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97-476: SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah . SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner mainline airlines. The company is contracted by Alaska Airlines (as Alaska SkyWest), American Airlines (as American Eagle ), Delta Air Lines (as Delta Connection ), and United Airlines (as United Express ). In all, it

194-772: A "Say YES to Orlando" logo on each side and a second Boeing 717 saying "Orlando Makes Me Smile," which celebrated AirTran Airways' partnership with the OOCVB to promote travel to the city. The airline also had an aircraft paying tribute to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando . Several aircraft featured sports-related liveries . The teams represented were the Atlanta Falcons , Baltimore Ravens , Indianapolis Colts , Orlando Magic , and Milwaukee Brewers . On February 12, 2010, AirTran Airways celebrated Little Debbie 's 50th anniversary by launching

291-545: A $ 30 million operating profit. On August 15, 2001, the company's stock began trading under the ticker symbol AAI on the New York Stock Exchange . In 2002, AirTran created a regional brand, AirTran JetConnect , operated by Air Wisconsin . In 2003, following an order for 100 Boeing 737-700 aircraft, AirTran began service to Washington, D.C. 's Reagan National Airport and to San Francisco . On January 5, 2004, AirTran's last McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30

388-403: A 25% ownership stake of Contour Airlines to gain access to its infrastructure, personnel, and operational expertise as it launches its own Part 135 operation. SkyWest also plans to supply Contour with CRJ200 aircraft and partner with the airline to both recruit young pilots and provide opportunities to pilots who would otherwise need to retire due to age. In March 2024, SkyWest Airlines signed

485-704: A 70-seat configuration. The Embraer 175SC is built on the same airframe as other Embraer 175 aircraft and can be retrofitted to 76 seats in the future. The agreement with Alaska includes 10 Embraer 175 aircraft which will be configured with 76 seats, similar to aircraft SkyWest has previously placed into service with Alaska. Expected delivery dates of the 25 aircraft run from March 2018 through the end of 2018. On December 18, 2018, SkyWest, Inc., announced that it would sell ExpressJet Airlines to another airline holding company with ties to United Airlines, ExpressJet's sole client. The $ 70 million sale closed on January 23, 2019. In early 2024, regional carrier SkyWest Airlines purchased

582-564: A chief pilot. In April 2011, AirTran had the best safety record among U.S. carriers as measured by the number of incidents such as bird strikes. AirTran was first with only 0.0000196 incidents per flight, Southwest second with 0.0000203, and US Airways third with 0.0000203 incidents per flight. Bill Voss, who was then head of the Flight Safety Foundation, said "the safety record in the U.S. is so good that it's very difficult to find enough accidents or incidents to draw much of

679-487: A codesharing agreement with US Airways to operate CRJ200 aircraft from US Airways' hub in Phoenix, Arizona . On August 4, 2010, SkyWest, Inc., announced that it planned to acquire ExpressJet and merge it with SkyWest subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines in a deal reported to have a value of $ 133 million. The purchase aligned the largest commuter operations of United Airlines and Continental Airlines , who were in

776-459: A conclusion about who's safest." Prior to the winding down of the airline, AirTran grew to serve more than 70 cities coast-to-coast as well as in the Caribbean and Mexico. It has over 700 daily flights and 8,500 crew members, serving nearly 25 million passengers per year. On September 27, 2010, Southwest Airlines announced they would acquire AirTran Airways and parent AirTran Holdings for

873-484: A deal with United Airlines to operate an additional 20 Embraer 175 aircraft for United Express. Unlike other aircraft, these are financed by United Airlines, not SkyWest. SkyWest is owned by SkyWest, Inc. , an airline holding company . SkyWest also provides contract ground handling services at airports across the United States. The vast majority of SkyWest's contracts are fixed-fee, with partner airlines paying

970-424: A form of a virtual airline , with the regional airline paid to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by a partner mainline airline. This practice allows the mainline carrier to use outsourced labor at smaller stations, to reduce costs. In 2011, 61% of all advertised flights for American, Delta, United and US Airways were operated by their regional brands. This figure

1067-531: A larger carrier, similar to their American counterparts. Some of these airlines and brands include: The trend of branding regional airlines to match the mainline airlines, has led to just three major sub-brands in the United States: American Eagle , Delta Connection and United Express . They are the post-deregulation survivors of the multiple bankruptcies and mergers of the major, legacy, mainline airlines. These regional brands are

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1164-458: A mainline or flagship airline's aircraft, while in actuality they are far from it. Sub-branding is pretty consistent throughout the airline industry of the United States, with all the regional airlines, mainline airlines, and the regional airline holding companies, as well as the mainline airlines holding companies participating. On Feb 12th, 2010, a year after the crash of Colgan flight 3407 , Frontline premiered its WGA Award-winning exposé on

