New York Air was a low-cost U.S. airline owned by

Texas Air Corporation Texas Air Corporation, also known as Texas Air, was an airline holding company, incorporated in June 1980 by airline investor Frank Lorenzo to hold and invest in airlines. The company had its headquarters in the America Tower in the American G ...

and based at Hangar 5 at

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 ...

Flushing, Queens, New York Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the ...

. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

. New York Air was well known for its onboard bagged snacks, known as "The Flying Nosh".

History

Foundation

In September 1980, Frank Lorenzo's

announced plans to launch a low-fare airline in the Northeast US, which would then become known as New York Air. The carrier would be the second airline to launch following the deregulation of the US airline industry, which allowed Texas Air to freely expand its operations without government intervention. New York Air would initially compete with

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 ...

and its

Eastern Air Shuttle Eastern Air Lines Shuttle (or Eastern Air Shuttle) was the brand name of Eastern's air shuttle that began on April 30, 1961. The shuttle originally flew between New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Newark. The shuttle became part of the ...

service, which offered hourly service between New York's

, Boston's

Logan 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 partial ...

, and Washington DC's National Airport, by operating a similar hourly service between the three cities, but offering lower fares than Eastern, and also offering advanced reservations and complimentary drinks and snacks, which Eastern didn't offer. The airline then planned to expand and offer service to other cities along the East Coast. Plans were also announced for a large operation in White Plains, however never commenced. New York Air DC-9 Detroit - 16 August 1983

New York Air DC-9 Detroit - 16 August 1983

Founding New York Air president, Neal F. Meehan, had been a senior manager at both

and at Texas International Airlines (TI). In September, 1980, he assembled a team of airline managers; within 90 days it had hired, trained, uniformed, and drilled New York Air's flight crew, flight attendants, dispatchers, terminal, ramp and reservations personnel. Office and maintenance facilities in the hangar which had originally housed American Airlines headquarters at LaGuardia in the 1930s were thrown up rapidly, and the carrier obtained FAA certification as an adjunct to TI's certificate. In one notable vignette, New York Air managers interviewed over a thousand candidates for flight attendant, reservations, and airport jobs in one day of group interviews held at New York's famed Town Hall Theater, in November 1980. New York Air commenced operations on December 19, 1980, with a flight from New York LaGuardia to Washington National, however only 5 of the 125 seats on the aircraft were filled. By April 1981, New York Air had an average 62% load factor, close to its break-even load factor of 65%, and had generated a $1.5 million loss. Executives described this as a 'moderate success', however subsequently raised fares on its LaGuardia flights.

Initial struggles

Following its launch, New York Air quickly expanded and established a hub operation in LaGuardia, with new service to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

beginning in April 1981, as well as smaller focus cities in Boston and Washington National. However several planned destinations, such as

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and service to several destinations

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York (state), New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upsta ...

, were scrapped. A LaGuardia-

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

service was operated for a short period, before being shifted to Newark, where the airline began a secondary smaller hub operation. By July, services from LaGuardia to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

had also begun. By December, the airline had a fleet of 13

DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

aircraft. The

1981 Air Traffic Controllers strike The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a United States trade union that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following an illegal strike that was broken by the Reagan Administration. Beginnings P ...

badly affected New York Air's operations and its finances. The strike led to long flight delays, encouraging passengers to avoid flying. In order to ease delays, the Federal Aviation Administration reduced the number of available slots in Northeastern airports, forcing airlines to cut flights. Larger airlines were able to counter this by using larger aircraft, such as Eastern's decision to operate 260-seat Airbus A300s on its shuttle flights. This meant that Eastern could still carry the same number of passengers per day despite the slot reductions, reducing the damage to its income. Due to New York Air's small fleet, it was unable to follow a similar tactic, and its shuttle service was heavily damaged by the slot restrictions. This, as well as Eastern's larger aircraft flooding the market, led to New York Air ending its Boston service after less than a year in operation. To maintain a presence in Boston, the airline established a hub at Logan Airport, offering service to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

and

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

. However, these services proved to be unprofitable, and the Boston hub was closed by the end of 1982. Services to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Louisville had also been cut due to competition from larger airlines such as Eastern and United. To keep the airline afloat, Texas Air provided a $10 million cash injection, and banks provided $15 million in revolving credit. Another $15 million was obtained through the sale of 1.8 million shares. To keep the company going through winter 1981, the airline sought another $10–15 million from its banks.

