Chautauqua Airlines
| Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. | |
|---|---|
|
|
_American_Connection_(Chautauqua_Airlines)_N299SK_(7295779272).jpg)
|
|
| IATA code : | RP |
| ICAO code : | CHQ |
| Call sign : | CHAUTAUQUA |
| Founding: | 1973 |
| Operation stopped: | 2014 |
| Seat: |
Indianapolis , United States
|
| Turnstile : |
|
| Home airport : | Indianapolis |
| Company form: | Corporation |
| Fleet size: | 47 |
| Aims: | National |
| Website: | flychautauqua.com |
| Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. ceased operations in 2014. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Chautauqua Airlines was an American regional airline based in Indianapolis and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings . It operated its aircraft in regional traffic for several large US airlines.
history
Foundation and first years
The company was founded in 1973 in Jamestown on the eponymous Chautauqua Lake by the former chief pilot of Mohawk Airlines, Joel Hall, and his wife Gloria. The airline was to operate regional flights on behalf of Allegheny Airlines , as Allegheny wanted to focus on longer routes.
In 1974, Chautauqua leased two Beech 99s that operated under the name Allegheny Commuter on the Jamestown - Pittsburgh and Jamestown - Buffalo routes. In 1979, two Short 330s were added connecting Canton / Akron to Pittsburgh . After the name change of the Allegheny in USAir also Chautauqua changed its name to USAir Express . With the commissioning of the 19-seat Fairchild Metro III in 1984, new routes were added. In 1988, Joel Hall sold the airline to GAC , a subsidiary of Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company . The fleet was then replaced by twelve Saab 340s . After Guaranty Security Life went bankrupt in 1991, the company became part of the Florida Insurance Agency.
In 1992 the company was put up for sale. In August 1992 the authority stopped the bidding process. The agency has now appointed Edward London, one of its advisors, as CEO . Although not from the aviation industry, he drove the airline to success. In 1993, 16 aircraft served 18 cities. Due to financial problems of the USAir, the number of passengers at Chautauqua collapsed. USAir now operated the routes to Pittsburgh even with the more popular jets. In 1994 a new contract was signed with USAir. Chautauqua swapped its route network with the USAir subsidiary Jetstream International and moved all of its staff to Indianapolis.
In addition to the 44 daily Jetstream routes, the network was expanded by 15 more and in 1995 all BAe Jetstream 31 were taken over from Jetstream International, which was now called PSA Airlines . USAir canceled the Indianapolis mini hub and Chautauqua took over their services. In 1997 USAir was renamed US Airways and Chautauqua was now called US Airways Express. The network has now been expanded to include routes to Canada. In 1998, investment firm Wexford Management bought the company and appointed Edward Wegel as CEO. He immediately ordered 60 Embraer regional jets with a capacity of 37 and 50 seats. Despite the problems with the pilots' unions, ten Embraer 145s were deployed first . You could choose between flights under your own name or flights under the names of other major airlines. In November, TWA signed a ten-year contract.
Since 2000
In 2001 another partnership was signed with America West Airlines and in 2002 a contract with Delta Air Lines . After the contract with America West ended, the twelve aircraft were used for Delta Connections.
In 2004, United Airlines was the next major customer . For United Express, Chautauqua used 16 Embraer 145s, sister company Republic Airlines 16 Embraer 170s . The Republic Airways holding, founded in 2001, successfully floated Chautauqua, Republic and Shuttle America, which was acquired in 2005 . The airline's bandwidth now ranged from the 37-seat Embraer 135 to the 86-seat Embraer 175. With a fleet of 150 regional jets at times, the airline group offered over 1000 daily flights to 97 cities in 36 states as well as to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean on.
On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged to form United Continental Holdings , the new holding company for United Airlines . As a result of the merger, the regional partner of Continental Airlines , Continental Connection, also became a partner of United Express . This made Chautauqua Airlines a partner of United Express. In the meantime, however, this connection has been broken again.
On July 28, 2014 Republic Airways Holdings announced that Chautauqua Airlines will be integrated into Shuttle America at the end of the year in order to save costs. The remaining 41 ERJ-145 aircraft would be handed over to Shuttle America. The last flight was on December 31, 2014 (for Delta Connection ). Then operations ceased and the employees and flights were transferred to the sister company Shuttle America . The reason was cost savings through the reduction of air operator certificates .
Destinations
Chautauqua Airlines operated their planes in wet lease , i.e. on behalf of and with livery of the airlines under their regional brands American Connection and Delta Connection. It served as a feeder from the province to the major hubs and offered flights between business centers that could not be economically served by large aircraft. The passengers enjoyed all the advantages of the big companies, such as bonus miles and the use of airport lounges.
fleet
Before operations ceased in December 2014, the Chautauqua Airlines fleet last consisted of 47 Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft , which were operated for Delta Connection .
See also
Web links
- Chautauqua Airlines website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/34176-chautauqua-airlines-ends-operations
- ↑ Chautauqua Airlines ends operations (English) accessed on 23 August 2015