Color Scheme: Final Colors

Registration: N970NE

Composition: A Restored Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum Model

Dimensions: Length: 26" (66.5cm), Wingspan 22.5" (58cm)

Condition: Mint

Model History: In January 2008 I acquired the blank for this model from a private collector. It was in Delta Air Lines livery and in fair shape. When I received the model I noticed that on the bottom of the fuselage, under the wing, NE1 was inscribed in the aluminum (see left picture below). Also, I noticed that there was yellow paint residue on the inside of the fuselage (see right picture below). Given these two clues I figured that this model was originally a Northeast DC-9 DFM and was refinished into Delta colors after Delta merged with Northeast on August 1, 1972.  A third clue as to the model's original Northeast Airlines origin is that all of the Delta DC-9 DFMs I have seen have had gray stands rather than the traditional black ones which this model has. Thus I really feel that this model was originally a Northeast "Yellowbird" DFM.  Since my early model collecting days I've always wanted a Northeast "Yellowbird" DFM so I decided to have Atlantic Models restore this model back in it's original scheme and as usual they did a Fantastic Job on It!  I received the model back on January 14, 2010.

Northeast's DC-9 History: Northeast Airlines origins date back to 1931 when the Boston & Maine Railroad & the Maine Central Railroad formed Boston-Maine Airways which operated initially from Boston-Bangor-Portand, Maine. On November 19, 1940 the airline was renamed Northeast Airlines. Though Northeast pioneered much of the trans-atlantic flying during WWII they were shortchanged after the war when the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) gave these premium overseas routes to the much larger Pan American & TWA. Throughout its history Northeast struggled with a route network concentrated in New England with mainly short flights to other cities in the North East. These routes were especially challenging due to the severe winter weather in the region, competition from the larger trunk carriers* and the relative short length of their routes which made them less profitable. Thus the airline was constantly prone to losing money. In 1965 Storer Broadcasting Company bought Northeast with the intention of updating the carrier with new airplanes - Boeing 727s for longer range routes, DC-9s for short range, higher demand routes and FH-227 prop-jets for the lower demand, short range routes.  With the exception of one DC-9-15 on a short term lease from Douglas, Northeast operated a total of 15 Factory Delivered DC-9-31 aircraft.  Click Here to See Northeast's DC-9 Fleet Count.  Along with the new airplanes, Storer Broadcasting introduced an all new marketing campaign dubbed "The Yellowbirds" which included bold new yellow & white liveries on the aircraft and "catchy" new advertising.  Though this was somewhat successful, Northeast was still disadvantaged in competing with the much more powerful Eastern, National and Delta Air Lines. Northeast never achieved any long term profitability despite being granted some "plumb" routes such as New York & Boston to Florida and even Miami to Los Angeles during the late 1960s & early 1970s.  In the early 1970's Storer Broadcasting gave up and put Northeast up for sale or merger and the CAB granted Delta the approval to merge with Northeast.  The merger (really more of a takeover) occurred on August 1, 1972 and thus began the decline of the U.S. Trunk Airlines (now known as the Legacy Airlines) which greatly accelerated after deregulation began.

*Prior to the deregulation of the United States airline industry in 1978 there were 11 airlines classified as "trunk" carriers. Over the years these trunk carriers were groomed by the Civil Aeronautics Board to carry the bulk of the traffic over the heaviest traveled domestic routes. United, American, Eastern & TWA were known then as the "big four" with Delta, Northwest, Braniff, National, Continental & Western as the next six in size and Northeast Airlines came in as a distant number eleven. For those wondering why Pan American wasn't mentioned it is because they were considered the USA's Flag International Carrier and had no domestic routes.  Being the smallest trunk carrier in the US, Northeast struggled with profitability throughout most of it's existence. In fact, Northeast was in many ways more like a Regional Carrier such as Allegheny, North Central, Southern, Bonanza, West Coast, etc. than a major trunk carrier.

Click Here to View a Photo of the Actual Aircraft
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Photo Courtesy Of & Many Thanks To: AIRLINERS.NET and Photographer Jean-Pierre Bonin