Trans-East Air Inc stock certificate 1971

Great small regional air carrier out of Maine.  Printed signature of Harvey Kaye (founder) as president.  Solid brown border and eagle vignette. Dated 1971.

Trans East Airlines was an airline that was based in Manchester, New Hampshire, and in New York City during the 1960s. It ceased its operations in 1972. Trans East Airlines was the fixed-base operator (FBO) at Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine, beginning in 1968.

Trans East Airlines was formed in 1963 as Statewide Airlines, by two brothers, Norman Kaye (1930-2001) and Harvey Kaye. Trans East Airlines operated scheduled commuter services from LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport to Albany, New York; Bangor, Maine; Bedford, Massachusetts; Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Manchester, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; and Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Trans East Airlines also operated the airports at Bethel, New York, and Bangor, Maine. Their head office was at 555 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. In late 1968 Trans East discontinued their scheduled commuter services, and focused on their fixed-base operator position at Bangor International Airport. At that point, they were renamed Trans East Air International.

In one of his biggest promotional coups, Norman Kaye took out a full-page ad in The New York Times headlined: “Can Bangor, Maine, answer New York’s air congestion problem?” Not only did Kaye explain why that was the case, he also flew 100 major airline executives to Bangor International Airport to inspect the airport. The tactic garnered national attention and prompted a closer look through a Newsweek magazine article in 1970.

Trans East Airlines took over the refueling and general aviation business at Bangor International Airport after the military abandoned Dow Air Force Base in 1968. Though Trans East Airlines still had financial commitments in New Hampshire, it quickly established Bangor, Maine as a key Atlantic Coast airport for supplemental air carriers. Scheduled air carriers used Bangor International Airport as an alternate stop for refueling and other services.

In spring 1968, there was a need for mini-stewardesses, also known as mini-stews, for Trans East Airlines, as the cabin height of the Twin Otter aircraft was limited. Stewardesses had to be five feet tall or shorter to work on the specially designed short-haul aircraft.