United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which five individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights.
Air Wisconsin Airlines is a regional airline based at Appleton International Airport in the town of Greenville, Wisconsin, near Appleton. Air Wisconsin originally operated as one of the original United Express partners in 1985, and subsequently operated as US Airways Express on behalf of US Airways prior to becoming an American Eagle regional air carrier. Between March 2018 and April 2023, Air Wisconsin operated exclusively as a United Express regional air carrier once again with primary hubs located at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). This came to an end in April 2023 as the carrier switched to conducting solely American Eagle branded flights, per a new contract with American Airlines.
Chicago Express Airlines, Inc. was a regional airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Empire Airlines is a cargo and former passenger airline based in Hayden, Idaho, near Coeur d'Alene. It operates over 120 scheduled cargo flights a day in 18 US states and Canada. Empire also operated passenger service within Hawaii, under the name "Ohana by Hawaiian", between 2014-2021 in partnership with Hawaiian Airlines. Its main base is Coeur d'Alene Airport with a hub at Spokane International Airport. The company slogan is We Can Do That.
Astral Aviation is a cargo airline based in Nairobi, Kenya. It was established in November 2000 and started operations in January 2001. It operates scheduled and non-scheduled/ad-hoc cargo charters, as well as humanitarian-aid flights, to regional destinations in Africa, Asia and to Liège in Belgium as its only European destination, as of 2023. Its main base is Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi. It has one subsidiary operating in India since October 2022, Pradhaan Air Express, which leased an Airbus A320P2F cargo aircraft, thus making it the world's first airline to have such an aircraft in its fleet.
FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leading subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, delivering freight and packages to more than 375 destinations over 220 countries across six continents each day. FedEx Express is also the world's largest express transportation company.
ASL Airlines Ireland (ASLI), formerly Air Contractors, is a cargo airline with an extensive operations network. It operates scheduled freight services throughout Europe on behalf of major parcel integrators such as Amazon, FedEx Feeder and DHL Express; and some wet lease services for scheduled airlines. ASL Aviation Holdings DAC, the parent company of ASL Airlines Ireland, is headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland.
Baron Aviation Services is an American cargo airline based in Vichy, Missouri, United States. It was established in 1973 and operates small package express cargo services on behalf of FedEx Express. Its main base is Rolla National Airport, Vichy, Missouri.
Amerijet International Airlines, Inc. is an American cargo airline headquartered in Miami, United States. The airline delivers air freight with its fleet of Boeing 757s and Boeing 767s from its main hub at the Miami International Airport to 48 destinations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Their network spans 476 destinations throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East.
ExpressJet Airlines was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1987 until 2022. It was headquartered in College Park, Georgia. The company began as Britt Airways and flew exclusively as Continental Express, the contracted codeshare partner for Continental Airlines. The name was changed to ExpressJet at the beginning of 1995 as the company began acquiring regional jets, replacing its fleet of turboprop aircraft. Along with flying as Continental Express, ExpressJet expanded flying under the Delta Connection brand from 2007 through 2008 and again from 2012 through 2018. Service as American Eagle was flown between 2012 and 2019 and service under the United Express brand began in 2009. ExpressJet also flew an independent operation under their own brand in 2007 through 2008. When Continental Airlines merged into United Airlines in 2012, the Continental Express operations were added to the United Express service. In September 2020, it exited the fee-for-departure airline market and temporarily ceased flights after the conclusion of its contract with its sole remaining mainline partner, United Airlines. In September 2021, ExpressJet resumed operations as both an air charter provider and a regional airline under its own brand aha!—short for "Air-Hotel-Adventure." The brand's route structure focused on the West Coast of the United States with a hub at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, and scheduled flights began on October 24, 2021. The airline, including its brand aha!, filed for bankruptcy on August 23, 2022, having ceased all operations the previous day. In July 2023, the airline announced plans to relaunch as an air charter service using a single leased Boeing 777.
GoJet Airlines LLC is a regional airline headquartered in Bridgeton, Missouri, United States. Wholly owned by Trans States Holdings, it has 1,670 employees. It operates commuter feeder services under the United Express brand of United Airlines. United Express flights are currently operated out of United's hubs at Chicago–O'Hare, Newark and Washington-Dulles. GoJet's Delta Connection branded flights came to an end on March 31, 2020. Most of the flying at the end of the agreement was out of Detroit and Minneapolis–St. Paul as well as Raleigh-Durham. GoJet Airlines' system operations center (SOC), training center and corporate offices are co-located in the former Trans World Airlines and Ozark Airlines training center in Bridgeton, Missouri. The airline uses the former McDonnell Douglas factory hangar at Saint Louis Lambert International Airport as its primary maintenance facility, with maintenance staff available at all of the airline's destinations. Its call sign, "Lindbergh", is named for aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, who flew the Spirit of St. Louis solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927: the first person to do so.
Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, as well as to provide temporary increase in capacity. The industry has two main leasing types: wet-leasing, which is normally used for short-term leasing, and dry-leasing which is more normal for longer-term leases. The industry also uses combinations of wet and dry. For example, when the aircraft is wet-leased to establish new services, then as the airline's flight or cabin crews become trained, they can be switched to a dry lease. In some markets, there may also be hybrid models, such as with crew provided by lessees.
Corporate Air is an airline based in Billings, Montana, United States. It was established in 1981 and operates primarily domestic scheduled cargo services, feeder service on behalf of FedEx Express, as well as the United States Postal Service. Its main base is Billings Logan International Airport.
Morningstar Air Express Inc. is a cargo airline based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It operates a contract all-cargo service from Halifax to Vancouver for FedEx Express within Canada, as well as all-cargo charter services. Its main base is Edmonton International Airport.
Mountain Air Cargo (MAC) is an American cargo airline based in Denver, North Carolina. It is a major contract carrier for FedEx Express, operating in the eastern United States and the Caribbean region. Previous turboprop operations in South America have been discontinued by FedEx, which now operates jet aircraft in that area. MAC is one of the largest feeder airlines in the United States. Its main maintenance facility is at Kinston Regional Jetport. All of the ATR, C208, and C408 aircraft operated by Mountain Air are owned by FedEx Express, and are operated by MAC on a "dry lease" basis.
West Air, Inc. is an American airline based in Fresno, California, owned by Empire Airlines. It provides feeder service on behalf of FedEx Express throughout California and parts of Nevada and Utah.
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky. One of the largest cargo airlines worldwide, UPS Airlines flies to 815 destinations worldwide. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service since its launch in 1988.
SkyLink Express is a cargo airline headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It operates dedicated air cargo / courier feeder flights throughout Canada and the United States and provides on demand air cargo charters from its bases in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Montréal-Mirabel.
Amazon Air is a virtual cargo airline operating exclusively to transport Amazon packages. In 2017, it changed its name from Amazon Prime Air to Amazon Air to differentiate themselves from their Amazon Prime Air autonomous drone delivery service. However, the Prime Air logo remains on the aircraft. Until January 2021, the airline had relied on wet-leasing its aircraft from other operators, but going forward it is looking to directly own some aircraft. On the planes the airline owns, the airline will still rely on others for CMI leases.
