Founded | 3 May 2011 |
---|---|
Hubs | |
Focus cities | |
Frequent-flyer program | Aeroplan |
Alliance | Star Alliance (affiliate) |
Fleet size | 117 |
Parent company | Air Canada |
Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Air Canada Express is a brand name of regional feeder flights for Air Canada that are subcontracted to other airlines. Presently, Jazz Aviation and PAL Airlines are the sole operators of Air Canada Express flights. They primarily connect smaller cities with Air Canada's domestic hub airports and focus cities, although they offer some point-to-point and international service to the United States.
On 26 April 2011, it was reported that Air Canada decided to retire the Air Canada Jazz brand and created the Air Canada Express brand. [1] Prior to establishing the Express name, the flights operated primarily under the Air Canada Jazz or Air Canada Alliance banners.
As of January 2020, Air Georgian no longer provides services under the capacity purchase agreement. Those services were transferred back to Jazz Aviation. On 1 March 2021, it was also announced that Sky Regional would also no longer provide services under the capacity purchase agreement and therefore Jazz Aviation would become the sole operator of the express brand. [2]
However, on 30 May 2023, it was announced that Air Canada has signed a letter of intent with PAL Airlines for a five-year capacity purchase agreement. If finalized, this deal will involve the purchase of up to six de Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 planes from Air Canada, which PAL Airlines will operate under the Air Canada Express brand in addition to their existing schedule and charter business. [3] [4] In the announcement, Air Canada described the prospective agreement with PAL Airlines as a "bridging arrangement" due to a need for additional regional capacity as a result of industry-wide pilot shortages. [4]
As of September 2023, the fleet consists of the following aircraft: [5] [6]
Operator | Aircraft | In service | Passengers | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
J | Y | Total | |||
Jazz Aviation | De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 | 39 | – | 78 | 78 |
Bombardier CRJ200 [lower-alpha 1] | 7 | – | 50 | 50 | |
Bombardier CRJ900 [lower-alpha 2] | 35 | 12 | 64 | 76 | |
Embraer 175 | 25 | 12 | 64 | 76 | |
PAL Airlines | De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 | 11 | – | 76 | 76 |
Total | 117 |
The Air Canada Express brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of turbofan and twin turboprop aircraft over the years including the following types:
Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 44 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, with three more on order, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 domestic and international destinations. Widerøe has a turnover of 3.5 billion kr; carries 2.8 million annual passengers; has 3,500 employees and performs 450 take-offs and landings each day. Public service obligation services to regional airports make up slightly less than half of Widerøe's operations. The remaining services are to primary airports in Northern Norway, and services from Sandefjord Airport, Torp and Bergen Airport, Flesland to other primary airports, and some international services from Oslo/Gardermoen, Sandefjord/Torp, Kristiansand/Kjevik, Stavanger/Sola, Bergen/Flesland and Trondheim/Værnes.
Horizon Air is an American regional airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, United States. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group and it is paid by fellow group member Alaska Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by Alaska Airlines. Planes operated by Horizon are co-branded as Alaska HORIZON in order to differentiate Horizon's planes from those operated by Alaska's other regional airline partner, SkyWest Airlines.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) was a regional U.S. airline based in the A-Tech Center in College Park, Georgia, flying to 144 destinations as a Delta Connection carrier on behalf of Delta Air Lines via a code sharing agreement and, as of February 2010, commenced service as a United Express carrier on behalf of United Airlines via a separate code sharing agreement. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. ASA operated nearly 900 flights each day. Its main hub was located at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) which is also a hub for Delta. After a 2010 merger with ExpressJet, ASA adopted the ExpressJet name and branding in 2011.
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.
America West Express was the brand name for America West Airlines commuter and regional flights operated by Mesa Air Group's Mesa Airlines under a code share agreement. Today Mesa Airlines operates for American Eagle.
Mesa Airlines, Inc., is an American regional airline based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is an FAA Part 121–certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number MASA036A issued on June 29, 1979. It is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group and operates flights as United Express via respective code sharing agreements with United Airlines. It serves more than 180 markets in the Western Hemisphere. In a 1997 article from the Journal of Air Transportation, Mesa's safety record was noted as having the fewest incidents among domestic regional airlines at that time. Mesa filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2010, hoping to shed financial obligations for leases on airplanes it no longer needed and emerged from bankruptcy in March 2011. In November 2017, Mesa opened a new training center in Phoenix. The 23,000-square-foot facility features a full-size CRJ-200 cabin trainer aircraft, 14 classrooms, and has the capacity to train 300 crew members at one time.