1261-520: A major expansion at Chicago-Midway Airport by buying the leases of ATA Airlines ' 14 gates. Southwest Airlines made a higher bid for the gates, and AirTran lost the deal. In December 2006, Air Tran Holdings announced that it had been trying to acquire Midwest Air Group . On August 12, 2007, AirTran announced its attempt to purchase Midwest Airlines had expired, while TPG Capital , in partnership with Northwest Airlines , had entered into an agreement to purchase Midwest Airlines for an amount larger than

1358-645: A merger process, and was approved on September 13, 2010, by the Federal Trade Commission. In May 2011, SkyWest replaced Horizon Air on six routes on the West Coast being operated for Alaska Airlines . The flights were based out of Seattle and Portland and flew to several California cities, including Fresno , Burbank , Santa Barbara and Ontario . Horizon Air had been operating these routes with Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft however Horizon retired this aircraft from its fleet. Alaska Airlines had

1455-422: A new era of major airlines expanding to operate networks with large footprints. The development of long-range aircraft operated by flag carriers like British Overseas Airways Corporation and Trans-Canada Airlines further normalized the capability of "far and wide" air travel among the traveling public. "Regional airline" is a flexible term whose meaning has changed substantially over time. What it means today

1552-580: A new name. ValuJet is buying a much smaller airline, AirTran Airways, from Airways Corp. for $ 66.3 million worth of stock and taking its name." In an article in The Atlantic entitled "The Lessons of ValuJet 592," William Langewiesche presents a case in which the May 11, 1996 crash in the Florida Everglades as an example of a system accident , in which the complexity of the overall operation

1649-409: A new subsidiary called Airways Corporation and placed AirTran Airways under the new subsidiary; AirTran Corporation then spun off the new Airways Corporation as an independent holding company which includes AirTran Airways. After the spun off, AirTran Corporation was renamed to Mesaba Holdings after its subsidiary Mesaba Airlines to distance itself from AirTran Airways. AirTran Corporation/Mesaba Holdings

1746-527: A new vision for regional mobility, based on services built out of small general aviation aircraft and VLJs (very light jets) with advanced automation. This vision failed to materialize due to its primary focus on rural mobility and a lack of clear and viable business case. With the introduction of air taxi services and very light jets , city pair links to smaller communities lacking regional connections could become more common. This opportunities could become commercially viable with advanced air mobility and

1843-592: A set amount for each flight operated, regardless of the number of passengers carried. The remaining 7% of flights are operated under a pro-rate contract, with SkyWest assuming all costs, setting fares, retaining all revenue from non-connecting passengers, and splitting the fares of connecting passengers on a pro-rated basis with the partner airline. SkyWest currently operates on a pro-rate basis on 68 routes across 10 hubs through agreements with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. As of early 2021, SkyWest operates in 50 smaller cities that are subsidized under

1940-593: A similar agreement with PenAir for Alaskan flights and Horizon Air for flights in the lower 48 . On November 15, 2012, SkyWest began a capacity purchase agreement with American Airlines for 12 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft operating as American Eagle from American's hub in Los Angeles, California . This codeshare agreement with American was greatly expanded over the next several years to include destinations from American's hubs at Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Phoenix. Larger CRJ700/900 aircraft were introduced to

2037-470: A steady expansion across the western U.S. It became the eleventh largest regional carrier in 1984 when it acquired Sun Aire Lines of Palm Springs, California , and had its initial public offering in 1986. In early 1986, SkyWest began codesharing as Western Express, a feeder service for Western Airlines at its Salt Lake City hub and other mainline Western destinations utilizing Embraer EMB 120 and Fairchild Metroliner turboprop aircraft. Following

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2134-408: A strong entrepreneurial sector of independents. They are based on business models ranging from the traditional full service airline to low cost carriers . Innovations include one where the passenger is required to join a membership club before being allowed to fly. Some examples of European regional airlines include: India has many regional carriers operating currently. Some of these operate under

2231-570: A total cost of $ 1.4 billion. The acquisition gave Southwest a significant presence at many of AirTran's hubs, such as Atlanta (then the largest U.S. city without Southwest service) and Milwaukee as well as expanded service in Baltimore and Orlando . With the acquisition, Southwest added international service to several leisure destinations such as Cancún , Montego Bay , and Aruba . Southwest integrated AirTran's fleet of Boeing 737-700 series aircraft into Southwest Airlines brand and livery, and

2328-673: Is common in the U.S. to incorrectly associate aircraft size with the Department of Transportation's designation of major, national, and regional airline. The only corollary is the Regional Airline Association, an industry trade group, defines "regional airlines" generally as "...operat(ing) short and medium haul scheduled airline service connecting smaller communities with larger cities and connecting hubs. The airlines' fleet primarily consists of 19 to 68 seat turboprops and 30 to 100 seat regional jets." To be clear there

