12/19/1980: New York Air Commences Operations
New York Air was took to the skies on this day in 1980 in a bid to break the Eastern Airlines Shuttle monopoly on routes from the "Big Apple."
New York Air was took to the skies on this day in 1980 in a bid to break the Eastern Airlines Shuttle monopoly on routes from the "Big Apple."
DALLAS — Today in Aviation, New York Air (NY) commenced operations in 1980. The first flight took place from the airline's LaGuardia (LGA) hub to Washington National (DCA).
Aviation entrepreneur Frank Lorenzo and his Texas Air Corporation launched the airline. Lorenzo wanted to focus on the new carrier in the Northeastern United States, the business epicenter of the country. At the time, Eastern Airlines and its "Shuttle" held the monopoly on routes to and from New York. NY was created to challenge this monopoly.
New York Air became the second carrier to be established, after Chicago's Midway Airlines, following US airline deregulation. NY's launch was initially met with controversy. Indeed, the first flight only carried five passengers. The opposition came from the Airline Pilots Association and the Airline Scheduling Committee, plus an Air Traffic Control strike in its first year.
Despite these struggles, two years after the carrier's launch, it had doubled in size and was managing to turn a profit. A second smaller hub was inaugurated at New York Newark (EWR). Another hub followed this at Boston Logan (BOS), with flights to Baltimore (BWI) and Orlando (MCO). Sadly, this operation proved unprofitable and was closed by the end of 1982.
A new CEO, Michael E. Levine, was brought in to turn around the carrier's ailing fortunes. NY was repositioned as a full-service airline to target business passengers and better compete with the legacy carriers.
However, financial woes continued. Texas Air Corporation decided to merge all of its airline interests under the Continental Airlines (CO) brand. On February 1, 1987, New York Air made its final flight.
Featured Image: Two of the carrier's DC-9s are pictured at LGA. Photo: Jon Proctor, used with permission
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