Provincetown-Boston Airlines - The End of An Era

The End of An Era

In September 1988, Texas Air completed the consolidation of PBA with Bar Harbor Airlines. The PBA routes continued to have service as Continental Express and Eastern Express, but the old PBA Cessnas, Embraers, DC-3s, and YS-11s were all retired and replaced with the newer ATR-42s and Beech 1900s, now operating on the Bar Harbor Airlines certificate. The merger of the two carriers got off to a rocky start, as PBA flight crews were initially not given their seniority at the combined carrier for the first six months. Junior Bar Harbor pilots were able to get better positions than their more senior PBA coworkers. Some PBA captains who were formerly flying the ATRs under PBA were downgraded to the Beech 99s, while junior Bar Harbor pilots took their seats in the ATR-42s. Eventually seniority was integrated between the two workgroups.

Though the PBA name and logo were gone, much of the PBA ground staff, flight crews, and spirit remained on board, working for Continental Express. The PBA maintenance hangar and offices in Hyannis remained open, though downsized as a regional office for Continental Express. Continental ended service on the Provincetown-Boston route shortly after the merger in September 1988, but continued to operate most other PBA routes from Boston, LaGuardia, and Newark to the Cape and Islands with ATR-42, Beech 99 and Beech 1900 aircraft. The Provincetown route was briefly picked up by New Hampshire based PAC Air, and then in 1989 by Cape Air.