2425-602: Is different than how it has been used in the past. For instance, in the United States, around 1960, the term “regional carrier” denoted the smaller eight of the 12 largest carriers, then known as trunk carriers (or trunk airlines or simply trunks). At the time the four biggest airlines in the United States were known as the Big Four, comprising American , United , TWA and Eastern Air Lines . The other eight trunk carriers were Braniff , Capital , Continental , Delta , National , Northeast , Northwest and Western . Since, at

2522-500: Is fully owned by American Airlines Group and does business as American Eagle . Many of these large regional airlines have joined the lobbying group Regional Airline Association . This association lobbies purely for the financial interest of the corporate bodies it constitutes, not the employees of those airlines. In Canada there are a number of regional airlines. Some of them focus on Canadian Arctic and First Nations communities, while others operate regional flights on behalf of

2619-428: Is no distinction in the Department of Transportation definition of major, national and regional airlines by aircraft size. The definition is based on revenue. The clash of definitions has led to confusion in the media and the public. Beginning around 1985, a number of trends have become apparent. Regional aircraft are getting larger, faster, and are flying longer ranges. Additionally, the vast majority of regionals within

2716-564: Is the largest regional airline in North America when measured by fleet size, number of passengers carried, and number of destinations served. SkyWest operates from 258 cities in the United States , Canada and Mexico with an extensive network of routes largely set up to connect passengers between smaller airports and the large hubs of its partner airlines. In total, SkyWest carried 38.6 million passengers in 2023. In 2023,

2813-466: Is unclear. It is claimed that Destination Sun was established in 1991 by former Northeastern International Airways CEO Guy Lindley and that the airline was formerly known as SunExpress and based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . Another source claimed that Destination Sun was established in 1990 by a bunch of pilots that are presumably ex- Eastern Air Lines pilots since it was claimed later on by

2910-474: The Boeing 717-200 fleet was then leased out to Delta Air Lines starting in mid-2013. The airlines planned to have the acquisition completed and finalized within two years, with the two carriers operating as separate airlines in the interim. The deal closed on May 2, 2011, and a single operating certificate for the combined carrier was achieved on March 1, 2012. Total integration of all employee groups between

3007-687: The Civil Aeronautics Board from 1943 to 1950 include: A history and study of regional airlines was published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in 1994 under the title Commuter Airlines of the United States , by R.E.G. Davies and I. E. Quastler . Since the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the US federal government has continued support of the regional airline sector to ensure many of

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3104-696: The Minneapolis -based Mesaba Airlines , an operating carrier for Northwest Airlines 's Northwest Airlink that had hubs in Minneapolis and Detroit . After the purchase, the airline was renamed from Conquest Sun Airlines to AirTran Airways to reflect the name of the holding company. The airline moved its headquarters to Orlando and grew to 11 Boeing 737 aircraft, serving 24 cities in the Eastern and Midwestern United States, providing low-fare leisure travel to Orlando. In 1995, AirTran Corporation created

3201-410: The aircraft livery for the company they are operating flights for. These airlines can be subsidiaries of the major airline or fly under a code sharing agreement or operating through capacity purchase agreements, with the mainline parent company financing the aircraft for the regional airline, and then placing the aircraft with the regional for very little cost. An example would be Envoy Air , which

3298-425: The 19 passenger Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector and the 34 seat Dornier 328 were undertaken, but met little financial success, partly due to economic downturn in the airline industry resulting from the outbreak of hostilities when Iraq invaded Kuwait . Many of the regional airlines operating turboprop equipment such as Delta 's regional sister Comair airlines in the United States set the course for bypassing entirely

3395-581: The AirTran Airways' proposal. However, on August 14, 2007, AirTran increased its offer to the equivalent of $ 16.25 a share, slightly more than the $ 16 a share from TPG Capital investors group. However, Midwest announced TPG would increase its offer to $ 17 per share and a definitive agreement had been reached late on August 16, 2007. On September 21, 2007, AirTran pilots, represented by the National Pilots Association, rejected

3492-455: The AirTran fleet maxed at the following aircraft: In addition, AirTran's 717 fleet included the first and last 717 ever built. AirTran Airways operated a two-class configuration featuring Business Class and Economy Class. Business class included rows 1–3 and economy began with row 10; rows 4–9 were skipped for numbering purposes and 13 was skipped due to superstition . AirTran's livery

3589-595: The AirTran management that the establishment of AirTran involved former Eastern Air Lines employees. Meanwhile, Conquest Airlines was founded by Rafael Rivas and Victor Rivas in April 1988 in Texas . Victor Rivas, co-founder of Conquest Airlines, was also heavily involved in the establishment of Conquest Sun Airlines. In 1994, the airline was purchased by the AirTran Corporation, which was the holding company of

