Ransome Airlines
Encyclopedia
Ransome Airlines was a commuter airline which was headquartered at Northeast Philadelphia Airport
(PNE) in Northeast Philadelphia
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. Founded by Dawson Ransome, it began operations as an independent carrier in 1967. Ransome was particularly noted for operating the Dash 7
as it had a large fleet of the type. The Dash 7 was a new, relatively advanced, and large aircraft (seating 50) for a "commuter type airline," the predecessor of today's "hub
feeder" regional airline
s which dominates the airline industry of today.
Pan Am
purchased Ransome in 1986 and renamed it Pan Am Express
, with the intention of establishing a commuter network feeding traffic into its "Worldport" global hub
New York City
's John F. Kennedy Airport
. In late 1987 the renamed Pan Am Express established its first and only overseas regional feeder operation at Tegel Airport
in what used to be West Berlin
in the days prior to Germany
's re-unification
towards the end of the Cold War
era.
Following Pan Am's demise in 1991, TWA
purchased the Pan Am Express operation.
(USAir from 1979, and now US Airways
) under the name Allegheny Commuter. Ransome operated a variety of point-to-point flights in the northeastern US
as well as flights feeding into large Allegheny operations like that at Philadelphia
. While Ransome and its successors operated under several different brand
s, the airline is probably best known as an Allegheny Commuter carrier, due to Allegheny being the pioneer in the field of developing code-share and co-branding relationships with commuter airlines, with the Allegheny/Ransome agreement being one of the earliest examples of what was then still a novel idea.
In 1982 the airline's relationship with USAir ended, and the airline began operating flights as Delta Connection
in partnership with Delta Air Lines
. The airline maintained much of its previous route system, while adding and changing some routes to better connect with the rest of the Delta system.
In 1986 Pan Am purchased the airline. It began service under the new Pan Am Express
brand on June 1 of that year. They soon dropped the Ransome name altogether, with the corporation being simply renamed Pan Am Express, Inc.
While operating for Pan Am, the former Ransome route structure was dramatically changed, with the new route structure dropping most of the point-to-point offerings and focusing on providing feeder service to Pan Am's extensive offerings of international flights, primarily at New York JFK, with another large operation at Miami
and smaller operations at Los Angeles
and Boston
's Logan Airport
. Some of these new services introduced the airline to new geographical areas of the country, having been previously confined to the northeast. The airline still retained functions such as its primary maintenance base at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, along with a small level of service. In addition, in November 1987 Pan Am Express established an overseas commuter network serving secondary and tertiary destinations in West Germany
and other West European
countries from its parent company
's West Berlin base at Tegel Airport.
When Pan Am collapsed in 1991, TWA purchased Pan Am Express. TWA provided feeder services under the Trans World Express (TWE)
brand, with the corporate name changing to Trans World Express, Inc. Under TWA those Trans World Express services provided by TWE were exclusively focused at JFK. On November 6, 1995, TWA shut down its TWE division, with all Trans World Express service after that date being subcontracted
to outside airlines, thus bringing an end to the last airline that could trace some of its routes back to Ransome. The company had retained its PNE maintenance base and service on the PNE-JFK route until the very last day; the contracted airlines replacing many of the TWE feeder routes at JFK decided not to serve PNE, and (as of 2006) PNE has yet to see another airline provide any scheduled commercial service there.
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Northeast Philadelphia Airport is a public airport located just north of the intersection of Grant Avenue and Ashton Road in the Ashton-Woodenbridge neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia. It is part of the Philadelphia Airport System along with Philadelphia International Airport, and is the...
(PNE) in Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.547 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000,...
, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Founded by Dawson Ransome, it began operations as an independent carrier in 1967. Ransome was particularly noted for operating the Dash 7
De Havilland Canada Dash 7
The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier...
as it had a large fleet of the type. The Dash 7 was a new, relatively advanced, and large aircraft (seating 50) for a "commuter type airline," the predecessor of today's "hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
feeder" regional airline
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
s which dominates the airline industry of today.
Pan Am
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
purchased Ransome in 1986 and renamed it Pan Am Express
Pan Am Express
Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways....
