Founder of North Central and tireless promoter of commercial aviation in the Northland
Born in the heart of Central Wisconsin in 1901, young Francis Higgins was a remote witness to the birth of aviation and its first steps into commerce and war. His own steps were hobbled by polio at the age of seven, but his drive and ability to relate with people carried him forward into a career path of printing, then sales and public relations. In 1939, as the advertising manager at the Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD) in Clintonville, Wisconsin, Higgins’ company president gave him an assignment to work with local officials to expand and improve the community’s meager airfield, as FWD had recently acquired an aircraft to shuttle managers from there to Chicago. This service would save most of a day’s travel time each way.
Higgins was well-regarded at FWD and in the county, and was successful at getting runways and a hangar installed. The improvements allowed FWD to run a steady service, which attracted travelers from outside the company as well, leading to the purchase of a second aircraft. Eventually FWD leadership decided to incorporate the shuttle as an airline: on May 15, 1944 Wisconsin Central Airlines was created with Higgins elected as the airline’s president.
Higgins traveled to Washington, DC in June 1944 to pursue an airline certificate, finding there that 1600 other companies had similar ideas, 34 of those in direct competition with the proposed Wisconsin Central service area. Higgins pursued his assignment for two years, lobbying the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and sympathetic politicians and administrators in D.C. while also keeping Wisconsin investors, advocates, and potential passengers aware and engaged.
In March 1946 the CAB examiner issued an interim report recommending Wisconsin Central *not* receive airline certification. Higgins worked even harder at raising capital by personally selling stock and visiting area banks. He sold the initial smaller aircraft and replaced them with two Cessna T-50 Bobcats, a twin-engine, five-passenger airplane to begin scheduled, intrastate operations serving 7 Wisconsin destinations in order to gain operating experience and demonstrate the company’s abilities to regulators.
Finally, on December 31, 1946, the Civil Aeronautics Board issued its final decision, selecting Wisconsin Central Airline to serve the area with 1400 route miles and 43 area cities. For Higgins and the newly minted airline there was one major drawback with the CAB decision; FWD could own no part of Wisconsin Central. Struggling now even more for financing, and having to arrange airport improvements and the construction of navigational aids across the entire state, Higgins found an able assistant in Hal N. Carr. Together they worked building an airline with little but their own effort.
The airline moved to Madison with its superior facilities in late 1947 just as it began purchasing its first aircraft – three Lockheed 10-A Electras. After years of struggling, Wisconsin Central Airlines was born, starting operations in February 1948, linking Wisconsin airports with Chicago and eventually Minneapolis.
Wisconsin Central was the right company at the right time, as demand for air travel in the Northland exploded in the post-war period. Heavy growth meant scrambling for additional aircraft and staffing, which also meant raising more capital and finding loans. New investors brought in their own demands and forced out Hal Carr while operational reliability and consistency visibly suffered, and the company found itself overextended and losing money.
Higgins left the airline, which had become North Central Airlines, in 1952 during the lowest point in the company’s financial history. Hal Carr returned to move North Central’s headquarters from Madison to Minneapolis and restore profitability and resume growth. Higgins moved to St. Louis and formed a public relations consulting service to newly-formed Ozark Airlines while continuing as a consultant and lifelong friend to North Central.
North Central became one of the nation’s aviation success stories and it was Francis Higgins’ efforts and leadership that was instrumental in that success. Higgins died in 1974 and was posthumously inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000.