3686-470: The AirTran name: AirTran Airways and AirTran Airlines (formerly ValuJet Airlines). AirTran Holdings retained ValuJet's stock price history. The AirTran name was chosen by the merged airline's management in hopes of distancing itself from the troubled ValuJet past. AirTran Holdings moved its headquarters to the AirTran Airways headquarters in Orlando on January 28, 1998, while ValuJet's Atlanta hub remained

3783-546: The American Eagle system in 2016, and the smaller CRJ200s were discontinued in 2020. Embraer 175 aircraft joined the American Eagle system in late 2021. On September 6, 2017, SkyWest Airlines reported that it has entered into aircraft purchase agreements and capacity purchase agreements to acquire and fly 15 new aircraft with Delta Air Lines and 10 new aircraft with Alaska Airlines . Of the 25 aircraft, 15 Embraer 175SC aircraft will fly under an agreement with Delta in

3880-577: The Board of Directors until June 2008. Upon his retirement, Fornaro then became chairman making him chairman, president and CEO. In 2009, AirTran was the first major airline to have 100% of its fleet outfitted with Gogo Inflight Internet , although other airlines had begun adding Internet before AirTran. By 2009, AirTran underwent major expansion in smaller cities such as Yeager Airport (Charleston, W.V.); Asheville Regional Airport , N.C.; and Harrisburg International Airport , Pa. In 2004, AirTran sought

3977-544: The CRJ200 regional jet. According to the airline's website, at its inception SkyWest was operating all flights in the early 1970s with small propeller-driven, piston-engine aircraft, including: In October 2023, SkyWest was sued by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), who alleged that the company illegally fired two flight attendants as retaliation for engaging in protected union organizing activities and that

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4074-638: The SOC, and a maintenance facility in addition to passengers operations at the airport. After considering putting the SOC Center in Atlanta, where AirTran has their largest hub, the decision was made to expand the facility in Orlando adjacent to AirTran's headquarters. In October 2010, a new crew base opened at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida . The base initially employed 100 pilots, including

4171-605: The SkyWest Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft, categorized by seating capacity: Note: the above chart only shows aircraft in scheduled service. It does not include aircraft owned by SkyWest but that are: leased to other operators, removed from service, transitioning between agreements with partners, used as spares, parked, or in the process of being parted out. SkyWest previously operated Embraer EMB 120 turboprop aircraft until 2015. The airline also operated Fairchild Metroliner turboprops. In 1984, SkyWest

4268-606: The United States with more than ten aircraft within their fleet, have lost their individual identities and now serve only as feeders, to Alaska Airlines , American Airlines , Delta Air Lines , or United Airlines major hubs. Regional aircraft in the US have been getting slightly more comfortable with the addition of better ergonomically designed aircraft cabins , and the addition of varying travel classes aboard these aircraft. From small, less than 50-seat "single-class cabin" turboprop , to turbofan regional jet equipment, present day regional airlines provide aircraft such as

4365-429: The United States, are: Mainline carrier-owned Independent contractors The evolution and chronological history of the commuter side of the regional airline industry can be defined by a number of dates prior to the end of the era of airline regulation by the Civil Aeronautics Board of the United States. Among these significant dates are: List of Commuter Airlines in 1977 Prior to Airline Deregulation: Some of

4462-497: The ValuJet legacy. Even though AirTran Airways was the surviving airline with its absorption of the former ValuJet Airlines which ended its operations as AirTran Airlines, ValuJet Airlines was the nominal corporate survivor of the merger. ValuJet's management team ran the merged airline, and all SEC filings prior to 1997 were under ValuJet, not AirTran. Adding to the confusion, AirTran management did not put an effort into explaining

4559-508: The accounts of its parent company, SkyWest, Inc. Figures that are available for SkyWest Airlines alone (referred to as 'SkyWest Airlines segment' data in the Group accounts), are shown below (as at year ending December 31): Hubs Crew bases Maintenance bases As of June 2024, SkyWest flies to 258 destinations throughout North America across 45 states and Washington D.C., five Canadian provinces and 13 Mexican cities. SkyWest has

4656-718: The acquisition and merger of Western by Delta Air Lines in 1987, SkyWest then became a Delta Connection air carrier with codeshare service being flown on behalf of Delta to destinations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. From 1995 through 1997, SkyWest operated codeshare service for Continental Airlines as Continental Connection on flights out of Los Angeles that were also operated as Delta Connection. In 1997, SkyWest began operating as United Express in addition to Delta Connection on flights out of United Airlines hubs at SFO , LAX and DEN . SkyWest became United's largest United Express operation by