, with the intention of establishing a commuter network feeding traffic into its "Worldport" global hub
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's John F. Kennedy Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
. In late 1987 the renamed Pan Am Express established its first and only overseas regional feeder operation at Tegel Airport
Berlin-Tegel International Airport
Berlin Tegel "Otto Lilienthal" Airport is the main international airport in Berlin, Germany. It lies in Tegel, a section of the northern borough of Reinickendorf, northwest of the city centre of Berlin. Tegel Airport is notable for its hexagonal terminal building around an open square, which...
in what used to be West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
in the days prior to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's re-unification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
towards the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era.
Following Pan Am's demise in 1991, TWA
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
purchased the Pan Am Express operation.
History
In 1973 Ransome started a partnership with Allegheny AirlinesAllegheny Airlines
Allegheny Airlines was an airline operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1952 to 1979. It was a forerunner of today’s US Airways. Its headquarters were located on the grounds of Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia....
(USAir from 1979, and now US Airways
US Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
) under the name Allegheny Commuter. Ransome operated a variety of point-to-point flights in the northeastern US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as well as flights feeding into large Allegheny operations like that at Philadelphia
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
. While Ransome and its successors operated under several different brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
s, the airline is probably best known as an Allegheny Commuter carrier, due to Allegheny being the pioneer in the field of developing code-share and co-branding relationships with commuter airlines, with the Allegheny/Ransome agreement being one of the earliest examples of what was then still a novel idea.
In 1982 the airline's relationship with USAir ended, and the airline began operating flights as Delta Connection
Delta Connection
Delta Connection is the name under which a number of individually owned regional airlines and one wholly owned regional carrier operate short and medium haul routes in association with Delta Air Lines Inc...
in partnership with Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
. The airline maintained much of its previous route system, while adding and changing some routes to better connect with the rest of the Delta system.
In 1986 Pan Am purchased the airline. It began service under the new Pan Am Express
Pan Am Express
Pan Am Express was a regional airline of the United States. Initially a banner carrier brand operated by Ransome Airlines, it later entered a codeshare-like affiliated arrangement with Pan American World Airways....
brand on June 1 of that year. They soon dropped the Ransome name altogether, with the corporation being simply renamed Pan Am Express, Inc.
While operating for Pan Am, the former Ransome route structure was dramatically changed, with the new route structure dropping most of the point-to-point offerings and focusing on providing feeder service to Pan Am's extensive offerings of international flights, primarily at New York JFK, with another large operation at Miami
Miami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
and smaller operations at Los Angeles
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
's Logan Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
. Some of these new services introduced the airline to new geographical areas of the country, having been previously confined to the northeast. The airline still retained functions such as its primary maintenance base at Northeast Philadelphia Airport, along with a small level of service. In addition, in November 1987 Pan Am Express established an overseas commuter network serving secondary and tertiary destinations in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and other West European
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
countries from its parent company
Parent company
A parent company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company being deemed as a subsidiary of the parent company...
's West Berlin base at Tegel Airport.
When Pan Am collapsed in 1991, TWA purchased Pan Am Express. TWA provided feeder services under the Trans World Express (TWE)
Trans World Express
Trans World Express was the fully owned and certificated, regional carrier for Trans World Airlines and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation....
brand, with the corporate name changing to Trans World Express, Inc. Under TWA those Trans World Express services provided by TWE were exclusively focused at JFK. On November 6, 1995, TWA shut down its TWE division, with all Trans World Express service after that date being subcontracted
Outsourced
Outsourced is a romantic comedy film, directed by John Jeffcoat, released in 2006.-Plot:When Todd Anderson's job and entire department are outsourced, he reluctantly travels to India to train his replacement...
to outside airlines, thus bringing an end to the last airline that could trace some of its routes back to Ransome. The company had retained its PNE maintenance base and service on the PNE-JFK route until the very last day; the contracted airlines replacing many of the TWE feeder routes at JFK decided not to serve PNE, and (as of 2006) PNE has yet to see another airline provide any scheduled commercial service there.
Aircraft operated
- Volpar Beech 18Beechcraft Model 18The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it is better known, is a 6-11 seat, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas...
- Nord 262
- Mohawk 298
- Avions de Transport Régional ATR-42ATR 42-Civil operators:The largest operators of the ATR-42 are FedEx Express, Airlinair, TRIP Linhas Aéreas,and Mexico City-based Aeromar respectively. Number of aircraft as of 2010:Some 70 other airlines operate smaller numbers of the type....
(operated by Pan Am Express and TWE only) - De Havilland Canada Dash 7De Havilland Canada Dash 7The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier...