Provincetown-Boston Airlines
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Founded | November 30, 1949 Parent company
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Headquarters | Provincetown, Massachusetts, United States | ||||||
Founder | John C. Van Arsdale |
Provincetown-Boston Airlines was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1949 until 1989, when it merged with Britt Airways. The airline operated a route network in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and at one time was the largest commuter airline in the United States before its purchase by People Express Airlines and then eventual consolidation with other commuter airlines into Continental Express, now United Express after the merger of Continental Airlines and United Airlines.
Beginnings
On November 30, 1949, PBA was founded by
Expansion
By 1953, PBA expanded with more airplanes and pilots. PBA acquired the Lockheed Model 10 Electra and used it on the Provincetown route, and then expanded service to include Cape Cod Airfield in Marstons Mills (later moved to Hyannis). Since demand for travel to Provincetown and Hyannis falls off during the winter months, in 1957 a cooperation arrangement with Naples Airlines of Naples, Florida was started, allowing the PBA aircraft to be used in Florida during the winter months. By 1958, PBA had taken over Naples Airlines and merged the two airlines together.
In the following years, the route network in Florida and New England was expanded, and in 1968 a Douglas DC-3 was bought at $50,000 and refurbished at a cost of $150,000 to fill the demand.[2] In 1975, a Martin 4-0-4 was added, and in 1980, PBA had a fleet of twelve DC-3s and four Martin 4-0-4s as well as a small number of smaller Cessnas and Pipers.
Seasonal expansion and contraction continued, but with year-round service to all locations. The larger aircraft were flown in New England during the busy summer months, with the smaller aircraft operating in Florida. In the winter months, the fleet would be swapped, with the DC-3s and Martin 404s migrating to Florida, and the Cessnas flying in the north. PBA also operated a flexible, demand-based schedule with its different fleet types, even in peak season. On days when demand was higher, the larger aircraft would be operated, but if bookings were light, the smaller aircraft would be used to save on fuel and operating expenses.
More expansion and changes
During the early 1980s the company expanded both in the north and in Florida. Two new aircraft types were introduced: the
The expansion and integration of all the new routes, aircraft and personnel brought about technical, safety and administrative shortcomings, which culminated in a crash on September 7, 1984. One person was killed and five injured, in the crash of the flight from Naples to Tampa that was mistakenly fueled with the wrong type of aircraft fuel. In November 1984, the FAA grounded the airline for this and many other safety violations.
Peter Van Arsdale turned to Hugh Culverhouse of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team for financial help for his ailing airline, in exchange for part ownership. The airline continued to lose money, Culverhouse gave up his investment, turning control back to Van Arsdale, and PBA filed for bankruptcy.
People Express
In May 1986,
People Express had also purchased
Continental Airlines (Now United Airlines)
On February 1, 1987, People Express completed the merger with Continental Airlines, and PBA's fate again came into question. Continental enjoyed having the PBA feeder flights at Newark, operating the flights now with the Continental Express name. Additional service was added as Continental Express with PBA's EMB-110s from Newark to Binghamton, NY, New Haven, CT and Baltimore, MD.
Texas Air also owned Eastern Airlines in addition to Continental, and Eastern had a codeshare relationship with Bar Harbor Airlines in Florida and New England. Continental also owned Britt Airways from the People Express merger, and Rocky Mountain Airways of Denver. While Bar Harbor's New England routes did not overlap PBA's, the Florida routes were in direct competition, and Continental was investing in Bar Harbor through airplane purchases.
In April 1988, Continental acquired majority interest in Bar Harbor Airlines and began consolidating Bar Harbor with PBA. PBA flight crews started operating the new Bar Harbor Airlines
The end of an era
In September 1988, Texas Air completed the consolidation of PBA with Bar Harbor Airlines. The PBA routes continued to have service as Continental Express and Eastern Express, but the old PBA Cessnas, Embraers, DC-3s, and YS-11s were all retired and replaced with the newer ATR-42s and Beech 1900s, now operating on the Bar Harbor Airlines certificate. The merger of the two carriers got off to a rocky start, as PBA flight crews were initially not given their seniority at the combined carrier for the first six months. Junior Bar Harbor pilots were able to get better positions than their more senior PBA coworkers. Some PBA captains who were formerly flying the ATRs under PBA were downgraded to the Beech 99s, while junior Bar Harbor pilots took their seats in the ATR-42s. Eventually seniority was integrated between the two workgroups.
