Freedom Airlines
| Freedom Airlines | |
|---|---|
| IATA code : | F8 |
| ICAO code : | FRL |
| Call sign : | FREEDOM AIR |
| Founding: | 2002 |
| Operation stopped: | 2010 |
| Seat: |
Irving, Texas , United States
|
| Home airport : | John F. Kennedy International Airport |
| Company form: | Subsidiary of the Mesa Air Group |
| Fleet size: | 34 |
| Aims: | National |
| Freedom Airlines ceased operations in 2010. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
Freedom Airlines, Inc. was a US regional airline based in Irving . It was a subsidiary of the Mesa Air Group and most recently flew exclusively under the Delta Connection brand for Delta Air Lines .
history
Freedom Airlines was founded in March 2002 by the Mesa Air Group and began operations in October 2002. It was originally established to meet America West's requirements as America West Express with a Bombardier CRJ900 . Mesa Airlines, the largest airline in the Mesa Air Group, had a codeshare agreement with US Airways as US Airways Express . US Airways had a contract with the Air Lines Pilots Association , which forbade the airline to work with regional jet providers that operate aircraft with more than 70 seats. Therefore Mesa Airlines could not fly as US Airways Express and operate CRJ900 machines at the same time.
Initially, Freedom Airlines operated the Bombardier CRJ700 and CRJ900 only for America West Airlines. After US Airways had reached an agreement with the pilots to operate larger regional jets, Mesa transferred all Freedom Airlines operations to Mesa Airlines . Then a Beech 1900 was floated in at Freedom Airlines in order to maintain the operator certificates. This was not used for a while, but served as a reserve machine for Air Midwest , which operated codeshare flights with De Havilland DHC-8 as America West Express for West America Airlines from Phoenix .
From October 2005 Freedom Airlines restarted scheduled operations under the regional flight brand Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines . After Delta wanted to terminate the contract to operate Embraer ERJ 145 due to breakdowns, it was agreed to operate CRJ900 for Delta Connection.
On May 29, 2008, a federal judge rejected the Mesa Air Group's termination of the contract between Delta Connection and Freedom Airlines because it would drive Delta into bankruptcy protection and destroy 700 jobs, or 14% of the workforce. In August 2008, Delta Air Lines canceled the agreement. In May 2010, after several years of litigation, a federal court approved Delta's termination of the contract and ordered Mesa Air Group to repay $ 3 million. After Mesa was already in a restructuring phase, its subsidiary Freedom Airlines finally ceased operations due to the financial burden and the loss of the order.
Destinations
Freedom Airlines joined last only under the brand name Delta Connection to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City with regional targets within the United States.
fleet
As of March 2010, the Freedom Airlines fleet consisted of 34 aircraft:
See also
Web links
- Official website of the Mesa Air Group (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ azcentral.com - Judge rules for Delta in dispute with Mesa Air (English) May 18, 2010
- ↑ ch-aviation.ch - Freedom Airlines' fleet ( Memento of the original from October 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) accessed on April 9, 2010
