In November 2011, ASA and ExpressJet received a single operating certificate from the FAA and in December 2011, all flights were then operated by ExpressJet on behalf of its major airline code sharing partners.
History
On March 12, 1979, the company was incorporated as Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. with headquarters established in the Atlanta area. June 27 saw the start of operations with three 19-passenger de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop aircraft on an intrastate route between Atlanta and Columbus.[1] From 1979 to 1999 the call sign for ASA was "ACEY". In 1999 there was confusion between the ACEY call sign and that of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) New Mexico-based fighter unit's call sign "ACER". The FAA insisted that one of the entities change its call sign; ASA was the one to change since it had used ACEY for the least amount of time. June 27, 1999, ASA changed to call sign CAA "Candler" after the founder of Coca-Cola, Asa Candler (whose first name also forms the company's acronym). On March 15, 2006, ASA was allowed to change its call sign back to ACEY, after the New Mexico fighter unit was disestablished.[2][3] Over the years, ASA's ICAO identifier changed from ASE to CAA to ACY to ASQ..[citation needed] The company went public when the initial stock offering was completed in 1982.
The first of a fleet of Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante twin engine turboprop commuter airliners was delivered to ASA in December 1980.[4] On April 1, 1983, the company acquired Southeastern Airlines. On May 1, 1984, ASA joined the Delta Connection program as one of the first regional partners.[5] After only a few years as a true regional airline, the company was named 'Regional Airline of the Year' by Air Transport World in January 1987.[citation needed]
ASA initiated jet service with introduction of British AerospaceBAe 146-200 aircraft in 1995. Two years later, the company began using Canadair CRJ200 regional jets for service from its Atlanta hub. CRJ service from the Dallas/Fort Worth hub began in 2000.
On September 8, 1998, the company was honored as one of the global aviation and aerospace industry's best managed companies by Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine.
Delta Air Lines acquired the company on March 22, 1999, increasing its stake in Atlantic Southeast Airlines from 28% to 100%, and operations began on May 11 of that year. In 2000, Comair, a Delta Connection partner, joined ASA in announcing industry's largest regional jet order. Also in 2000, ASA went international with flights to Toronto, Canada, from Atlanta.
In 2002, ASA received and began using its first Delta Connection 70-seat Canadair (now Bombardier) CRJ700 aircraft. All previous CRJs were CRJ200 models, which only offered 50 seats. Also in 2002, ASA began service to its 100th airport: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio. By June 2003, ASA had received its 100th CRJ. In 2004, a special-edition CRJ700 was delivered to ASA to celebrate its 25th anniversary of passenger service.
On August 15, 2005, Delta announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell ASA to SkyWest, Inc. for $425 million, and on September 8, 2005, SkyWest announced that the acquisition had been completed, and that the code shares and flying would commence that night.
Shortly after the completion of the purchase by SkyWest, Inc. the decision was made to close ASA's Salt Lake City hub and transfer 12 of ASA's CRJ700s to SkyWest Airlines. Eventually only 4 of the 12 airplanes were transferred between the certificates. SkyWest Airlines also took delivery of the remainder of ASA's regional jet orders, as 5 additional CRJ700s and 17 CRJ900s. [citation needed]
On June 1, 2006, ASA filed with the US Department of Transportation for an exemption to begin service from Los Angeles International Airport to nine Mexican destinations under the Delta Connection brand. This service is contingent on US as well as Mexican government approvals. ASA also announced the opening of a Los Angeles crew base on December 1, 2006, to support the expanded west coast operations. ASA began operations at its new Los Angeles focus city on December 15, 2006.
On December 20, 2006, Skywest Inc. announced that 8 Comair CRJ700 aircraft would be transferred to Atlantic Southeast Airlines and operated out of Delta's Cincinnati hub beginning in January 2007. This followed a request for proposal put out by Delta Air Lines aiming to reduce costs of its Delta Connection service.
On December 30, 2008, Delta announced that 10 CRJ900 aircraft would be allocated to Atlantic Southeast Airlines beginning in April 2009. Eight aircraft will be delivered from the factory and two already in service with Pinnacle Airlines will be transferred to ASA. As part of the fleet enhancement, 20 CRJ200 aircraft were removed from ASA's Delta Connection Agreement beginning in June 2010.
ASA had the lowest rate of on-time performance, and the worst rate of mishandled baggage among all 19 US air carriers reporting to the US Department of Transportation for the full-year 2006.[6] ASA's baggage handling performance improved slightly in 2007, but they once again ranked last out of all 20 reporting carriers for on-time performance.[7] ASA is not directly responsible for the mishandled baggage problems since ASA baggage is handled by Delta Air Lines. Under former CEO Brad Holt's new leadership, on-time performance steadily improved, with full recoveries in markets such as Montgomery, Alabama, where ASA was honored for exceeding the city's expectation in improving performance.