4753-471: The advent of jet airliners and high-speed, long-range air service, commercial aviation was structured similarly to rail transport networks. In this era, technological limitations on air navigation and propeller-driven aircraft performance imposed strict constraints on the potential length of each flight; some routes covered less than 100 miles (160 km). As such, airlines structured their services along point-to-point routes with many stops between

4850-404: The airline hub. Initially these tie ups tended to use small 15 -19 seat aircraft, which did not have a reputation of passenger comfort, or safe reliable operations, by small often under capitalized tiny airline operators. To create a common tie and what appeared to be seamless to the air traveler, major carriers marketed in advertising and soon had much smaller airlines paint their small and what

4947-598: The airline is the only reasonable link to a larger town. Examples of this are PenAir , which links the remote Aleutian Islands to Anchorage, Alaska , and Mokulele Airlines , which operates in the Hawaiian islands. As an affiliated airline , contracting with a major airline , operating under their brand name (for example, Endeavor Air operates flights under the Delta Connection brand name for Delta Air Lines ), and filling two roles: delivering passengers to

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5044-487: The airline's overall financial performance and the importance of achieving high levels of customer service and efficiency. When the acquisition by Southwest was announced, AirTran served 69 destinations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and abroad. AirTran did not participate in any major global airline alliances , but it had a codeshare agreement with Frontier in 2008, followed by its parent airline, Southwest Airlines . Prior to being acquired by Southwest ,

5141-467: The balance sheet and prepare to refinance debt due in early 2000, fix the operations, increase and establish revenue streams and prepare for delivery and operation of the Boeing 717 . AirTran was the launch customer and ultimately the largest operator of this brand new aircraft. At the same time, Leonard was determined to not only lead the turn around of the carrier, but establish a culture of trust and entrepreneurship at AirTran. In 1999, AirTran reported

5238-470: The carrier's contract proposal. Two weeks earlier, the pilots voted to dump the union president and vice president. On April 10, 2009, 87% of the pilots at AirTran voted to merge the National Pilots Association with the world's largest pilot union, Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). On April 6, 2010, AirTran Airways opened their second crew base, at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee,

5335-799: The company illegally stood up a company union in violation of the Railway Labor Act . In July 2024, the US Department of Labor also sued SkyWest, alleging that company financially supported and controlled the SkyWest Inflight Association (SIA) as a company union, and that the SIA under SkyWest's control failed to perform its duties as a representative agency and illegally barred two employees from running for leadership positions due to their support for an independent labor union. Regional airline Decades before

5432-475: The company operated an average of 1,850 flights per day, of which approximately 740 (40%) were United Express flights, 580 (30%) were Delta Connection flights, 340 (20%) were American Eagle flights, and 190 (10%) were Alaska Airlines flights. Frustrated by the limited extent of existing air service, Ralph Atkin , a St. George, Utah , lawyer, purchased Dixie Airlines on April 26, 1972, to shuttle businessmen to Salt Lake City . After early struggles, SkyWest began

5529-511: The correct history of AirTran thoroughly. The AirTran airline operation received criticism for the name change with Time magazine writing, "In a corporate disappearing act, the troubled airline bought a smaller rival and adopted its name, becoming AirTran Airways." The Los Angeles Times wrote in the Summer of 1997, "After more than a year of reminding too many people of a disaster rather than low fares, ValuJet on Thursday said it would take

5626-534: The demand of long-range passenger traffic, new and small airlines found niches flying between short and under-served routes to-and-from major airports and more rural destinations. Through the 1960s and 1970s, war surplus designs (notably, the Douglas DC-3 ) were replaced by higher-performance turboprop or jet -powered designs like the Fokker F27 Friendship and BAC One-Eleven . This extended

5723-654: The establishment of Conquest Sun. The airline was purchased by the AirTran Corporation in 1994 and was renamed to AirTran Airways. The airline was later spun off under the new Airways Corporation holding company by the AirTran Corporation. The airline and the Airways Corporation holding company was purchased in 1997 by the ValuJet holding company, which owned the struggling ValuJet Airlines. The ValuJet holding company became known as AirTran Holdings and merged ValuJet Airlines into AirTran Airways. ValuJet Airlines

5820-591: The federal government's Essential Air Service program. 36 are served under the United Express brand and 14 under the Delta Connection brand. The state of Wyoming subsidizes service to four other airports in Wyoming and operates under the United Express brand. All subsidized routes are flown with Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. Performance figures for SkyWest Airlines are fully incorporated into

5917-494: The front on either side in teal above the passenger windows and the vertical stabilizer was teal with a prominent white cursive "A," just like the beginning of the logo. AirTran Airways also created several special livery aircraft. They included an aircraft featuring Elton John and Danica Patrick . AirTran also partnered with the Orlando/Orange County CVB to create a Boeing 717 aircraft emblazoned with