Union disputes

Texas Air and Lorenzo's poor attitude towards labor unions lead to New York Air being established as a non-union company, angering the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), as well as staff at Texas International Airlines, also a Texas Air subsidiary, who branded New York Air as a 'runaway shop'. A week after New York Air commenced operations, a number of Texas International employees began picketing outside LaGuardia Airport, claiming that the airline was an attempt by Texas Air to get around Texas International's union contracts, and that the company was seeking to remove unionized staff by shifting operations to the non-union New York Air. Meehan denied this, stating that New York Air was "completely separate from Texas International" and would be prepared to negotiate contracts if its staff chose to unionize. ALPA soon began a full-scale campaign with the intention of preventing New York Air from growing as a non-union airline. In July 1981, ALPA set up what it called a 'political campaign-style operation', with a call centre and volunteers mailing informational material, against the airline. Leaflets and brochures were created, describing New York Air as 'Texas Air's Bad Apple' (a play on New York's 'Big Apple' nickname, and referencing the apple icon in New York Air's logo), and containing damning statistics about the airline, such as its poor on-time record and reputation for overbooked flights. Badges with printed 'Please Don't Fly New York Air' titles on were also produced. The materials used an edited version of the New York Air logo with a rotten apple. In August 1981, ALPA began picketing in Boston and Washington DC. In what ALPA described as a 'desperate attempt' to gain business, the airline began offering limited-time 29 cent fares, which could only be purchased in-person. These promotional fares created large crowds of people seeking to purchase New York Air tickets. Images of these crowds were broadcast by local media, who then repeated ALPA's claims and brought attention to its campaign against the airline. ALPA picketers also handed out anti-New York Air leaflets and material to those waiting to purchase promotional fares. Months after the campaign commenced, Lorenzo agreed to a new contract for Texas International pilots, however didn't offer a contract to New York Air pilots. ALPA planned to begin picketing at Newark Airport, however then began winding down the campaign in order to focus on supporting the

Restructuring and expansion

In 1982, it became clear that the airline was in trouble. By the end of 1981, New York Air had lost $11 million, with an additional $8.2 million lost in the first quarter of 1982. In July 1982, Meehan resigned as president, and was subsequently replaced by Michael E Levine, who was appointed as chairman in February. Under Levine's leadership, New York Air repositioned itself as a full-service airline and began targeting business passengers with premium service but still at fares which were typically lower than on competing carriers. Levine first shrunk New York Air's network, and introduced new services to underserved destinations with more business demand. In August 1982, shuttle service between LaGuardia and Boston resumed, and schedules between LaGuardia and Washington National were changed so flights would leave LaGuardia on the hour, rather than on the half-hour. The airline also began offering complementary bagels on morning flights, as well as wine and newspapers, allowing the shuttle to compete more effectively with Eastern. Similar shuttle services were also added from Newark, initially only to Washington National. In 1983, the airline began a small hub operation at Raleigh-Durham Airport, with connections to Greenville, Knoxville,

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, and later

, as well as feeder service on Air Virginia and

Sunbird Airlines Sunbird Airlines was a United States airline founded by Ralph Quinlan in Denver, North Carolina on November 15, 1979. Operating the Cessna 402, and later the Cessna 404 aircraft, the company shared equipment, operations, maintenance and facilities ...

. The carrier targeted the hub at passengers who would usually connect through larger Southeastern hubs such as

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. A private boarding lounge known as the 'Apple Club' was offered to passengers connecting through Raleigh, reinforcing New York Air's new premium model. By September 1984, service to Boston, Greenville, Knoxville and Orlando from Raleigh had ceased, with remaining service from Raleigh ceasing by 1985. Raleigh briefly returned to New York Air's network as a connection from Washington Dulles in September 1986. By the end of 1983, the airline was profitable for the first time, and began ordering larger

McDonnell Douglas MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gene ...

aircraft to supplement its DC-9 fleet. In October 1984, Texas Air ordered 24

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

aircraft, 8 of which would be delivered to New York Air beginning in 1985. This marked the first time New York Air operated Boeing aircraft, as well as any aircraft not produced by

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it ...

. In July 1985, New York Air announced it would open a hub at

Washington Dulles Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fai ...

. Construction began on a $3.6 million concourse to handle the expanded number of flights, which featured an 'Apple Club' restaurant. By the end of 1985, New York Air had 35 flights a day from Dulles, and eventually made the airport its main operational focus. The airline also continued expanding its Boston and LaGuardia operations with seasonal service to

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 ...

and

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 ...

