Mohawk Airlines was perhaps the most revolutionary airline of its time. Although its name has since been forgotten by most of the public, it is remembered by avgeeks for changing the industry in so many ways!
Most people would think that the airlines that changed the world fifty years ago are the same airlines that, today are some of the oldest and largest airlines. In reality, they aren’t- they’re just the ones who made it popular.
Pre-Formation
On December 7 1941, the US was shaken after an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor. This incident led to the declaration of war by the US on Japan.
This situation, inadvertently started up several airlines. You see, just after the declaration of war, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) suspended all new awards for new air services, in order to focus on the war effort.
In July 1944, the CAB realized that new airlines would be needed in order to transport everything for the war. As such, many new airlines were established to serve as feeder airlines for the “Big Four” airlines of the day (United, Eastern, TWA and American).
One of the people this interested was aerial photographer and entrepreneur Cecil Robinson. Before the war, he’d pioneered technology to make new metal mounts for cameras, that didn’t freeze at high altitudes, like their rubber counterparts.
During WWII, the US military increasingly needed his metal mounts for their aircraft. As such, he did quite well during the war. His factory was in Teterboro, New Jersey, but his house was in Ithaca, New York.
As such, he’d commute between the two places in his Fairchild F24. He often found that people wanted to catch a ride with him, and pay him their fare for being transported to Teteboro.
Formation And Early Years
After hearing about how the CAB was seemingly awarding new air services, left, right and center and with many people ready and willing to pay him to fly them between Ithaca and Teterboro, he got an idea.
This idea led to the establishment of Robinson Airlines in 1945. The first scheduled passenger flight took place on April 6 1945, after having been granted a new air service by the CAB.
After the war, demand continued to increase, with Robinson splitting his time running his manufacturing business and airline. As such, he began hiring new pilots to keep up with demand.
One of these pilots was future-Mohawk Airlines owner Robert Peach. before joining Robinson Airlines, he had been a decorated fighter ace in the Pacific Theater, as well as a Cornell University of Law graduate.
Whilst doing this, Robinson Airlines also took possession of two Cessna T-50s. Later, in 1946, Robinson Airlines’ entire fleet was replaced with Beechcraft Model 18s.
Although the airline was doing better than ever, Robinson spent much of his time at his manufacturing business, often being laid back about the airline’s expansion. As such, finances began to suffer.
In order to keep the airline afloat, Robinson secured outside investment from several Ithaca-based enterprises. However, Robinson Airlines’ most famous investor was Edwin Albert Link, the inventor of the Link Trainer.
The Rise
In 1948, Edwin Albert Link lent Robinson Airlines $75,000 to purchase three Douglas DC-3s. However, in exchange for his investment, he demanded that Robinson Airlines be put under new management to secure his investment.
This led to Robinson leaving the company’s day-to-day management in the hands of the aforementioned Robert Peach. By 1952, Cecil had purchased a majority stake in Robinson Airlines, with Robinson leaving the company entirely.
Soon after this, in 1953, the Robinson Airlines board decided to rename the airline Mohawk Airlines, in honor of the Mohawk Valley which had become one of the most flown routes on their aircraft.
By 1953, the newly renamed-Mohawk Airlines was flying two million passenger between 15 airports, all whilst making a revenue of $24.3 million.
Mohawk saw their golden age at the end of the 1950’s and the beginning of the 1960’s. The beginning of the Golden Age of Aviation was especially lucrative for regional airlines such as Mohawk, who saw their destinations and fleet expand.
By May 1968, Mohawk served 38 airports across the Northeastern United States with a fleet of 71 different aircraft (both jet and piston). It operated one of the largest fleets of any regional airline in the US (at the time).
The Firsts
Several times during its history, Mohawk Airlines made history (and headlines) for being the first airline to do things that have become staples of the modern-day airline industry.
African-American Flight Attendant
The 1950’s were a very discriminatory time, when compared with today. Today, seeing an African-American flight attendant is like seeing a white one- we don’t think twice. In the 1950’s this was much different.
Before 1958, there had never been an African-American flight attendant for any US airline. Ever. Before 1958, most regional and international travelers would never have even dreamed of an African American flight attendant serving them.
But, on February 11 1958, Mohawk Airlines made headlines all over the United States and abroad for an almost-unheard of hiring decision. They hired Ruth Carol Taylor, an African-American woman, as a flight attendant.
For the next six months, Ruth Carol Taylor served on Mohawk Airlines’ flights just as any other flight attendant would. But, in August 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor was dismissed by Mohawk.
This wasn’t for being incompetent or due to a poor reception from passengers. Instead, it was due to an airline policy that no longer exists- dismissing married or pregnant flight attendants.
In August 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor got married to her fiancé. After getting married, Ruth carol Taylor was dismissed due to the aforementioned airline policy.
Helicopters
Before Mohawk, the majority of airlines were strictly fixed-wing only, with helicopters being rarely used. And even then, it was for people from influential families, or the boss of the airline.
As for the helicopter itself, it would be rented from the military or one of the many aircraft graveyards scattered across the country.
In the summer of 1954, Mohawk began experimenting with helicopters. They began offering flights on a former US military Sikorsky S-55 helicopters between Newark, New Jersey and Grossinger’s Resort.
This S-55 flew 13 flights a week to-and-from Newark and Grossinger’s for $18 ($172 today) plus tax. Although it was a failure, never once making a profit, it did incidentally lead to the birth of helicopter airlines such as New York Airways.