After over five years of contentious negotiations with the Air Line Pilots Association, a new three-year agreement was reached in late September 2007 with ASA's 1800 pilots. ASA's Flight Attendants represented by the Association of Flight Attendants reached a contract agreement as of August 2008. [citation needed]
On May 21, 2010, Atlantic Southeast unveiled a new brand (top of page on right), moving away from "ASA," and a new vision.
In August 2010, SkyWest announced that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement with ExpressJet Holdings, whereby Atlantic Southeast, as SkyWest's wholly owned subsidiary, will purchase ExpressJet for $6.75 per share. Day one of the combined airlines was Friday, November 12, 2010. The combined airline will be based in Atlanta. At the time ExpressJet operated as Continental Express and United Express. The airline expected to be operating under one certificate 4th quarter of 2011.[8]
On July 13, 2011, Atlantic Southeast announced that it would change its name to "SureJet" after completion of its merger with ExpressJet. However, the reaction of employee groups at both airlines was so negative that the new name was put on hold less than 24 hours after being announced. Brand information and press releases pertaining to "SureJet" were removed from Atlantic Southeast's public and employee websites and the company's combined identity was reconsidered. On October 14, 2011, the company announced that Atlantic Southeast's official company name would change to ExpressJet Airlines on December 31, 2011. [9] On November 22, 2011, both Atlantic Southeast and ExpressJet gained approval from the FAA for a single operating certificate that would allow them to operate as a single carrier under the ExpressJet name making ExpressJet the largest regional airline in the world with more than 400 aircraft.[10]
Fleet
As of January 2011, the Atlantic Southeast Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft with an average age of 8.4 years:[11][12][13]
Embraer Brasilia aircraft were retired from service in 2003, and aircraft that have not been sold are in storage at Hot Springs, Arkansas. The airline operated the following aircraft types at various times during its existence:[14]
In December 2007 the airline announced it was moving its headquarters into the A-Tech facility, a hangar at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport previously named the "North Hangar." The 203,000-square-foot (18,900m2) hangar includes 100,000 square feet (9,300m2) of hangar bays for aircraft maintenance. It has 17 acres (6.9ha) of adjacent land and 1,400 parking spaces for employees. The airline planned to relocate 100 employees from Macon, Georgia, to the new headquarters. The Atlanta City Council and Mayor of AtlantaShirley Franklin approved of the new 25-year ASA lease, which also gave the airline new hangar space to work on 15 to 25 aircraft in overnight maintenance; previously its aircraft were serviced at Concourse C. The airport property division stated that the hangar was built in the 1960s and renovated in the 1970s. Eastern Airlines and Delta Air Lines had previously occupied the hangar. Delta's lease originally was scheduled to expire in 2010, but the airline returned the lease to the City of Atlanta in 2005 as part of its bankruptcy settlement. The city collected an insurance settlement of almost $900,000 as a result of the cancellation.[20]
The airline had its headquarters in Greater Atlanta for a 26-year span until December 2007.[20] In 1985 Atlantic Southeast Airlines was headquartered in what is now College Park.[18][21] In 1995 ASA was headquartered in a building in the Atlanta City limits.[22][23] Prior to the headquarters move to the hangar, the ASA headquarters were in 61,000 square feet (5,700m2) of space in the 100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway building,[20] now named One Hartsfield Centre.[24] That building is also in College Park,[18][20] near Hartsfield Airport.[24] ASA had occupied Suite 800.[25] The airline announced it was moving to the A-Tech Center as its lease was expiring at 100 Hartsfield Centre Parkway.[20]
Incidents and accidents
Flight 2366 (Lawton, Oklahoma, May 24, 1988; Crashed due to engine failure on take-off)[26]
Flight 5058 (Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport), September 2, 2011; Canadair CRJ-200 N875AS landed with the left main undercarriage retracted. There were no injuries amongst the 50 passengers and three crew on board.[27]
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the primary international airport serving Atlanta and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The airport is located 10 mi south of the Downtown Atlanta district. It is named after former Atlanta mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. The airport covers 4,700 acres of land and has five parallel runways which are aligned in an east–west direction. There are three runways that are 9,000 feet (2,743 m) long, one runway that is 10,000 feet (3,048 m) long, and the longest runway at ATL measures 12,390 feet (3,776 m) long, which can handle the Airbus A380. Since 1998, Hartsfield–Jackson has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic. In 2023, the airport served over 104.6 million passengers, the most of any airport in the world. Hartsfield–Jackson is also the world's busiest airport by aircraft movements.
