Robinson Airlines
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| Founded | 1945 as Robinson Airlines | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1972 | ||||||
| Fleet size | About 42 aircraft in service at acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972 | ||||||
| Destinations | Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Glens Falls, Ithaca, New York, Newark, Hartford, Harrisburg, Montreal, Rochester, Syracuse, Toronto, Utica, Washington | ||||||
| Headquarters |
Ithaca, New York After 1958, Utica, New York |
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| Key people | Cecil Robinson, Robert Peach | ||||||
| Website | n/a | ||||||
Mohawk Airlines operated in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, mainly in New York and Pennsylvania, from the mid-1940s until its acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972. At its height, it employed over 2,200 personnel and pioneered several aspects of regional airline operations, including being the first airline in the United States to hire an African American flight attendant in 1958. The airline was based at Ithaca Municipal Airport near Ithaca, New York until 1958, when it moved to Oneida County Airport in Whitestown, New York.
The airline was founded in 1945 by aerial photographer C.S. Robinson as business of Robinson Aviation, completing its first passenger flight on April 6. The operation was based out of Ithaca Municipal Airport near Ithaca, New York, flying single-engine, three-passenger Fairchild F-24s. After the end of World War II, the Fairchilds were supplemented with two Cessna T-50s, and in 1946 the entire fleet was replaced with Beechcraft Model 18s.
To keep the airline flying, Robinson secured investments from a variety of local sources, notably Ithaca Enterprises, a nonprofit organization responsible for bringing new businesses to Ithaca; the Cooperative Grange League Federation Exchange (now part of Agway), a farmers cooperative that had been organized by members of The Grange, and Cornell University. Most significant was the involvement of Edwin Albert Link, creator of the Link Trainer. Link lent the airline $75,000 to purchase three used Douglas DC-3s— but also removed control of the company from Robinson, making pilot Robert Peach its general manager. In 1948 the Civil Aeronautics Board certified the airline as a local service carrier, awarding a variety of routes in the Mohawk Valley. The airline adopted the slogan *Route of the Air Chiefs*, and painted a blue and red logo of an Indian chief on its tails.
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Wikipedia