Others
Following their blunder attempting to be a helicopter airline, Mohawk went back to basics: fixed-wing aircraft. In July 1955, Mohawk received its first Convair CV-240 aircraft, being one of the first in the US to receive them.
The Convair CV-240 was known for being one of the first pressurized airliners. As such, they soon gained a name for themselves in the local area for being the only airline to operate pressurized aircraft.
In 1961, due in part to the Golden Age of Aviation, Mohawk became the first airline in the world to introduce a fully-electronic, centralized seat reservation service. This was soon adopted by other airlines such as Western Airlines.
Four years later, in 1965, with help from the aforementioned Edwin Albert Link, Mohawk became the first airline to use flight simulators to train pilots. This gave the public the idea that Mohawk had better trained pilots than other airlines.
1965 also saw Mohawk become the first regional airline to operate a jet fleet, after it took possession of 24 BAC 1-11-200s from BAC. It was also the first airline in its area to have a large fleet of jet aircraft.
The Problem
As with most airlines, Mohawk had always struggled with staying financially strong. However, they had always found a way to get out of the red by some miracle.
However, in 1968, the US experienced a minor economic slump which soon became the 1969-1970 Inflation Recession. This naturally soon began to cause financial issues for Mohawk as no one was flying.
With that, fuel prices also shot up, almost eliminating all of Mohawk’s remaining profit margin. As such, Mohawk bosses began to borrow more money from creditors, which it was using to pay off other creditors.
The recession also saw a series of layoffs. Not only were pilots, air and ground crews made redundant, but many of their aircraft were also stored until the recession was over.
To add to Mohawks’s problems, many of the remaining air crews began demanding a pay rise, something Mohawk simply couldn’t afford. These two factors combined risked Mohawk ceasing operations.
The Merger
As such, Mohawk began looking for a way to save itself. The only way to do that was to merge with another airline, which many major airlines were very happy to do given Mohawk’s routes and fleet size.
The main airline interested in a merger was similarly-sized regional airline Allegheny Airlines. In late 1971, it was publicly announced that Allegheny and Mohawk were in talks for a merger.
By April 1972, Mohawk and Allegheny officially merged, taking the more widely known name of Allegheny Airlines. Over the next few months, Mohawk aircraft flew a part-Allegheny, part-Mohawk livery.
At the end of that period, all Mohawk staff, systems and aircraft were assimilated into Allegheny. Over the years, Allegheny (as well as USAir/US Airways) flew retro liveries featuring Mohawk, although this was quite rare.
How Safe Was Mohawk Airlines?
The financial and labor issues were not the only ones that caused Mohawk problems. Over the course of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Mohawk Airlines had four crashes as well as one hijacking, all of which were very high-profile.
Over the course of its history, Mohawk Airlines also operated several dangerous aircraft (by modern standards) such as the BAC One Eleven.
Despite this, looking back on it, Mohawk was actually one of the safer airlines of its day. Of the four crashes that happened, most of them were down to unforeseeable events or pilot error.
During its time, Mohawk was seen as one of the safest airlines in the world. That was until Mohawk Airlines Flight 452 was hijacked. The hijacking was the center of not only local but national news too.
After this, Mohawk began to have somewhat of a bad reputation, mostly for allowing the hijacking in the first place. In fact, it was partly due to Flight 452 that the Federal Air Marshal Service was established.
What Was it Like to Fly on Mohawk Airlines?
Due to no longer being in operation, especially with how long it hasn’t been in operation for, it is especially difficult to find people who have flown on Mohawk Airlines.
However, of the two people I was able to interview, they had this to say about it:
In most ways, it was just like any other regional airline of its time. It was mostly punctual, had great in-flight service and had great staff. Plus, if you wanted to, you could go up and speak to the pilots during the flight.
The flights were also more comfortable and generally faster than their competition! (Mostly because they used jets, compared to their competitor’s piston and later turboprop aircraft)
Both of the two passengers I interviewed were also very sad that the airline doesn’t really operate anymore. However, one did say that he flew on Allegheny, USAir and later US Airways (Now American Airlines).
Legacy
Mohawk left an impact on both Allegheny Airlines and the airline industry as a whole.
Allegheny Airlines
When Allegheny Airlines merged with Mohawk, all of Mohawk’s aircraft, staff, training facilities, systems and policies were absorbed into Allegheny’s fleet, most notably their BAC One Elevens.
The Mohawk-Allegheny merger also inadvertently started Allegheny’s Allegheny Commuter system. Many of the routes previously served by Mohawk were later served by Allegheny’s aircraft.
Many of the systems that Mohawk pioneered, were later used by Allegheny. Once Allegheny became USAir and was later bought out by US Airways (and later American) these systems became some of the most widely used in the world.
Airline Industry
Because Mohawk Airlines merged with Allegheny, which was later bought out by US Airways, and later by American, there is still an airline that uses Mohawk’s systems. Although these systems have been upgraded since the 1960’s.
Many of the Mohawk Airlines board and management joined Allegheny (with the notable exception of Robert Peach who died in April 1951) many of whom left their own marks and innovations on the industry.
Many of these board members had their own protégés, who are now members of the American Airlines board. Some of these protégés have since moved to other airlines, helping them innovate too.
Did you ever fly on Mohawk Airlines? What was it like? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Ken Fielding via Wikimedia Commons.