 A DC-9-32 in Continental Lite livery | |||||||
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| Founded | 1993 | ||||||
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| Ceased operations | 1995 (re-integrated into Continental Airlines) | ||||||
| Hubs | |||||||
| Parent company | Continental Airlines | ||||||
| Key people | Gordon Bethune | ||||||
Continental Lite was a short-lived subsidiary brand of Continental Airlines established in 1993. The airline folded in 1995 after losing what has been reported in the press as between $140 million [1] and $300 million. [2]
Continental Lite was developed by Continental Airlines to counter the rise of low-cost start up carriers. This despite the fact that Continental had some of the lowest costs in the airline industry due to many of the trade labor unions agreements being tossed out during Frank Lorenzo's reign with Continental through Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [3]
The airline was originally informally known as CALite within Continental; the "Continental Lite" name was formally adopted in 1994. [4] [5] It expanded to serve 45 cities in 1994, primarily on the East Coast, and came to account for a third of Continental's total capacity. [6] After Gordon Bethune took over as the CEO of Continental in 1994, Continental began to distance itself from the service. [7]
Continental Lite operated with a dedicated fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30, Boeing 737-200, Boeing 737-300, and Boeing 737-500 aircraft, each repainted with the 'Lite' livery and stripped of its first class cabin. This service was based primarily at Continental's existing hub in Cleveland as well as a new hub established in Greensboro, partly replacing the service of Eastern Airlines in North Carolina. [8] The Greensboro hub had 83 daily flights at its peak in late 1994, and Continental had planned a gate expansion at the airport. [6]
Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until 2012, when it merged with United Airlines. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
ATA Airlines, Inc. – formerly known as American Trans Air and commonly referred to as ATA – was an American low-cost scheduled service and charter airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana. ATA operated scheduled passenger flights throughout the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Portugal as well as military and commercial charter flights around the world. In its early days, the airline flew charters on a worldwide basis and had bases in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Indianapolis, Oakland, and Milwaukee. Later, when it entered scheduled service, the airline maintained focus cities at Chicago Midway International Airport, Honolulu International Airport, and Oakland International Airport.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a major Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest airline based in Canada, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 passengers per day. In 2018, WestJet carried 25.49 million passengers, making it the ninth-largest airline in North America by passengers carried.
Long Island MacArthur Airport, formerly known as Islip Airport, is a public airport in Ronkonkoma, in the Town of Islip, in Suffolk County, on Long Island, New York, United States. Covering 1,311 acres (531 ha), the airport was established in 1942 and began serving as a commercial airport in 1960. It has three runways and two helipads.
St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport is a public/military airport in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay Area. It is right on the northeast municipal boundary of Pinellas Park, 9 miles (14 km) north of downtown St. Petersburg, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Clearwater, and 17 miles (27 km) southwest of Tampa.
Key West International Airport is an international airport located in the City of Key West in Monroe County, Florida, United States, 2 miles east of the main commercial center of Key West.
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Hooters Air was an airline headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. Hooters Air flights were operated by Winston-Salem, North Carolina–based Pace Airlines both as ad hoc private charters, and as scheduled USDOT public charters. As such, flights operated both under Pace Airlines' IATA Code of Y5 for ad hoc charters, and under its own IATA Code of H1 for public charters.
Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is a subsidiary of Copa Holdings and a member of the Star Alliance. The airline is also the main operator and owner of Colombian airline AeroRepública, currently known as Wingo, previously known as Copa Airlines Colombia.
AirTran Airways was a low-cost airline in the United States that operated from 1993 to 2014 when it was merged into Southwest Airlines.
Jet Airways (India) Limited, trading as Jet Airways, was an Indian airline based in Delhi, with a training and developmental centre in Mumbai. Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It began full-fledged operations in 1995 with international flights added in 2004. The airline went public in 2005 and in 2007, when it acquired Air Sahara. It was the first and only privately owned Indian airline before the founding of Vistara in 2015. The airline is expected to re-commence its flight operations by the end of 2024, making it the first Indian airline to be revived after ceasing operations.
Shuttle by United was an "airline within an airline" operated as a subsidiary of United Airlines from 1994 to 2001 along the West Coast of the United States. It operated from San Francisco International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. Shuttle's fleet consisted of Boeing 737-300s and 737-500s. The service was eventually renamed United Shuttle before it was shut down by United and its aircraft returned to mainline service with the airline.
New York Air was a low-cost airline in the United States owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines.
Avelo Airlines is an American ultra low-cost carrier headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as Casino Express Airlines and Xtra Airways before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebranding as Avelo Airlines on April 8, 2021. The airline's first scheduled flight under the Avelo name was on April 28, 2021 from Hollywood Burbank Airport to Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport.
MetroJet was a no-frills airline brand operated as a wholly owned division of US Airways from 1998 until 2001.
MarkAir was a regional airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, that became a national air carrier operating passenger jet service in the United States with a hub and corporate headquarters located in Denver, Colorado. After a second bankruptcy in 1995, it ceased operations in October and was later liquidated.
Presidential Airways was an airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express Airlines, known as PEOPLExpress a low-cost carrier, with Boeing 737-200 service from Washington Dulles to Boston Logan in Massachusetts commencing October 10 of that year. A small fleet of B737-200 jetliners were initially operated by the airline.
Vision Airlines, formerly Vision Air, was an airline that had its operations headquartered in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
Morris Air was a low-fare airline in the western United States, based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began scheduled operations in 1992, and was sold to Southwest Airlines in December 1993 for over $120 million in stock. The airline officially became part of Southwest in the autumn of 1994. Morris Air was the first airline in the world to invent e-ticket (ticketless) travel based on the suggestion of Stuart Thatcher, an employee at the time. Although Southwest Airlines is often credited with offering the first e-ticketing system, it was in fact created and implemented by Morris Air and later integrated into Southwest Airlines after it purchased Morris Air.
Delta Express was a no-frills "airline within an airline" brand owned and operated by Delta Air Lines from 1996 to 2003. The airline was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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