TheFlyGuy2 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (7 years 2 months 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 2101 times:
Hi Everyone,
I am sort of resurecting a similar topic of mine that focused on Republics slow withdrawl from the Chicago market in 1985, but never really heard about the heart of the airline- What was all about.
I am wondering what it was like to fly with them. Were the employees friendly, did they serve good meals, what were their aircraft like, etc.?
Dc863 From Denmark, joined Jun 1999, 1554 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (7 years 2 months 6 days ago) and read 2023 times:
My experience was flying them from MIA-TLH on a DC-9-15 in July 1981. From what I can recall the stew came out to each pax in Y class with a notepad said hello, taking down our drink requests before we had even left the gate.
Dc863 From Denmark, joined Jun 1999, 1554 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (7 years 2 months 6 days ago) and read 2009 times:
We used the concourse which points due south and the aircraft was parked on the gates facing east which had no airbridges. So when boarding commenced you walked down some stairs, onto the ramp and out to the aircraft. The concourse was very small and looked the way it had since 1969/70. The waiting areas were very small. I remember our DC-9 taxiing out behind a Pan Am DC-10 to take off on Runway 27L. The only other aircraft parked at the concourse when we boarded around 6pm was an AA 727-100 parked on the other side of the concourse. One AA aircraft in MIA! I seem to recall it was going to Dallas then Tulsa.
Tango-Bravo From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 3725 posts, RR: 31 Reply 4, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1950 times:
Quoting TheFlyGuy2 (Thread starter): I am sort of resurecting a similar topic of mine that focused on Republics slow withdrawl from the Chicago market in 1985,
Actually, by April 1985 Republic had withdrawn all non-stop services from Chicago ORD with the exceptions of flights to their hubs of DTW, MEM and MSP plus (for whatever reason) BNA. Republic's flight reductions at ORD took place gradually from about 1982-1984.
Tallguy14 From United States of America, joined Jul 2002, 224 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 20 hours ago) and read 1930 times:
1982. While waiting for our own flight on Republic from SLC to PHX, I remember watching several Republic DC-9s reverse-thrusting away from the gate. Marvelling at the noise and the recklessness of backing up without a rear-view mirror! Then getting onboard another DC-9 to Phoenix. I remember there was a Wien Air Alaska 737-200 taxiing below us as we took off. This was before Delta took over Salt Lake City and Western was the dominant carrier there.
TheFlyGuy2 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 1829 times:
Actually "Tango Bravo," Republic still served quite a few cities out of ORD for the first four months of 1985. According to two timetables I found, One from December 15, 1984 (Which was in effect through April 27, 1985) showed quite a few non-stops. Then after April 28 the non-stop cities served was cut drastically.
January 1985:
ATL
DTW
GRR
GRB
IAH
KZO
LSG
MSN
MEM
MKE
MSP
BNA
PHX
RSC
Tango-Bravo From United States of America, joined Jun 2001, 3725 posts, RR: 31 Reply 7, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 1817 times:
Quoting TheFlyGuy2 (Reply 6): Actually "Tango Bravo," Republic still served quite a few cities out of ORD for the first four months of 1985. According to two timetables I found, One from December 15, 1984 (Which was in effect through April 27, 1985) showed quite a few non-stops. Then after April 28 the non-stop cities served was cut drastically.
Correct you are. And incorrect I was, by about 6 months. It was, in fact, effective from Nov. 1, 1985, that Republic reduced their daily (weekday) non-stop services from ORD to:
Steeler83 From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 8802 posts, RR: 19 Reply 8, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 1747 times:
I'll be damned, they had the same hubs as NWA. A year later, they were bought out by NWA and became a regional carrier, I believe, for Northwest. Now, they operate regional routes for some of the larger airlines, like DL UA and US. They just said that they will open a base at PIT and hire some 140 pilots F/As and mechanics and will base a small fleet of E170s at PIT. Maybe they will eventually bring back service to ORD...
Do not bring stranger girt into your room. The stranger girt is dangerous, it will hurt your life.
Phllax From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 396 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 1740 times:
Quoting Steeler83 (Reply 8): I'll be damned, they had the same hubs as NWA. A year later, they were bought out by NWA and became a regional carrier, I believe, for Northwest. Now, they operate regional routes for some of the larger airlines, like DL UA and US.
The current incarceration of Republic has nothing to do with the original. This is actually Republic III for those keeping score. Chatauqua Airlines bought the rights to the name and started using it for its small jets/scope busting division.
Steeler83 From United States of America, joined Feb 2006, 8802 posts, RR: 19 Reply 10, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 1726 times:
I didn't realize any of that... I did a search engine on Republic and I got a website that said that Republic used to be independent before it was bought by NWA, and then it eventually became a regional carrier for other airlines. I guess that website was inaccurate...
