Provincetown-Boston Airlines - More Expansion and Changes

More Expansion and Changes

During the early 1980s the company expanded both in the north and in Florida. Two new aircraft types were introduced: the Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante and the larger NAMC YS-11. PBA began operating flights to New York/LaGuardia with the longer range aircraft. Also at this time, Van Arsdale retired and turned the company over to his two sons, John-o and Peter. The two boys started expanding the company to an even greater degree. Soon thereafter, an interline agreement was signed with Delta Air Lines, and in 1982 PBA became a regional feeder for Eastern Airlines. By the mid-1980s, in addition to Provincetown, Boston, and Hyannis, PBA's northern routes reached Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, New Bedford, MA and Burlington, VT. The Florida routes virtually covered the entire state from Jacksonville to Tampa, Naples, Miami, and Key West, as well as smaller cities in between.

The expansion and integration of all the new routes, aircraft and personnel brought about technical, safety and administrative shortcomings, which culminated in a crash on September 7, 1984. One person was killed and five injured, in the crash of the flight from Naples to Tampa that was mistakenly fueled with the wrong type of aircraft fuel. In November 1984, the FAA grounded the airline for this and other safety violations. At the time of the shutdown by the FAA, PBA was the USA's largest commuter airline with 113 aircraft in the fleet. In December 1984, the airline was allowed to return to the skies, but then days later had another fatal crash. On December 6, 1984, 13 people were killed in the crash of an Embraer Bandeirante shortly after takeoff from Jacksonville FL. Mechanical problems were to blame for this crash. Confidence in the airline was lost, and the company was losing money.

Peter Van Arsdale turned to Hugh Culverhouse of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team for financial help for his ailing airline, in exchange for part ownership. The airline continued to lose money, Culverhouse gave up his investment, turning control back to Van Arsdale, and PBA filed for bankruptcy.