Air. By 1985, the fleet had been rationalized around the F.27 and the B1900 and service was further expanded through growth of the Binghamton hub (30 weekday flights by September 1985) and the addition of flights between key northeast markets such as Buffalo-Washington, Syracuse-Newark and Burlington-Boston. As Brockway Air expanded, the airline was increasingly in competition with larger airlines operating in the northeast region. These included

US Air US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon b ...

and

Empire Airlines Empire Airlines is a passenger and cargo airline based in Hayden, Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene. It operates over 120 scheduled cargo flights a day in 18 US states and Canada. Empire also started passenger service within Hawaii, under the name "Oh ...

, both with route networks heavily focused on the New York state and Northeast markets that Brockway served. The 1986 acquisition of Empire Airlines by

Piedmont Airlines Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in unincorporated Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines ...

, and Piedmont's decision to expand the connecting hub complex that Empire had built at Syracuse signaled the closing of Brockway Air's operations as an independent airline. With Piedmont's new presence in the northeast, Brockway Air opted to join the Piedmont Commuter network in the spring of 1986. This move brought a realignment of Brockway's routes to better feed connecting passengers to Piedmont at Syracuse and other large northeast airports and brought Brockway the marketing advantages that major airline affiliation offered. The affiliation with Piedmont Airlines was to last for three years. In early 1987, Piedmont accepted a purchase offer from US Air and Piedmont became fully integrated into US Air during August 1989. Brockway Air's ownership was also to change as Brockway Glass was acquired by

Owens-Illinois O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South A ...

and the Brockway Air subsidiary was placed for sale, attracting the interest of

Metro Airlines Metro Airlines, originally Houston Metro Airlines, was a commuter airline that was originally headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States,. Metro subsequently moved its headquarters to north Texas. The airline had an operational base located ...

of Texas. Metro Airlines had embraced code-sharing with major airlines as a growth strategy during the 1980s and had significant operations as an

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

carrier on behalf of

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

with a hub located at the

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport , also known as DFW Airport, is the primary international airport serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and the North Texas Region in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest hub for American Air ...

(DFW) in Texas via its wholly owned Metroflight division as well as operating a subsidiary under contract to

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

as Eastern Metro Express with a hub located at the Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL). The airline holding company which controlled Metro Airlines and Metroflight purchased Brockway Air in the summer of 1989 and changed Brockway's name to Metro Air Northeast. That move coincided with a new codeshare relationship with

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

(

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

) under the TWExpress banner and the airline's routes were once again realigned to better feed passenger traffic to TWA at New York's Kennedy International Airport and at Boston.

Destinations

Destination information includes cities previously served by Air North and is compiled from various Air North and Brockway Air system timetable route maps which are referenced below. *

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

) **

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

(

Martha's Vineyard Airport Martha's Vineyard Airport is a public airport located in the middle of the island of Martha's Vineyard, three miles (5 km) south of the central business district of Vineyard Haven, in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. This airpor ...

) **

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island about south from Cape Cod. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket, a combined county/town government that is part of the U.S. state of Massachuse ...

(

Nantucket Memorial Airport Nantucket Memorial Airport is a public airport on the south side of the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the Town of Nantucket and is located three miles (5 km) southeast of the town center., effective April ...

) *

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

** Albany (

Albany International Airport Albany International Airport is six miles (9 km) northwest of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority. ALB covers of land. It is an air port of entry in the town of Colon ...

) **

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

(

Greater Binghamton Airport Greater Binghamton Airport is a county-owned American airport eight miles north of Binghamton, in Broome County, New York. It is in East Maine, New York and serves the Southern Tier of New York. The airport was named Broome County Airport t ...

) ** Buffalo (

Buffalo Niagara International Airport Buffalo Niagara International Airport is in Cheektowaga, New York. The airport serves Buffalo, New York and Niagara Falls, New York United States, and the southern Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. It is the third-busiest airport in ...

