The Yellowbird Fleet

On August 10, 1965 Northeast placed an order for 22 new jets,12 Boeing 727 and 10 DC9-31. The remaining Convair 880s on lease were also painted in Yellowbird scheme.

Boeing 727-200

--The inaugural flight of the stretch version of 727
in Yellowbird colors from Miami to New York,has
the prestige of being the first flight in the world of
one of the most successful commercial aircraft in
history. There were 1832 aircraft built and flown in
various countries .

DC9-31

Workhorse of the Yellowbird Fleet. The DC9 served the major New England cities connecting them with Florida via New York,Philadelphia and Washington DC.After the merger with Delta,most of,the fleet was sold to Ozark Airlines,which merged with TWA.and although the DC9s are beng replaced by TWA a few may still be flying out of St Louis.. As of 1999 N979NE is still flying with Northwest as N994Z. (the old Ozark-assigned registration)..

Fairchild-Hiller FH227

Northeast bought six FH227 turboprops to replace the DC-3s in New England local service and they flew in Yellowbird colors from August 1966 till the merger;However only two were operating at the takeover by Delta as local service had been farmed out to various commuter("third-level") airlines.

Convair 880 Aristocrat of Jets

December 15, 1960 Northeast introduced the first of six Convair 880s, leased from the Hughes Tool Company. on the Florida Run.They had managed to beat Eastern with Jet service to Florida by leasing a Boeing 707-331 from TWA.in 1959.
The 880s were still flying the route when Storer took over, so they were painted in Yellowbird colors while waiting for 727s to replace them.

Convair 990 ( flagship Rita )

Northeast leased a 990A to help handle the heavy traffic on the Florida route,while waiting for 727-200s to arrive.( I think the owner's wife name was "Rita").