 | |
| Founded | March 6, 1928 (asCanadian Colonial Airways) |
|---|---|
| Commenced operations | October 1, 1928 (1928-10-01) |
| Ceased operations | June 1, 1956 (1956-06-01) (merged intoEastern Air Lines |
Colonial Airlines was aUnited Statestrunk carrier, a scheduled airline that operated from 1928 to 1956 with bases atLaGuardia Airport (LGA) inNew York City and atMontréal/Saint-Hubert Airport inMontreal,Quebec,Canada, before merging intoEastern Air Lines.
It was founded asCanadian Colonial Airways on 6 March 1928 to operate Foreign Air Mail Route No. 1 (FAM-1) from New York to Montreal viaAlbany, New York. Services began to Canada on 1 October 1928, in conjunction withCanadian Colonial Airways, Ltd. its 100%-owned Canadian subsidiary. TheFairchild FC-2 was among the aircraft types used.[1]
Pursuant to theCivil Aeronautics Act of 1938, theCivil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) of the United States certificated the US version of the airline as a United States scheduled airline on January 9, 1940.[2] Thereafter, theCivil Aeronautics Board (CAB), which succeeded the CAA in 1940, regulated Canadian Colonial Airways as atrunk carrier.
However, the CAB refused a foreign carrier permit for the Canadian subsidiary to operate to the US and directed it to cease flying to the US. The Canadian subsidiary ceased operations on June 30, 1942.[3][4]
After acquisition by a group of investors, the airline was renamedColonial Airlines on 30 April 1942.[5][4]
The airline was awarded a route from Washington, D.C. to Montreal andOttawa on 10 August 1945, followed by routes to Bermuda in May 1946. Scheduled flights to the latter began on 1 August 1947.[5] The shorter routes were operated byDouglas DC-3s and the longer routes byDouglas DC-4s.
By 1956, Colonial's executive offices were onPark Avenue inNew York City and it was flying several routes including five daily nonstop DC-4 flights between LGA and Montreal. It also operated a nonstop DC-4 flight departing LGA at 11 amEST toBermuda, arriving atKindley Field 3:35 pmAST, with timetables advertising a "full course hot meal" served en route.[6] It also offered a DC-3puddle jumper flight from LGA making an 11:50 am Monday–Fridayflag stop at Poughkeepsie'sDutchess County Airport en route toMontreal andOttawa, Canada, with intermediate stops atAlbany, New York,Rutland, Vermont, andBurlington, Vermont.[6]
The airline operated for a period of five years during which a fierce competition was fought for its control betweenEastern Air Lines andNational Airlines. After several reversals of government policy, Eastern Airlines emerged as the acquirer and the operational merger took place on 1 June 1956.[7] A few years following the merger, many of the Colonial's more rural destinations were deleted from Eastern's route network. Eastern was bought by Texas Air Corporation in 1986. In 1991 Eastern Airlines ceased operation and some of its assets were assigned toContinental Airlines. In 2010 Continental merged withUnited Airlines.
At the time of the merger, Colonial had eightDC-3 and fiveDC-4 aircraft.[8]
Those airports marked with an asterisk (*) no longer have scheduled passenger air service.