Do not bring stranger girt into your room. The stranger girt is dangerous, it will hurt your life.
Vegasplanes From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 778 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 1709 times:
Quoting TheFlyGuy2 (Thread starter): I am wondering what it was like to fly with them. Were the employees friendly, did they serve good meals, what were their aircraft like, etc.?
From my recollection, Republic had nice service, flew DC-9's, 727's, and some Mad Dogs. I flew them I handful of times in the 80's on DTW-LAS-DTW runs. N/S flights. IIRC they over-expanded a bit with the RW acquisition, Steve Wolf came over from AA cargo if I recall, ran the company back to profitability by scaling back. The west coast hubs died, ATL and ORD "focus cities" were cut back. Republic's exit from the west coast, Hughes Air West, led to WN's growth in the SW USA. Republic had a major west coast hub at PHX, something like 40 to 45 departures a day from LAS, old Bonanza runs, nice focus on SoCal. In the end, Steve Wolf did the only thing he really knows how to do as a CEO, he sold out, to NW.
Tom in NO From United States of America, joined Nov 1999, 7194 posts, RR: 41 Reply 13, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 1698 times:
My first experience with Republic was when I was going from ONT-ORD-MKE in the summer of 1979 to a convention. I hadn't heard that North Central and Southern had just merged to form Republic.....my ticket had me on AA on the ONT-ORD leg, then NC for the ORD-MKE leg.
So I get to ORD, and can't find NC anywhere. So I rememeber asking somebody, who then told me that NC was now part of RC. I got where I needed to go, and had so much time before my connection that I made it up to the fenced-in observation deck for a time.
By the way, in 1979 NC/RC had quite a presence at ORD.
My trip back on the MKE-ORD was an adventure. I was scheduled to ride on a Convair 580 that was routed something like Duluth, Green Bay, Menominee-Marinette, MKE, ORD. So the Convair breaks down at Menominee. I had to end up riding a DC-9 back to ORD. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.
My other RC experience was going LAX-MEM-FLL. LAX-MEM was on a 727, and MEM-FLL on a DC-9-15.
They were all good flights. No complaints here.
Tom at MSY
"The criminal ineptitude makes you furious"-Bruce Springsteen, after seeing firsthand the damage from Hurricane Katrina
Type-rated From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 4342 posts, RR: 21 Reply 14, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 1688 times:
A lot of your smaller cities in the upper midwest lost direct air service from ORD after RC took over NC and then downsized. NC had quite a sizable operation at ORD, and it was profitable as well. If you were going to ND, SD, MN, WI, or MI chances are you'd be on NC, then RC.
At the time of the merger to form RC, SO operated out of MDW. Did RC have any MDW flights, or did RC just move the MDW flights over to ORD?
Fly North Central Airlines..The route of the Northliners!
AirCop From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (7 years 2 months 5 days ago) and read 1686 times:
Flew North Central/Republic out of ORD many times in the 70's on my way to Marquette. DC-9 to GRB then either DC9 or CV580 for the rest of the way. Having travel on several regionals in my time; Hughes Air West, Texas International, Southern, Empire, and Ozark, its my humble opinion that North Central/Republic was the best of all, bar none. A side note Herman otherwise known at the blue goose was the second most recognizable airline symbol after Pan Am's meatball.
F9Animal From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 4730 posts, RR: 30 Reply 17, posted (7 years 2 months 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 1611 times:
Republic was a great airline. I flew them several times from coast to coast. In one week, I flew them about 15 times. While being a kid at the time, I remember them well. The food was much better than todays standards, and the flight crews were great. I really enjoyed flying on the 727's, and the MD-80's. Of course the DC-9's were great, but the three holer was a kids dream come true.
I really miss that airline. It was a family, and an airline that hired your mom, dad, and brothers and sisters. It was a melting pot of great people. The XMAS parties were a blast. I remember a 1984 XMAS party in Buffalo NY. I never knew pilots could drink like that! What a blast, even for a young guy! My old man transferred to ORD weeks before the merger. I remember him calling me at home when an AA DC-10 caught fire.
When NWA took over, it went to crap. The red tailers hated the old Republic employees and vice versa. To this day, it is still a sour subject. NWA took on a great airline, and brought NWA very many successful years. Looking at NWA today, it is sad to see.
I also remember flying on Jet America several times. That airline was really nice.
Stirling From Italy, joined Jun 2004, 3943 posts, RR: 27 Reply 18, posted (7 years 2 months 4 days 6 hours ago) and read 1554 times:
A few threads have popped up lately bringing up the Republic/Hughes Airwest disappearance from the West Coast.