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6014-553: The government's UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme) . Note:- Alliance Air is still a state-owned airline, whereas Air India is private. Australia has an association for regional airline, the Regional Aviation of Australia. More than 2 million passengers and 23 million kg of cargo are involved each year. Post airline deregulation, airlines sought added market share and to do this they sought partnerships with regional and small airlines to feed traffic into

6111-435: The headquarters were in Minneapolis, Minnesota . AirTran adopted an approach to employee recruitment similar to Southwest Airlines, with an emphasis on functional skills and relational competence. The airline had clear job specialization with the expectation of flexibility between jobs as required by day-to-day operational circumstances. AirTran's training approach involved drawing the link between individual job performance,

6208-416: The higher capacity CRJ700 , CRJ900 , CRJ1000 series of aircraft and the somewhat larger fuselage Embraer E-Jets . Some of these newer aircraft are capable of flying longer distances with comfort levels that rival and surpass the regional airline equipment of the past. In the early 1990s, much more advanced turboprop-powered, fuel efficient, and passenger friendly DC-3 type replacement projects such as

6305-446: The hub for the combined AirTran Airways/Airlines operation. In April 1998, AirTran Holdings transferred all of AirTran Airlines' fleet and operations to AirTran Airways and canceled AirTran Airlines' FAA certificate. AirTran Airways now became the only airline operator for AirTran Holdings and AirTran Airlines became an inactive subsidiary of AirTran Holdings. In August 1999, AirTran Airlines was merged into AirTran Airways, legally ending

6402-532: The industry entitled "Flying Cheap". In the program, reporter Miles O'Brien questioned how the impact of low salaries are having on pilot psyches and how safe this could be for the flying public. When asked to respond to the question, Roger Cohen, president of the Regional Airline Association, told Frontline that, "...there are many other people who earn less money than that and work more days in these communities that can afford it and do it and do it responsibly." The Small Aircraft Transportation System outlined

6499-518: The integration would be completed on December 28, 2014, with AirTran Airways Flight 1 as the final scheduled departure for the airline, flying with a Boeing 717-200 (N717JL) from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Tampa International Airport (TPA). The flight used the callsign "Critter" as a nod to ValuJet. This route and flight number had been ValuJet's first flight. Prior to its acquisition, AirTran's corporate headquarters were located in Orlando, Florida . Prior to 1994,

6596-461: The introduction of electric aircraft. In some parts of the world, regional airlines face competition from high-speed rail and also coach (bus) services with airlines sometimes replacing feeder services through air rail alliances and contracts with bus companies (e.g., Landline between Philadelphia International Airport and Atlantic City International Airport ). In North America , regional airlines are operated primarily to bring passengers to

6693-464: The largest fleet of any regional airline in the United States. Since 2015, the airline has exclusively operated jet aircraft. Most SkyWest aircraft are painted in the livery of partner carriers, but SkyWest does have a small number of aircraft in its own livery that can be operated for any partner airline as needed. SkyWest is a major operator of the Bombardier CRJ family of regional jets, was

6790-629: The late 1990s. Flights were initially operated with Embraer EMB 120s and Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. CRJ700s were added in the early 2000s and the Embraer 175 were added in 2014. A partnership with Continental was revived in 2003 as Continental Connection out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston but was discontinued in June 2005. This operation used Embraer EMB 120s. On August 15, 2005, Delta sold Atlantic Southeast Airlines to

6887-559: The launch customer for CRJ200, is largest operator of the CRJ200 and took delivery of the last CRJ ever built, a CRJ900. Like most regional airlines in the United States, SkyWest is subject to scope clause requirements of its mainline carrier partners and their pilot unions; those requirements limit the size of the aircraft flown by a regional airline, measured in seat capacity. This has created three subgroups of aircraft flown by SkyWest: aircraft with no more than 50 seats, no more than 70 seats, and no more than 76 seats. As of May 2024,

6984-635: The lesser known smaller brands used by the regional airlines and their parent companies were: European regional airlines serve the intra-continental sector in Europe . They connect cities to major airports and to other cities, avoiding the need for passengers to make transfers. For example, BA CityFlyer a regional subsidiary of British Airways uses the basic Chatham Dockyard Union Flag livery of its parent company and flies between domestic and European cities. Some of Europe's regional airlines are subsidiaries of national air carriers, though there remains

7081-679: The livery of Air France . NLM 's KLM style branding does however pre-date the Air France efforts though by a number of years. The success of the "rebranding" or "pseudo branding" of a much smaller airline into the name recognition of a much larger one soon became clear as passenger numbers soared at Air Alpes, and it was soon decided to paint other aircraft such as the Fokker F-27 into full Air France colours as well. Many airline passengers find sub-branding very confusing, while many other airline passengers are content to think they are on

