Mountain Air Express (MAX) was a short-lived United States commuter airline founded in 1996. The air carrier was established by

Western Pacific Airlines Western Pacific Airlines, or WestPac, was an airline which operated in the United States from 1995 to 1998. A low-cost carrier, it was formed in 1994 under the name Commercial Air, later changed to Western Pacific, and began operating schedul ...

in order to provide passenger feed.

History

It flew

Dornier 328 The Dornier 328 is a turboprop-powered commuter airliner. Initially produced by Dornier Luftfahrt GmbH, the firm was acquired in 1996 by Fairchild Aircraft. The resulting firm, named Fairchild-Dornier, manufactured the 328 family in Oberpfaffe ...

turboprops and operated via a

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with Western Pacific. MAX initially served such smaller communities as Aspen, CO and Casper, WY from its hub located at the

Colorado Springs Airport City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport , known as Colorado Springs Airport, is a city-owned public civil-military airport southeast of downtown Colorado Springs, in El Paso County, Colorado, United States., effective December 30, 2021. It i ...

where Western Pacific operated a hub as well. However, flights to larger cities were subsequently operated from Denver including nonstop service to Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City and Tulsa. In 1997, Western Pacific Airlines moved its hub from Colorado Springs to

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , locally known as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , it is the largest airport in ...

. MAX followed Western Pacific to Denver. Just after this move, Western Pacific announced its plans to merge with

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

. The merger was not successful and Western Pacific declared

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

in February 1998. This left MAX without a codeshare partner and it was subsequently sold in 1998 to

Air Wisconsin 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 operated the ...

. During the same year,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

ended its codesharing agreement with

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

carrier

Mesa Airlines 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 Gr ...

Great Lakes Aviation Great Lakes Airlines was an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters were in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a hub at Denver International Airport. As of November 2013, Great Lakes Airlines ...

and Air Wisconsin were then selected as the new United Express carriers replacing Mesa. The purchase of MAX gave Air Wisconsin the aircraft and crews it needed for its newly expanded

code sharing In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

agreement with

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Destinations

The following destination information is taken from Western Pacific Airlines system timetables dated June 29, 1997 and November 16, 1997, as they contained Mountain Air Express flight schedules as well. Mountain Air Express moved its hub from Colorado Springs to Denver in 1997. *

Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

(ABQ) * Aspen, CO (ASE) *

Casper, WY Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...

(CPR) *

Cheyenne, WY Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

(CYS) *

Colorado Springs, CO Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

(COS) - ''Initial hub'' *

Denver, CO Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

(DEN) - ''Subsequent hub'' *

Durango, CO Durango is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States Census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis Coll ...

(DRO) * Gunnison, CO (GUC) *

Grand Junction, CO Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mos ...

(GJT) * Hayden, CO/ Steamboat Springs, CO (HDN) *

Kansas City, KS Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of th ...

(MCI) *

Montrose, CO Montrose is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,291 at the 2020 census, within a total area of 18.5 square miles. The main ...

(MTJ) *

Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital city, capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma County, it ranks List of Uni ...

(OKC) *

Salt Lake City, UT Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, the ...

(SLC) *

Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “Sa ...

(SAF) *

Tulsa, OK Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

(TUL)

Fleet

* 9

References

{{Portal bar, Companies, Aviation Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1996 Airlines disestablished in 1998

History

Destinations

Fleet

See also

References