Many seem to think that the West Coast network was pissed away, not used to its potential, whatever.....the truth being is this, When RC got RW, it looked good only on paper. Sure, there were a bunch of squiggly lines appearing to connect the major cities of the region, but dig deeper and see an airline that was all style and little substance.
When RC purchased RW, the major players on the West Coast, in order, were United, PSA, Western, Air California, and Hughes.
TWA, with tags to transcons between LAX and SFO, had more capacity than RW on the route. Continental, with only a few daily flights (2-4) running up the coast BUR/ONT-SJC-PDX/SEA carried almost as many passengers in the corridor as the entire RW system.
RC picked up RW for one reason, and it was not to shuttle folks around the Pacific states, but rather, to allow the solid customer base in the Great Lakes/Midwest a new avenue of access to this region.
So intra-regional fligihts, like ACV-SFO, BOI-GEG, EUG-LAX, FAT-LAS, went away very fast.
Equipment had a lot to do with it.
Republic was a DC-9 and CV580 airline. RW as we know flew the F27. These fine aircraft became a casualty of the merger/acquisition...hard to justify a modern airline a large fleet of TWO different types of 20-30 year old aircraft.
Without the F27, there was no way to tie in the smaller West communities. Missing a good 50-seater in the fleet, only the larger cities could maintain service; SEA, GEG, PDX, BOI, SFO, LAX, SLC, LAS, PHX, SAN, and SMF....and some of these, just barely.
RW could not compete with United in the Pacific NW to California market, had no chance against PSA and Air California in the intra-California market, withered against Western in the Pacific to Mountain corridor....they had only one choice, tie the biggest of the RW cities into the developing hubs at MSP, DTW and MEM....And not to mention, Southwest was marching their way....
The writing was on the wall.
The LAX-PHX-LAS triangle was their one true asset, but America West was just beginning, and Southwest had just set up shop. Did Phoenix really need 3 airlines duking it out?
The decision was made to bring people TO Phoenix, rather than use Phoenix to get people other places THROUGH Phoenix.
Did they make the right decision? The question is not fairly answered 20 years later.....I think it can be summed up simply by saying, RC had bigger fish to fry.
So why did they even do it the first place? Why did RC pick up RW?
Republic needed stations on the West Coast, it was cheaper to pick up an existing airline with gates, employees, and aircraft, and use them to grow their new hubs, than to allocate their own resources to the project.
A massive airline connecting the major business and leisure centers of the East, needed a way for their customers to get to the West. It was elementary.
The early 80's were crazy times. Fun. We'll never see anything like it again...
4everRC From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 322 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (7 years 2 months 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 1519 times:
I am a bit biased, since my father started with NC in 1967, and retired from NW in 1993. That said, I do have to agree that RC was a great big family, where everyone watched out for everyone else. Two things come to mind that I remember about the RC family: One was a program that hired children of employees for the summer to work the easier ramp jobs in MSP to provide jobs for teens while at the same time providing vacation relief workers for their employees. The other was the "wandering food suitcase" - something that could NEVER happen today with today's security measures.
Quoting Type-rated (Reply 14): after RC took over NC and then downsized.
Not exactly correct. RC was a non-existant company until NC took over SO and changed the name. Techically, NC was the surviving company. If you look in RC picture databases, there are planes in the 1st RC moniker that say NORTH CENTRAL where REPUBLIC ended up. The story goes that NC was in the process of changing paint schemes when the merger was approved, and management decided to keep what they had already created. The only thing missing on the tail was Hermina - anyone remember her?
I always though the service was impeccable. The food was always top notch, and the FAs were always pleasant. I remember, as a child, flying MSN-MKE (17 minutes airtime on a DC9) there was a full beverage service and sweet rolls catered by the finest bakery in MSN. WOW, times have changed.
The Stephen Wolf issue is STILL a sore spot for a lot of the older "green tails". They believed his dog and pony show that he would bring profitability to the airline, and felt blindsided and sold out after the agreement with NW, and it got even worse when NW first priority was eliminate the RC name and all symbols as quickly as possible. I heard stories of NW employees meeting RC planes at the gate in MSP or DTW with a roller and a bucket of paint.
Type-rated From United States of America, joined Sep 1999, 4342 posts, RR: 21 Reply 20, posted (7 years 2 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 1487 times:
Quoting 4everRC (Reply 19): hing missing on the tail was Hermina - anyone remember her?
Herman was a he!
Actually, NC absorbed SO to make RC and then a year later pulled RW into the fold. The corporate culture changed slightly at this time. In fact it took awhile before the crews from the former individual airlines were merged together. Personally, I wasn't for the merger. I thought NC was doing fine all by itself. SO was a slow growth company that was kind of stagnant. But their route structure DID make sense, NC and SO had very few overlapping routes, but met at various cities where facilities could be used.