Piedmont Airlines, Inc. is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group and it is paid by fellow group member American Airlines to staff, operate and maintain aircraft used on American Eagle flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by American Airlines. Piedmont also provides ground handling and customer service for airports in the northeastern and western United States.
Jazz Aviation LP, commonly shortened to Jazz, is a Canadian regional airline based at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, in Enfield, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chorus Aviation. Jazz Aviation provides regional and charter airline services in Canada and the United States, primarily under contract to Air Canada using the brand name Air Canada Express, and also as Jazz Charters.
A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North America, most regional airlines are classified as "fee-for-departure" carriers, operating their revenue flights as codeshare services contracted by one or more major airline partners. A number of regional airlines, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, were classified as commuter airlines in the Official Airline Guide (OAG).
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was bought by Boeing in 1986, then by Bombardier in 1992, then by Longview Aviation Capital in 2019; Longview revived the De Havilland Canada brand. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150s, it was developed from the Dash 7 with improved cruise performance and lower operational costs, but without STOL performance. The Dash 8 was offered in three sizes: the initial Series 100 (1984-2005) and the more powerful Series 200 (1995-2009) with 37-40 seats, the Series 300 (1989-2009) with 50-56 seats, and Series 400 (1999-Present) with 68-90 seats. The QSeries are post-1997 variants fitted with active noise control systems.
Trans States Airlines was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1982 until 2020, when it shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was owned by Trans States Holdings and headquartered in Bridgeton, Missouri. At the time of its closing, the airline operated flights for United Airlines under the United Express brand. Trans States Airlines ceased all operations on April 1, 2020.
German Airways Fluggesellschaft GmbH, operating as German Airways and formerly named Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter or LGW for short, was a German regional airline headquartered in Düsseldorf.
Air BC was a Canadian regional airline headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. It later became part of Air Canada Jazz. This regional airline primarily flew turboprop aircraft but also operated jets as well as an Air Canada Connector carrier on behalf of Air Canada via a code share feeder agreement.
Time Air was an airline in Canada founded in 1966 by businessman Walter “Stubb” Ross from Lethbridge in Alberta. It was called Lethbridge Air Service before becoming Time Airways Ltd. in 1969, which was later shortened to Time Air Ltd. In 1993 it was merged with Ontario Express to create Canadian Regional Airlines.
PAL Airlines is a Canadian regional airline with headquarters at St. John's International Airport in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. PAL operates scheduled passenger, cargo, air ambulance and charter services. PAL is the commercial airline arm of the PAL Group of Companies. In addition to its head office, it also has bases in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Montreal, Quebec. PAL is the second largest regional airline operator in Eastern Canada next to Jazz Aviation.
QantasLink is a full-service, regional brand of Australian flag carrier Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. As of 2024, QantasLink provides over 2,000 flights each week to over 50 metropolitan and regional destinations across Australia, as well as short-haul international services to New Zealand, Singapore, the Solomon Islands and East Timor.
The Bombardier CRJ550, CRJ700, CRJ705, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from the smaller CRJ100 and 200 airliners, the other members of the Bombardier CRJ aircraft family. The CRJ program was acquired by the Japanese corporation Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2020, which ended production of the aircraft.
Crown Airways was a regional airline operating for USAir Express with its headquarters on the grounds of DuBois Regional Airport in Washington Township, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, near Falls Creek. Allegheny Commuter was the brand name for the regional affiliate of Allegheny Airlines, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers operate short and medium haul routes. The airline is often credited as the first code-share agreement between a major airline and smaller commuters.
American Eagle is a US brand name for the regional branch of American Airlines, under which six individual regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. Three of these airlines, Envoy Air, Piedmont Airlines, and PSA Airlines, are wholly owned subsidiaries of the American Airlines Group. American Eagle's largest hub is Charlotte Douglas International's Concourse E, which operates over 340 flights per day, making it the largest express flight operation in the world.