I started with North Central in May of 1965 at Chicago O'Hare airport as a customer service agent. Over my 42 year career there were several mergers. North Central and Southern merged to become Republic in the late 70's and then Hughes Airwest became part of Republic shortly thereafter. The mid 80's Northwest and Republic merged. And then around 2008 Delta and Northwest merged. This video brought back old memories
I love everything about this video as it captures all of the wonder, style, and glamour of commercial aviation in the 1970s. I remember seeing North Central Airlines DC-9s at the airport in Cleveland where I lived at the time. As a 7 year old kid I Ioved to watch airport operations and study all of the planes and their colorful liveries. This showcases a time when air travel was truly modern and exciting.
1972 was my first time on a plane, BJI to MSP…I was 7. Captain gave me a great tour of the cockpit and answered many questions. The CV580 became a favorite. 25k hrs later and a dimming career in aviation, I still long for the 580.
Fly, Herman, fly! I grew up near General Mitchell airport in Milwaukee in & remember vividly seeing the North Central DC-9's and Convair 580's all the time! The early 70's seemed like a very good time for North Central, there were so many coming in & going out of Milwaukee. We lived close enough that I could listen to the controllers in the tower on my JC Penny aircraft/shortwave AM/FM radio & watch the action with binoculars. North Central was my favorite...I loved Herman on the tail!
A former room-mate was born and raised in South Dakota and flew North Central many times over the years; he spoke loved the "wine-and-cheese" baskets (SEE: ca. 1.33) that was served as a lunch/dinner snack on shorter runs. And while I never flew on North Central myself, I do have very fond memories of flying other regional carriers (for example: Piedmont, Bonanza), and I have to admit, I do miss them: each was unique, and somehow each managed to add a regional flavor to their service. Thanks so much for posting this!
My very first flight (at the age of 6) was from Minneapolis to Duluth, on a North Central DC3. A short flight, about an hour in the air - not enough time for meal service. Grown-up passengers were offered little packs of cigarettes; for children the airline provided mini-packets of Chiclets. And there was a little bag in the seat pocket, which came in handy as the plane tossed and turned at cruising altitude (3,000 feet).
Neat! The film was produced by a company in my home town---Milwaukee!!!! I took NCA for granted seeing the CV-580's and DC-9's. Never knew it would be the best time in the airline industry.
Such a classic home town commerical, I can remember the airline having the flight crews fly over southern Twin cities when trading on the DC-9-30. I was about 12when I was about to fly to Iron Mountain in the UP. Wow, very different from the DC-3 I grew up on. The beautiful memories of growing up in an airline family
Fond memories of North Central at MSN...the DC-9's and Convair 580's were neat to watch on the observation deck. Go Herman...Good people make our airline great!
True. Even before Reagan and Thatcher but kinda part of the same phenomenon. I'm born 1984 and couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the lavish meals served back then in a book! I had already taken those microwaved small plastic bowls with aluminium sealing for granted.
LeftyStratPlayer Agreed today regionals were actual regional airlines. Today contract carriers are labeled regionals. North Central, Ozark, Air West, were terrific to die under the Northwest banner.
your so right, now we got 3 or 4 airlines, without any in flight services, and crap service.....my dad worked for TWA and that was an incredible airline, ruined by deregulation and American ..sad day in US Aviation
asdf jklö I wish you could of experienced it. I was born in the 60s . It was a different time. We also dressed as if we were going to church. It was fun
This is so interesting. I worked in the travel industry for many years and had never heard of this airline. I did a little research and found out it's what many of us may know as Republic. They were renamed after a merger with Southern Airways. It was a real blast from the past to see the flight attendant serve the wine and cheese basket to a passenger. I remember getting that on a flight from Boston to Detroit or Minneapolis. No charge of course!
Man, do I ever miss the Ruptured Duck. One thing I especially liked is that the last plane north out of the Cities would wait for late connections to come in before they left. They were scheduled to leave about 10:00 but sometimes it was almost 12:30. Nobody minded because we had all been there ourselves at some point. That ended when they merged with Northwest. They always got me home.
Very cool video. Has a special place in my heart, as that was the same year I was born. I’m surprised at the level of computerization the airline had back then. And the level of integration. 52 aircraft would be considered a very small airline today, but this company did everything in house, even the catering. Very impressive.
So awesome, I love the music, the enthusiasm, and the legendary DC-9's! The hats were kind of silly though. North Central was before my time, but I have great memories of seeing Republic flying in and out of my childhood hometown airport of CWA, and I may have ended up riding some of those same ones after they became part of Northwest.
All this for 52 aircraft? Meals and champagne like you’re on a trans Atlantic flight, for a flight of maybe an hour, maybe two? All airline functions done in-house? This is fantasy land compared to today.
My dad was a line mechanic for Ozark Airlines back in the late 60's till they were acquired by TWA, but in the day they would allow you to bring your kid to work (I kid you not) anyway next door to Qzark in Chicago Ohare was North Central and I remember them to this day with the turqouse duck on the tail and it ook me awhile to remember the name of this airline but I did and that is how i looked this up!
Disappointing, they didn't show their other great airliner.... the Convair 580! That was the BACK-BONE of North Central Airlines! Wonder why they didn't show ALL of the airline's aircraft?!
They may’ve been an airline who wanted to look forward to the future which was jet aircraft. Had they stayed around longer and the Republic merger not happened, they would’ve gone all-Jet probably by the mid-80s.
I'd love if such airlines where as dedicated today as opposed to dealing Travel and Bad Parts. I hope the good themes and vibes return in the future. MOJO Out.
@@lowercherty Good comment. I love these old promo films. I recall seeing their DC-9 sitting on the ramp at Pellston Michigan, awaiting the pax for that afternoon flight to Chicago---summer '74