NW did do it's best to kill off any memory of RW. I had heard of a memo that came out to station managers a day or two after NW bought up RC that anything RC was to be destroyed or painted over immediately at any cost. Look what happened to the RC museum at the Northliner Drive building (now reverted back to 34th Street).
I would say that it took about 10 years for the hard feelings of the NW buy out to finally start settling down.
Fly North Central Airlines..The route of the Northliners!
Yes, he was. However, if you look at the original RC signage, advertising, etc... There are TWO ducks - The original blue Herman, and a second, green one that was added to represent SO. My father always said that the green duck was Hermina, a female companion to Herman.
There was also an image with 3 lines drawn under Herman's belly, to represent the final "S" in the SO scheme.
I still have old signage with the two - but never appeared on a plane. I think that she left after the RW acquisition, maybe because adding a third, yellow duck would have looked a bit odd.
DTWAGENT From United States of America, joined Jan 2006, 1283 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 22 hours ago) and read 1421 times:
The staff on the ground and crew on the aircraft where friendly and they know the meaning of service. Of course they were also from North Central, Southern, and Hughs Air West.
Everything changed when NWA walked in and decided to pay these people less money then those working on the same type of aircraft and doing the same job description. That is when the service started to take a nose dive. I miss both North Central (The Blue Goose) and Republic.
Vegasplanes From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 778 posts, RR: 2 Reply 24, posted (7 years 2 months 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 1403 times:
Quoting DTWAGENT (Reply 22): That is when the service started to take a nose dive.
YES it did, I remember my one and only flight on NW since the "merger." From DTW, late 1986 or early 1987, absolute hell, employees were not happy and it showed, NC/RC was a lot bigger in DTW than NW was, planes were majorly late, on-board service was not good. The whole experience soured me on NW for good.
I'll always remember RC, nice planes, good people. My parents flew NC back and forth to college in the late 60's/early 70;s, the old man remembers 4 or 5 stops from DTW to Marquette on a Convair 440. I guess those were the days.
25 Isitsafenow: Jan 23 1986 the "merger" was announced and the actual date of the completion of the merger (end of Republic as an airline) was Oct First, 1986. sourc
26 F9Animal: Yes, the old original red tailers were complete Aholes. To this day too. I almost beat the street lights out of a red tailer that got in my face abou
27 Tango-Bravo: Returning to the subject of Republic's reduction of flights and destinations served non-stop from ORD... By comparison to their operations from ORD by
28 Type-rated: Actually it started out as the NC museum, in the Northliner Dr building on the second floor, the stairs across from the computer room took you right
29 FCYTravis: Gee, that sounds familiar. Two intra-West carriers pissed away...
30 4everRC: While there is no RC website that I am aware of, there is an NC website... www.northliner.com
31 Aircop: The morning flight went Detroit-Lansing-Grand Rapids-Green Bay - Menominee- Escanaba and then Marquette. Then they turned around and did it in revers
32 ILSApproach: Born, raised and still living in MSP...................all I can say is what a GREAT airline! I do so miss her! Anyone agree that without Republic....
33 Vegasplanes: That sounds right to me. Yeah my dad said it was shorter than driving, but stil a hell of a trip. I guess if kids go to Northern Mich. Univ. from DTW
34 Tango-Bravo: Although could be argued that DTW had become a focus city or even a small hub for NW before the merger with RC. Nonetheless, RC had more flights to m
35 Aircop: NW Airlink (Mesaba) has non-stop service three or four times a day from DTW and once daily from MSP to MQT on Saab's 340, not quite the same experien
36 Dc863: Did the RC pilots/FA's maintain their seniority ranks when NW took over?
38 Sunking737: Yes there was a lot of "heat" between "green" tail and "red" tail employees. I was a duck as was my father. My dad stayed at the red tailed shark unti
39 CWAFlyer: Wow. Some really good memories about Republic on these posts. As a kid we flew NC a fair amount from ORD to CWA. Most of the time the flights stopped
40 TheFlyGuy2: Sunking737: So you worked when the schedule changed on April 28, 1985. What airport were you at? Did the schedule change that abruptly- On April 27 RC
41 Isitsafenow: It sounds the time change..from standard to daylight.A few years ago the spring change was the last Sunday in April. Now, its the first Sunday of Apri
42 4everRC: IIRC, it was an abrupt schedule change. There where some gradual changes over time, but I seem to remember that the vast majority of the change from m
43 Sunking737: TheFlyGuy2, I worked at MSP. I live in the MSP area. I have worked for RC/NW and SY 1 & 2.
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