7178-680: The mainline airline's sub-brand livery. For example, United Express regional airline partner CommutAir branded its entire fleet as United Express. On the other hand, regional airline Gulfstream International Airlines did not brand their aircraft. When Colgan Air was still operating, they branded a handful of aircraft as Colgan Air, but most were branded as Continental Connection , US Airways Express or United Express , with whom it had contractual agreements. 21st century regional airlines are commonly organized in one of two ways. Operating as an independent airline under their own brand, mostly providing service to small and isolated towns, for whom

7275-410: The mainline airlines, in terms of revenue, many would be designated major airline carrier status based on the only actual definition of "major airline," in the United States, the definition from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This definition is based solely on annual revenue and not on any other criterion such as average aircraft seating capacity, pilot pay, or number of aircraft in the fleet. It

7372-439: The major airline's hubs from surrounding towns, and increasing frequency of service on mainline routes during times when demand does not warrant use of large aircraft, known as commuter flights . One of the first independently owned and managed airlines in the world that rebranded its aircraft to match a larger airline's brand was Air Alpes of France. During 1974, Air Alpes painted its newly delivered short range regional jets in

7469-458: The major airlines. AirTran Airways AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 until it merged with Southwest Airlines in 2014. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida , AirTran Airways was established in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines by the management of two small airlines, Destination Sun Airways and Conquest Airlines , with Conquest Airlines co-founder Victor Rivas being heavily involved in

7566-501: The major hubs, where they will connect for longer-distance flights on the national airlines also known as flagship carriers . The smallest regional carriers have become known as feeder airlines. The separate corporate structure allows the company to operate under different pay schedules, typically paying much less than their mainline owners. Many large North American airlines, have established operational relationships with one or more regional airline companies. Their aircraft often use

7663-494: The newly incorporated SkyWest, Inc., for $ 425 million in cash. The acquisition was completed on September 8, 2005. In 2007, SkyWest began code sharing with Midwest Airlines at its hubs in Milwaukee and Kansas City using Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft. In 2010 the codeshare with Midwest had ended, and a new codeshare agreement began with AirTran Airways at Milwaukee. On September 6, 2011, AirTran Airways ended its codesharing and partnership with SkyWest. Shortly after, SkyWest began

7760-415: The originating and terminating air terminals. This system of air transportation effectively forced most airlines to be "regional" in nature, but the lack of distinction among carriers soon began to change with the 1929 launch of Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) in the United States. T-A-T's transcontinental "Lindbergh Line" became America's first contiguous coast-to-coast air service, and it ushered in

7857-494: The range of the regionals dramatically, causing a wave of consolidations between the now overlapping airlines. In the United States, regional airlines were an important building block of today's passenger air system. The U.S. Government encouraged the forming of regional airlines to provide services from smaller communities to larger towns, where air passengers could connect to a larger network. The original regional airlines (then known as " Local service carriers ") sanctioned by

7954-850: The regional turboprops as they became the first to transition to an all-jet regional jet fleet. To a lesser extent in Europe and the United Kingdom this transition, to notably the Embraer or Canadair designs, was well advanced by the late 1990s. This evolution towards jet equipment, brought the independent regional airlines into direct competition with the major airlines, forcing additional consolidation. To improve on their market penetration, larger airline holding companies rely on operators of smaller aircraft to provide service or added frequency service to some airports. Such airlines, often operating in code-share arrangements with mainline airlines, often completely repaint [1] their aircraft fleet in

8051-524: The same day they officially announced Milwaukee as their second hub. On July 27, 2010, AirTran Airways hosted the grand opening of their new System Operations Control (SOC) Center at Orlando International Airport. This 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m ), $ 6.9 million, state-of-the-art command center served as the 24-hour nerve center for the entire airline with over 700 flights per day. The company employed more than 1,000 crew members in central Florida at several facilities, including their corporate headquarters,

8148-471: The smaller and more isolated rural communities remain connected to air services. This is encouraged with the Essential Air Service program that subsidizes airline service to smaller U.S. communities and suburban centers, aiming to maintain year-round service. Although regional airlines in the United States are often viewed as small, not particularly lucrative "no name" subsidiaries of

8245-546: The tenth anniversary of the Flight 592 crash, AirTran made no major corporate announcements out of respect for the victims' families. In January 1999, a new management team led by Joe Leonard, a veteran of Eastern Air Lines , and Robert L. Fornaro , of US Airways , took the reins at the airline. The two recruited a new senior management team, including Stephen J. Kolski, Operations, Kevin P. Healy, Planning, and Loral Blinde, Human Resources. The immediate goals were to stabilize

8342-530: The term has been stretched beyond the point of utility. For instance, in a 1983 article about PBA, Provincetown-Boston Airlines , both Air New England and Air Florida are described as regional airlines. At the time, Air New England was a recently-failed turboprop operator in the northeast USA, while Air Florida was a jet carrier flying from Florida to the northeast, to Latin America and Europe. The two airlines had little in common. As flag carriers grew to fill

