Mohawk Airlines and the BAC One-Eleven

Ithaca-based Mohawk was the first US local service carrier to operate jet aircraft in 1965.

Ithaca, NY-based Mohawk Airlines was the first local service carrier in the United States to order and operate jet equipment in the form of the BAC One-Eleven. Prior to airline deregulation, there were two primary tiers of airlines- the trunk airlines which were the the big established carriers like American, Eastern, United, etc., and the local service carriers which were analogous to today's regional airlines. Mohawk was one a number of local service carriers and for years, they had been stymied by the federal government via the Civil Aeronautics Board from operating jet equipment lest "competition" develop between them and the trunk airlines.

As Mohawk spread across the US Northeast, their president, Robert Peach, was already known as a leader among the local service airlines for pushing the CAB to treat the local service carriers as they did the larger trunk airlines. And part of that desire for parity was the ability to modernize their fleets from piston-powered aircraft. Peach wanted jets and on 25 June 1965, Mohawk flew its first BAC One-Eleven services.

In addition, Mohawk acquired the Fairchild-Hiller FH-227 (a stretched American built Fokker F27) for routes not suitable for the new jets.

Mohawk would ultimately operate 24 BAC One-Elevens and they were immensely popular with passengers. Mohawk's zenith was in 1967-1968 with a route network that spanned from Boston to Washington DC to Detroit. When labor issues and a punishing strike led to Mohawk being acquired by Allegheny Airlines in 1972, Mohawk had three Boeing 727-100s on order that ended up going to PSA.