Merger with Continental

Beginning in 1986, Texas Air started co-ordinating the operations of all of its subsidiaries. New York Air began code-sharing with other Texas Air subsidiaries, such as on

' services into Dulles. This then led to a co-operation between Continental and New York Air, branded as the 'New York Air/Continental Team'. Also in 1988, Texas Air sold New York Air's shuttle service to

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

, in order to gain government approval for its planned takeover of

. NYA then shifted its LGA to BOS and DCA flights to Newark. This led to the closure of New York Air's LaGuardia hub, which it had operated since the airline's 1980 launch. In January 1987, Texas Air announced its intention to merge New York Air, along with fellow subsidiaries

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

and People Express Airlines, into Continental. According to Lorenzo, the merger was necessary in order to ensure both Continental and Texas Air had 'the strength and size to compete in tomorrow's air travel market', and also made Continental the third largest airline in the US. New York Air's operations ceased on February 1, 1987 and its aircraft were subsequently repainted with 'Continental's New York Air' titles before gradually being repainted into the full Continental livery. New York Air's Newark to Boston and Washington National shuttle was retained by Continental and operated with former NYA 737-300s and DC9s as a stand-alone operation for local passengers not connecting with other Continental flights, ironically from the former People Express North Terminal. Continental also operated the former People Express 727-200s between Newark, Boston and Washington from Terminal B as "system flights" which permitted connections to other former PE flights, now branded as CO at Terminal B. The Washington Dulles hub was initially retained and subsequently expanded through the acquisition of gates from Presidential Airways, as well as taking over Dulles routes from Eastern, however by 1989, Continental had closed the Dulles hub. Once Newark's Terminal C opened, the former NYC shuttle flights ceased operation from the North Terminal and were folded into the operations at Terminal C.

Cities served

(

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport , commonly referred to as BWI or BWI Marshall, is an international airport in the Eastern United States serving mainly Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. With Dulles Interna ...

) *

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 partial ...

) * Charleston (

Charleston International Airport Charleston International Airport is a joint civil-military airport located in North Charleston, South Carolina, United States. The airport is operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority under a joint-use agreement with Joint Base C ...

) *

( Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport) *

(

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is an international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio, the largest and busiest airport in the state, and the 43rd busiest ...

) *

( Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport) *

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facer ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

(

Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

) * Greenville/

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

( Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport) *

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

(

Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority, it is the second-largest airport in New England. The airport is about half ...

) * Islip ( Long Island MacArthur Airport) *

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

(

Jacksonville International Airport Jacksonville International Airport is a civil-military public airport 13 miles (21 km) north of Downtown Jacksonville, in Duval County, Florida. It is owned and operated by the Jacksonville Aviation Authority. History Construction st ...

) * Knoxville (

McGhee Tyson Airport McGhee Tyson Airport is a public/military airport 12 miles south of Knoxville,. Federal Aviation Administration. effective November 15, 2012. in Alcoa, Blount County, Tennessee, United States. It is named for United States Navy pilot Charles Mc ...

) *

(

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 Memorial Airport) *

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

(

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (French: ''Aéroport international Louis Armstrong de La Nouvelle-Orléans'') is an international airport under Class B airspace in Kenner, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is o ...

) *

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 ...

(

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

) *

(

) * Newark (

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 Cou ...

) *

(

Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...

) *

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

( Raleigh-Durham International Airport) *

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) *

( Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport) * St Pete-Clearwater ( St Pete-Clearwater International Airport) * Washington, D.C. (

Ronald Reagan Washington 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 ...

) * Washington, D.C. (

Washington Dulles International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and F ...

) *

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

( Palm Beach International Airport) * White Plains ( Westchester County Airport)

Fleet

New York Air operated 40 aircraft painted in a red color scheme with a stylized "apple" logo on the aircraft tail, evoking New York's nickname " The Big Apple." The airline operated mostly DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft but it did utilize a small number of Boeing 737-300 aircraft. *20 –

McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

*12 – McDonnell Douglas MD-82 *8 –

References

External links

Fleet informationAirlinecolors.com
Images and historical overview {{Airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1980 Airlines disestablished in 1987 Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct companies based in New York City American companies established in 1980 1980 establishments in New York City 1987 disestablishments in New York (state)