) ** Elmira/ Corning (

Elmira/Corning Regional Airport Elmira Corning Regional Airport is in Chemung County, New York, seven miles northwest of Elmira and eight miles east of Corning. It is in the town of Big Flats but its mailing address is Horseheads, New York. The airport was formerly Elmira ...

) **

Glens Falls Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

(

Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport in Warren County, New York, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) northeast of the central business district of Glens Falls, in the town of Que ...

)* **

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

(

Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport Ithaca Tompkins International Airport is a county-owned airport located in the Town of Lansing, three miles northeast of Ithaca, the county seat and only city in Tompkins County, New York. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for ...

** Massena (

Massena International Airport Massena International Airport (Richards Field) is in St. Lawrence County, New York. It is east of the village of Massena. The airport sees one airline, subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. Federal Aviation Administration records ...

) **

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

) ** Ogdensburg (

Ogdensburg International Airport Ogdensburg International Airport is a public airport located in the town of Oswegatchie, southeast of Ogdensburg, in St. Lawrence County, New York. It is owned by the Ogdensburg Bridge & Port Authority, which also owns and operates the Ogd ...

) **

Plattsburgh Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surrounding ...

(

Clinton County Airport Clinton County Airport is a former county-owned public-use airport in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located west of the central business district of the city of Plattsburgh. It served ...

)* **

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

(

Dutchess County Airport Hudson Valley Regional Airport , formerly known as Dutchess County Airport, is a county-owned public-use airport located on State Route 376 in the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, New York, United States, four miles (6 km) south of the ...

)* **

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

(

Greater Rochester International Airport Frederick Douglass - Greater Rochester International Airport is a public airport located within the City of Rochester, three miles (6 km) southwest of Downtown, in Monroe County, New York, United States. It is owned and operated by Monro ...

) ** Saranac Lake ( Adirondack Regional Airport) **

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

(

Syracuse Hancock International Airport Syracuse Hancock International Airport is a joint civil–military airport five miles (8 km) northeast of downtown Syracuse, New York, and south of Watertown. Operated by the Syracuse Department of Aviation, it is located off Interstate 81, ne ...

) **

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

(

Watertown International Airport Watertown International Airport is in the Town of Hounsfield in Jefferson County, New York, United States, west of Watertown. The airport is used for general aviation, but has scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Serv ...

) ** White Plains (

Westchester County Airport Westchester County Airport is a county-owned airport in Westchester County, New York, three miles (6 km) northeast of downtown White Plains, with territory in the towns of North Castle and Harrison, New York, and village of Rye Brook, New ...

) *

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

(

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...

) **

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

(

Atlantic City International Airport Atlantic City International Airport is a shared civil-military airport northwest of Atlantic City, New Jersey, in Egg Harbor Township, the Pomona section of Galloway Township and in Hamilton Township. The airport is accessible via Exit 9 on ...

) *

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

(

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

) ** Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ( Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport) *

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

(

Burlington International Airport Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport serving Burlington, Vermont, the state of Vermont's largest municipality. It is owned by the City of Burlington and located in the neighboring city of South Burlington, thr ...

) **

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

(

Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest l ...

) *

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

(

Reagan National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

) ''Those airports marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer served by scheduled commercial airline flights''.

Historical Fleet

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, which produced the aircraft from 1965 to 1988; Viking Air purchased the type certificate, then restarted ...

-600 Friendship *

-C (G-159C) *

References

AirTimes.com Brockway Air Timetable Gallery
* timetableimages.com, April 26, 1981 & July 15, 1984 Air North system timetables * departedflights.com, Nov. 15, 1979 & Jan. 1, 1984 Air North system timetable route maps * departedflights.com, June 1, 1984, Dec. 1, 1984 & Sept. 3, 1985 Brockway Air system timetable route maps {{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct companies based in Vermont Companies based in Burlington, Vermont Airlines established in 1960 Airlines disestablished in 1989

History

Destinations

Historical Fleet

See also

References