The following story was taken from the fall 1977 issue of the Maine Central "Messenger" magazine that was published by the Maine Central Railroad and is not copyrighted. Boston - Maine Airways A little-known New England transportation fact is that the first, regular, continuing air service in Maine was provided by New England's two major railroads, Boston & Maine and Maine Central. This 1930's railroad venture into the air evolved into Northeast Airlines, one of the nation's major airlines. A few years ago the northeast "Yellow bird" was retired and the airline became part of Delta Airlines, one of the country's largest and most profitable carriers. Maine enjoyed irregular and infrequent air service between Boston, Portland, Rockland and Bar Harbor during 1929 and 1930. Boston & Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad management had considered for several instituting air service to points along the Maine coast in order to provide speed and convenience not available from existing passenger train service. These studies intensified in 1931 under the direction of Laurence Whittemore, B&M's assistant to the president. The railroad studies resulted in the formation of Boston - Maine Airways, a joint subsidiary of the Boston & Maine and Maine Central Railroads. An agreement was worked out in 1931 whereby Pan American, acting as a contractor to Boston-Maine Airways, would provide summer service through Boston-Maine Airways. It is believed that this service was the first in the nation sponsored by railroads. The agreement with Pan Am only lasted through the summer of 1931 and service was terminated. Boston-Maine Airways entered into a contract with National Airways which had been formed for the specific purpose of providing service for Boston-Maine Airways. One of the vice-presidents was Amelia Earhart, the first aviatrix to fly the Atlantic. With the new corporate arrangement, each railroad owned about 16 per cent of the stock and the president and one of the vice-presidents of National Airways owned over 16 per cent each. Regular year-round air service was inaugurated by Boston-Maine Airways on August 11, 1933. The first aircraft used in this service were two Stinson Trimotor planes which were purchased from Eastern Airlines for only $2500 each. The 3-year old planes cost $22,500 new. They had no retractable landing gear, wings covered by fabric, only one pilot and carried 10 people at a cruising speed of 85 miles per hour. The headquarters for the new airline was in Scarborough just outside Portland with an unheated hangar and a grass landing field. Herbert Baldwin, former investigative reporter for the Boston Post and this time publicity director for both railroads, traveled northern New England with Miss Earhart promoting the new service. Baldwin later said that the effort was aimed primarily at the housewife, convincing her that airplanes were safe so that she would allow her husband to fly. The new air service was known as the "Flying Yankee of the Air" and consisted of three daily round trips Boston- Portland, one round trip Boston - Portland - Waterville - Bangor and one round trip Boston - Portland - Rockland - Bangor. The Boston - Portland (90 miles) flying time 50 minutes and Boston - Bangor (215 miles) was 135 minutes with a 10-minute stop at Portland and five minutes at Waterville. The one-way fare Boston - Portland was $5.50 and Boston - Bangor, $13.00. The Rockland stop was discontinued during the first year due to lack of patronage. Boston - Maine Airways was soon joined by Central Vermont Airways, an airline sponsored by Central Vermont Railway. This allowed service to be expanded into New Hampshire and Vermont and later to Montreal. Headquarters for the growing airline was moved from Scarborough to East Boston in the spring of 1934. In the winter of 1933-34 the airline used winter chains on the planes' wheels for better braking on ice-covered fields. It may have been the first airline in the country to do so. In October 1936, two 10-passenger Lockheed Electras were obtained at a cost of $50,000 each. The all-metal planes had a cruising speed of 183 miles per hour, reducing the flying time Boston - Portland to 39 minutes and Boston - Bangor to 95 minutes. In 1937 pressured by the need for new equipment, National Airways was dissolved and the management became part of Boston - Maine Airways. The Aroostook Division was inaugurated in 1937 in cooperation with Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, providing service to northern Maine. During 1938 Atlas Corporation bought some Boston - Maine Airways stock. Atlas was a large holding company controlled by Floyd Odlum and his wife Jacqueline Cochram, both famous pilots. As of August 1, 1938, with five years of regular flying service, Boston - Maine Airways had flown 45,000 passengers two million miles without a mishap. As airline patronage grew, the line experienced a record month in June 1940, carrying 2,855 passengers 104,814 miles. July 3, 1940 was a record with 150 passengers riding the railroad-controlled airline. By November 1940, all flights were using Lockheed Electras, but new and larger planes were required to provide needed capacity. The most suitable plane available was the Douglas DC-3, a twin-engine, 24-seater, costing about $120,000, too much for the railroads to handle. In order to obtain funds for new equipment, new shares of stock were successfully offered to the public. As part of the financing plan, the name of the airline was changed on November 16, 1940 to the name it would carry for over 30 years - Northeast Airlines. Railroad involvement in air service was destined to be short-lived due to government regulation. A short time after the Civil Aeronautics Board was formed in 1938, it ruled that no surface carrier should control an airline. Boston - Maine Airways and Northeast Airlines were exempted from this prohibition because the control existed before the formation of the CAB. Northeast Airlines had an application pending for services to New York and west to Chicago and even overseas service was contemplated. the CAB made it clear that as long as railroads controlled the airline, approval of route extensions would be denied. In 1943 both Maine Central and Boston & Maine decided to sell most of their airline stock with the majority of it going to Atlas Corporation. Railroad control was now at less than ten per cent and Northeast Airlines grew steadily for several years until it was taken over by Delta Air Lines in 1972. New England railroads, including Maine Central, played a vital role in air travel, provided the inauguration, growth and stabilization of air service in northern New England and eastern Canada.