8439-466: The time, none of these eight had a network approaching the scale of the Big Four, they were known as the regional carriers. This was despite the existence, at the time, of 13 smaller United States scheduled carriers known as local service carriers whose service was arguably far more regional than the “regional” trunks. So when reading historical sources, it’s important to understand that the term "regional airline" has migrated greatly over time. Sometimes

8536-499: The two carriers was completed in 2015. On February 14, 2013, Southwest Airlines announced that they had begun codesharing with AirTran. They took the first step on January 25, 2013 by launching shared itineraries in five markets. Southwest continued launching shared itineraries with 39 more markets beginning February 25, 2013. By April 2013, shared itineraries were scheduled to be available in all Southwest and AirTran cities (both domestic and international). Southwest announced that

8633-812: Was finally renamed to MAIR Holdings , which was finally dissolved in July 2012. On July 10, 1997, ValuJet, Inc., the parent company of the struggling ValuJet Airlines , entered into an agreement to acquire AirTran Airways and its parent Airways Corporation. After the crashes of ValuJet Flight 597 and ValuJet Flight 592 , ValuJet suffered due to the perception of a lax safety culture, putting its business in jeopardy. ValuJet purchased Airways Corporation on November 17, 1997. On that date, AirTran Airways and its parent Airways Corporation became subsidiaries of ValuJet. The ValuJet holding company changed its name to AirTran Holdings, Inc. and renamed ValuJet Airlines to AirTran Airlines. AirTran Holdings then operated two airlines with

8730-401: Was often described as puddle-jumper aircraft, in the image and branding colors of the much larger mainline partner. This was to give the appearance of reliability. Over time these regional aircraft grew in size as airline hubs expanded and competition dwindled among the major carriers. Below is a list of many of the regional brands that evolved when regional airlines were advertised to look like

8827-592: Was only 40% in 2000. The formerly small regional airlines have grown substantially, through mergers or by the use of a holding company, as pioneered by AMR Corporation in 1982. AMR created the AMR Eagle Holding Corporation which unified its wholly owned American Eagle Airlines and Executive Airlines under one division, but still maintained the regional airlines' operating certificates and personnel separate from each other and American Airlines . The most significant regional airlines in

8924-454: Was operating the largest Metro propjet fleet in the world with 26 aircraft, and by 1991 the Metro fleet had grown to 35 aircraft with 15 Brasilia propjets also being operated. By 1994, the first jet, a Bombardier CRJ100 , was added to the fleet and by 1996 all of the Metro propjets had been retired as they were progressively replaced with Brasilia aircraft. SkyWest was also the launch customer for

9021-404: Was primarily white, with teal on the ventral side. The sections were divided by parallel red and pink stripes, which ran horizontal at the front and started to curve upward at the wings until they reached the top side of the plane at the back of the vertical stabilizer. The nacelles were royal blue, with "airtran.com" written in white Helvetica font. The logo version of "AirTran" was written toward

9118-562: Was renamed "AirTran Airlines" before it was merged into AirTran Airways. AirTran Airways and parent AirTran Holdings were acquired by Southwest Airlines on May 2, 2011 and gradually integrated, with AirTran's final revenue flight operating on December 28, 2014. AirTran operated nearly 700 daily flights, primarily in the eastern and midwestern United States , with its principal hub at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport , where it operated nearly 200 daily departures. AirTran's fleet consisted of Boeing 717-200 aircraft, of which it

9215-543: Was retired, leaving it with a fleet of more than 70 Boeing 717-200s . Shortly after, the first Boeing 737-700 entered AirTran's fleet in June 2004. In August 2004, AirTran JetConnect (operated by Air Wisconsin) ceased all operations. On May 23, 2006, AirTran accepted one of the last two Boeing 717s delivered in a ceremony with Midwest Airlines , who accepted the other 717. Boeing closed the 717 line due to poor sales. In November 2007, Robert L. Fornaro took over as CEO, as well as president. Joe Leonard remained chairman of

9312-659: Was the major contributing factor. Taking a contrary position, Brian Stimpson argues in the Manitoba Professional Engineer that there are other examples of studied complex operations which have been routinely performed safely for many years, with such examples including large aircraft carriers and the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Station in California. AirTran made almost no mention of its ValuJet past. However, on

9409-418: Was the world's largest operator, and Boeing 737-700 aircraft. AirTran Airways was founded in 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines and began operations as a start up Boeing 737-200 operator with service to and from Orlando . AirTran Airways was established by both the management of Destination Sun Airways and the management of regional airline Conquest Airlines . The establishment of Destination Sun Airways

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