New York Airways - History

History

Passenger flights started with Sikorsky S-55 military helicopters, but Sikorsky and the Boeing Company soon began designing civil helicopters. New York Airways added three S-58s to its five S-55s in 1956; in 1958 the Boeing Vertol V-44, a 15-seat civil version of the Piasecki H-21 took over. In 1962 they changed to the Boeing Vertol 107-II Turbocopter and later the Sikorsky S-61.

In February 1955 the one way fare from LaGuardia to Idlewild was $4.50. The ship was a Sikorsky H-19, N418A. The trip took ten minutes and their phone number was DEfender 5-6600.

The first scheduled passenger flights to Manhattan arrived in December 1956 at the new heliport west of the West Side Highway at 30th St. The downtown heliport on East River Pier 6 opened in 1960 and New York Airways moved all its Manhattan passenger flights down there around December 1960. Due to route restrictions on the single-engine Vertol 44, nonstop flights from Manhattan to Idlewild didn't begin until the twin-engine 107 arrived.

Scheduled flights to the top of the Pan Am Building began in December 1965; they ended in 1968, then resumed for a few months in 1977. In April 1966 23 flights a day flew nonstop to Pan Am's terminal at JFK, scheduled 10 minutes; passengers could check in at the Pan Am Building 40 minutes before their scheduled departure out of JFK. The downtown heliport had 13 flights a day to Newark, 5 nonstops to TWA's terminal at JFK and 12 to LGA, all of which continued to JFK. (Downtown had no weekend flights.)

Soon after Pan Am Building flights resumed the March 1977 OAG showed 48 weekday S-61 departures from there: 12 to EWR, 14 to LGA then JFK, and 22 nonstops to JFK.

New York Airways employed the first African American as an airline pilot. Perry H. Young made his historic first flight on February 5, 1957. Young had previously made history as the first African American flight instructor for the United States Army Air Corps.

At its peak the airline partnered with 24 international and domestic airlines. At various times it served:

• John F. Kennedy International Airport
• LaGuardia Airport
• Newark Airport
• West 30th St, Manhattan
• "Wall Street" Heliport 40°42′05″N 74°00′33″W / 40.7015°N 74.0092°W / 40.7015; -74.0092
• Stamford, Connecticut Heliport
• Teterboro Airport
• Westchester County Airport
• downtown Trenton
• New Brunswick 40°28′01″N 74°28′52″W / 40.467°N 74.481°W / 40.467; -74.481
• Hadley Airport 40°33′18″N 74°25′59″W / 40.555°N 74.433°W / 40.555; -74.433
• Morristown Municipal Airport

For some months in 1969 the OAG showed some inter-airport flights to be Twin Otters while others continued to be Vertols. Fuel prices soared after the 1973 energy crisis damaging profitability. The airline could not recover after the 1977 Pan Am Building accident and the 1979 energy crisis, and New York Airways filed for bankruptcy on May 18, 1979.

Passengers boarded, in thousands, scheduled flights only: 68 in 1957, 144 in 1960, 537 in 1967, 268 in 1970.

Currently all surviving New York Airways Boeing Vertol 107s are operated by Columbia Helicopters:

• N6672D
• N6674D
• N6675D
• N6676D
• N6682D
• N107PA (Operated under contract to Pan Am)
• N108PA (Operated under contract to Pan Am)

N6674D is the highest flying time helicopter in the world, having surpassed 70,000 flight hours since its construction in 1962.

N6682D is featured in the 1968 film Coogan's Bluff starring Clint Eastwood taking off from the roof of the Pan Am Building. N108PA is the helicopter arriving with Eastwood.

N6676D is shown taking off from the Downtown Manhattan/Wall St. Heliport in the last of the Secret Agent 077 trilogy of films, 1966's Special Mission Lady Chaplin. It is also featured in the 1967 spy thriller Matchless, arriving and then taking off from the Pan Am Building.