In the past the Cumberland area has had several commuter airline companies providing transportation out of the local airport. Some of the serving airlines have been a separate entity while others have been associated in some fashion with a larger carrier. Cumberland is located approximately 150 miles equal distance from the major airline hubs at Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. The ability to be able to board a commuter flight from Cumberland, fly to a major airline hub, and then be able to make connecting flights to destinations throughout the world is highly desirable.
As is the case throughout the country, a relatively small city the size of Cumberland finds it difficult for a commuter airline service to remain a viable business endeavor. Some have been more successful than others as the demand fluctuates for airline travel. What follows is a sequential listing of those commuter airlines that have operated out of the Cumberland Airport.
In 1932 ‘Curly Bill’ Johnson began the operation of the Allegany Flying School at Mexico Farms. Fully cognizant of safe and sound flying practices, Johnson was a true professional aviator as well as one of the most experienced pilots of the time. After establishing this flight school, Johnson was instrumental in forming the first airline service available locally. This small operation made connecting flights out of Cumberland with Pittsburgh, Hagerstown, Frederick and Baltimore. The business was incorporated as Johnson Airlines, Inc. A Stinson Junior SM-8A, a high wing single-engine aircraft with a spacious cabin, was the first to be used in this endeavor. The aircraft carried four passengers and was piloted by a sole pilot. Johnson Airlines, Inc. lasted for only a short period of time.
A Stinson Junior SM-8A similar to that used by Johnson Airlines, Inc. in the 1930’s
As recalled by Stan Leasure, the next airline to offer service was Columbia Airlines which began in the 1940’s operating out of the new Cumberland Airport. The Boeing 247 aircraft was used for this short term operation.
All American Aviation, Inc. operated Douglas DC-3’s and was a mail carrier using one of the original ground pickup and drop off methods. The aircraft would make a low pass between two poles with a suspended wire between. A hook on the aircraft would then catch the wire and pull the outgoing mail bag into the aircraft. Drop off mail would simply be shoved out of the cabin’s aircraft on the airport. This service, begun in 1939, covered the area of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and Kentucky. Eventually the service was provided to 121 communities. Cumberland was not served by this mail service but the method was well known locally. However, with the coverage provided by All American, it was logical that Maryland cities would eventually fall under their operations.
In 1949 All American Aviation became All America Airways serving a routing from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh with six stops available for passengers. Cumberland was one of those passenger stop points. The company had acquired a fleet of war surplus C-47’s which were converted to DC-3’s by the Douglas Aircraft Company. As confirmed by Betty Mullenax Williams, airport secretary at the time, within a few years the airline changed the name to Alleghany Airlines. It is noted that All American Airways was the root airline that, after over 50 years of operation, became one of the current major air carriers, US Airways.
No Civil Aeronautics Authority approved instrument landing system existed at Cumberland which limited airline operations to good weather. When the conditions existed that precluded landing an over fly of Cumberland would be made, with a radio call advising of the no landing situation. At times local pilots remember that awaiting, chagrined passengers were aware of local flights taking place while this message was being relayed. In the mid 1950’s this service to Cumberland was eventually terminated.
All American Airlines Douglas DC-3 at the Cumberland Municipal Airport.
No airline service for Cumberland existed from the mid 1950’s through 1963. The local airport was managed most of this period by Warren Mullenax who did provide charter service using a Piper Commanche. Mullenax was followed by John Nash as manager from the period 1959 to 1962. Montgomery Air Charter operated an airline using twin-engine English DeHavilland Doves, beginning in 1963, and served a route between Cumberland and Baltimore. A. D. Nicholson, an employee of Montgomery Air Charter, moved to Cumberland and began his own operation on the airport. In 1967 a full service operation was begun. Aircraft utilized in this flight operation were Piper Commanches, Aztecs, Navajos, and Beechcraft 99’s.
Those operations eventually included Cumberland Airlines, a.k.a. as Nicholson Air Service, with Dale Nicholson as the President and CEO. Operating primarily with Piper PA-31 Navajos, an eight passenger twin-engine aircraft, the commuter provided flights to Latrobe and Pittsburgh, PA, and also to Baltimore and to Ocean City, MD. There were periodic changes to this commuter airline but it operated to at least one of these destinations until the summer of 1990.
Cumberland Airlines Piper Navajo in 1988. US Air Express (Mesa Airlines) Beech 1900.
A Beechcraft 1900, US Air Shuttle, on departure from Cumberland enroute to Pittsburgh.
Following the demise of Nicholson Air Service and Cumberland Airlines, the Potomac Highlands Airport Authority became the governing entity over the newly named Greater Cumberland Regional Airport. With nearly two years of no airline service at Cumberland, Crown Airways, a subsidiary of US Air with Pennsylvania headquarters, began service to Pittsburgh, a major US Air hub. This airline used Beechcraft 1900, a twin-engine aircraft, with a capacity for 19 passengers. Approximately three years later Mesa Airlines, headquartered in New Mexico, assumed the service continuing the use of the Beech 1900 aircraft. Mesa Airlines continued the Cumberland to Pittsburgh routing, with an intermediate stop at Latrobe, PA. A business decision was made to stop this commuter service in September 2001.
Boston-Maine Airways was awarded a contract to pick up airline service to Hagerstown and to Baltimore in December 2001. This was due in large part to the efforts of the Maryland General Assembly when legislation was enacted authorizing a state government subsidy to get the service underway and to support the commuter airline for a three year period. Boston-Maine Airways, a New Hampshire headquartered airline, is affiliated with the Pan Am Clipper Connection. On the Cumberland to Baltimore flights, the 19 passenger, twin-engine, turbo prop Jet Stream 31 is the aircraft now being flown. That service continues to the present time and, hopefully, will be successful and long lasting.
A Jet Stream 31 operated by Pan Am Boston-Maine Airways on the Cumberland to Baltimore connection. This service began on December 28, 2001.
It should be noted that the Kelly Springfield Flight Operations, serving their corporate requirements, operated for forty-nine years out of Cumberland. Fulfilling their passenger movement needs, this corporate operation was obviously not a commuter airline open for public use. However, the amount of movement by the aircraft and the number of passengers, headquarter executives and others, in effect amounted to a non-public use airline. The aircraft flown changed over the years but most recently a Lear Jet and a SAAB Fairchild 340 were flown daily out of Cumberland. In those flights a great deal of public service was provided, transporting dignitaries, and in some cases emergency mercy missions for those in need from our community.
Kelly Springfield’s SAAB Model 340, modified for corporate use, in front of KS Tire Corporation’s Flight Operations at the southwest corner of the Cumberland Regional Airport.
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Wings Over Cumberland 