Though the PBA name and logo were gone, much of the PBA ground staff, flight crews, and spirit remained on board, working for Continental Express. The PBA maintenance hangar and offices in Hyannis remained open, though downsized as a regional office for Continental Express. Continental ended service on the Provincetown-Boston route shortly after the merger in September 1988, but continued to operate most other PBA routes from Boston, LaGuardia, and Newark to the Cape and Islands with ATR-42, Beech 99 and Beech 1900 aircraft. The Provincetown route was briefly picked up by New Hampshire-based PAC Air, and then in 1989 by Cape Air.
Beyond PBA
After the Eastern Airlines strike in March 1989, the company rebranded the PBA/Bar Harbor flights in New England and Florida from Eastern Express back to Continental Express, practically overnight, in order to keep the routes flying. Continental ticket stock was shipped out to the stations, and Continental trainers were deployed to teach the Eastern Express ground staff how to use Continental's reservations/check-in systems. As Eastern came back to life, the
Continental then began the process of consolidating its four commuter carriers (PBA, Bar Harbor, Britt, Rocky Mountain) into one consolidated Continental Express carrier, serving its main hubs at Newark, Houston, and Denver. The combined carrier operated using the Britt Airways operating certificate. In the consolidation, PBA's Florida routes were spun off to Eastern Airlines, and continued to operate using Bar Harbor Airways aircraft and operating certificate as Eastern Express until the demise of Eastern Airlines. The PBA hubs at Boston and LaGuardia continued to operate for a little while longer.
In early 1991, Continental increased flights and destinations at LaGuardia airport after the shutdown of Eastern Airlines, and also increased the number of Continental Express flights and destinations at the airport. But after the end of the summer season in 1991, Continental decided to close the former PBA hubs at Boston and LaGuardia. Because some of the routes were operated under the federal
Cape Air slowly began adding other former PBA routes, and today resembles PBA, operating service to former PBA destinations in New England, and also occupying the former PBA hangar in Hyannis, though it no longer serves Florida. Today, Cape Air operates many of the former PBA
PBA's ATR-42s continued to operate flights for Continental Express in Newark for a number of years. Eventually, Continental retired the ATR-42s in favor of regional jets. Continental eventually
Fleet
- Cessna Bobcat
- Lockheed Model 10 Electra
- Piper Aztec
- Cessna 402
- Douglas DC-3
- Martin 4-0-4
- Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante
- NAMC YS-11
- ATR-42
Hubs, routes, and destinations
From: Boston, MA (BOS)- to-
From: New York/LaGuardia (LGA) to-
From: New York/Newark (EWR) to-
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From: Jacksonville, FL (JAX) to-
From: Tampa, FL (TPA) and St. Petersburg, FL (PIE) to-
From: Miami, FL (MIA) to-
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Accidents and incidents
- On December 6, 1984, Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039 crashed just after takeoff at Jacksonville International Airport. All 11 passengers and 2 crew members perished in the accident.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Flights to/from Fort Myers operated from Page Field (FMY) until May 1983, when all commercial service was relocated to the newly-opened Southwest Florida Regional Airport (RSW)
References
- ^ Hartman, Curtis (Feb 1, 1983). "Pba: A Tale Of Two Airlines". Inc. New York,, NY. Retrieved April 18, 2014.
- ^ Lee, Carol & Patricia Trenner (October 1986). "Something Special in the Air". Air and Space: 95.
- ^ Hengi, [page needed]
- ^ Hartman, Curtis. "Tail Spin". Inc. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^ Staff writer; no by-line. "Aviation: Crash of a Troubled Airline:The Provincetown-Boston Airline". Time Inc. Archived from the original on June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
- ^ "United to change flights between Guam and Saipan June 1". April 16, 2018.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- Hengi, B. I. (2000). Airlines Remembered. Hersham, England, UK: Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1857800913.
External links
- Henderson, David P. "PBA Provincetown-Boston Airline". Sunshine Skies. (Vintage PBA photos)
- "PBA Provincetown-Boston Airline". Air Times: Collectors guide to timetables. October 1, 2006. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2015. (Timetables and Logo)
- PBA Electra photo[dead link]
- Staff writer; no by-line. (December 5, 1984). "Provincetown-Boston Airline Says All Its Flights Are Back". New York Times. New York, NY.