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, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. In all, it is the largest regional airline in North America when measured by fleet size, number of passengers carried, and number of destinations served.
Endeavor Air is a regional airline in the United States headquartered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, and staffs, operates and maintains aircraft used on Delta Connection flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by Delta Air Lines.
Panama City–Bay County International Airport was a public airport 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Panama City, in Bay County, Florida. It was owned and operated by the Panama City–Bay County Airport and Industrial District. All airline services moved to the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport on May 22, 2010, but the airfield was open to general aviation aircraft until October 1, 2010. The grounds will eventually be turned over to LUK-MB1 LLC, which plans to remove the runways and build homes, shops, walking trails and a marina.
Augusta Regional Airport is a city-owned public airport six miles (11 km) south of Augusta, in Richmond County, Georgia, United States.
Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, also known as Ryan Field, is a public use airport located four miles (7 km) north of the central business district of Baton Rouge, a city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States.
Lafayette Regional Airport(French: Aéroport régional de Lafayette) is a public use airport two miles (4 km) southeast of Lafayette, in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned and operated by the City Parish of Lafayette.
Jack Brooks Regional Airport, formerly Southeast Texas Regional Airport, is near Port Arthur, Texas, nine miles (14 km) southeast of Beaumont and northeast of Port Arthur. It was Jefferson County Airport, but its name was changed to honor former U.S. Representative Jack Brooks. The airport is southwest of the city of Nederland in unincorporated Jefferson County, and is used for general aviation. Southwest Airlines ended scheduled jet service in 1980 and several other airlines have started and ended service as well including American Eagle, Continental, Delta/Delta Connection and United Express. The latest chapter is the resumption of service by American Eagle for American Airlines to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW).
Golden Triangle Regional Airport is a public use airport in unincorporated Lowndes County, Mississippi. The airport is located approximately midway between the cities of Columbus, Starkville, and West Point, Mississippi, and serves the surrounding Golden Triangle region of Mississippi and parts of West Alabama. GTR is used for general and military aviation, and charter aircraft.
Friedman Memorial Airport is a city-owned public-use airport in the northwest United States, located one nautical mile (2 km) southeast of the central business district of Hailey, the county seat of Blaine County, Idaho. The airport is operated by the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority under a joint powers agreement between the city of Hailey and Blaine County. It serves the resort communities of Sun Valley and Ketchum, and the surrounding areas in the Wood River Valley.
Fort Smith Regional Airport is a public use airport located near the Interstate 540 freeway three nautical miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Fort Smith, in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States. FSM is governed by the Fort Smith Airport Commission as established by the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It serves the transportation needs of residents and businesses of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. FSM is currently served by American Eagle, the regional airline affiliate of American Airlines. It has a large population of corporate and general aviation aircraft. A full-service fixed-base operator (FBO), Signature Flight Support, provides service to general aviation, airline, and military operators.
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 International Airport. 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.
Brunswick Golden Isles Airport, previously known as Glynco Jetport, is a county-owned public-use airport located five nautical miles (9 km) north of the central business district of Brunswick, a city in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline.
Middle Georgia Regional Airport is a city-owned, public-use airport located nine nautical miles south of the central business district of Macon, a city in Bibb County, Georgia, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline.
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Freedom Airlines, Inc. was an American FAA Part 121 certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number FDKA087K issued on April 1, 2002. A Nevada corporation, it was headquartered in Irving, Texas and a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group. It operated flights as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines serving Delta's hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, KY, near Cincinnati, OH using EMB 145 aircraft. Freedom's base moved to Cincinnati from New York City in July 2009. Freedom previously operated the CRJ-900 aircraft for Delta Connection as well; however, this contract was canceled and all aircraft were transferred to Eagan, MN-based Mesaba Airlines, Atlanta, GA-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines, and Memphis, TN-based Pinnacle Airlines.
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Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. was a regional airline in the United States and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Prior to the shut down of operations, it operated scheduled passenger services to 52 airports in the United States and Canada via code sharing agreements for Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines. Chautauqua previously flew feeder services for other airlines via code sharing agreements including Allegheny Airlines, USAir, Trans World Airlines, Continental Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and America West Airlines. Its last day in operation was December 31, 2014, at which time all flying was absorbed by the Shuttle America certificate.
Delta Connection is a brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to operate services via code sharing agreements in order to increase frequencies in addition to serving routes that would not sustain larger aircraft as well as for other competitive or operational reasons.
References
↑ Smith Jr., Myron J. (2002). The Airline Encyclopedia 1909-2000. Vol.1. Scarecrow Press. p.580.
↑ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 30, 1985. 56." Retrieved on June 17, 2009. "1688 Phoenix Parkway, College Park, Georgia 30349, USA"
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