One of twelve cities in Wisconsin served by North Central, La Crosse sits peacefully on the south western third of the state along the eastern bank of the mighty Mississippi river. Tow boats and their barges would cruise at a comparably slow pace beneath the arriving and departing Northliners.

Thirteen stations provided direct (no change of aircraft) service into La Crosse originating as far away as Minot, North Dakota (MOT) or as close as Eau Claire (EAU). Only three stations had non stop La Crosse – return flights; Eau Claire (1), Madison (3) and Minneapolis (2). These half dozen flights operated daily into and out of this station utilizing four DC9s and two Convair 580s although no aircraft would overnight at this stop.

One of the more interesting flights at this time was Flight 467 which began the work day departing O’Hare at 0635 calling on Milwaukee (MKE) and Madison (MSN) before arriving at LSE at 0832. Departing fourteen minutes later, this Convair would operate as one of many North Central “milk runs” serving eight cities upon its arrival at Minot (MOT) at 1:32 PM. Twenty three minutes later the same Convair began the eastbound trek as Flight 468 stopping at the same stations on the previously completed westbound trip arriving at La Crosse at 6:57 PM. Thirteen minutes later, it would depart for Madison and Milwaukee, before arriving at O’Hare at 9:05 PM. Twenty two flights in fourteen hours thirty minutes was rather typical of the local service carriers of the seventies.

Key to City Codes :

ABR - Aberdeen, SD

ATY - Watertown, SD

BJI - Bemidji, MN

BRD - Brainerd, MN

DVL - Devils Lake, ND

EAU - Eau Claire, WI

GFK - Grand Forks, ND

LSE - LaCrosse, WI

ORD - Chicago (O'Hare), IL

MKE - Milwaukee, WI

MOT - Minot, ND

MSN - Madison, WI

MSP - Minneapolis/StPaul, MN

TVF - Thief River Falls, MN

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