Trans States Holdings, Inc. is a privately owned

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

which owns and operates

GoJet Airlines 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. ...

. The holding company is headquartered in Bridgeton,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

near

St. Louis Lambert International Airport St. Louis Lambert International Airport is the primary commercial airport serving metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Commonly referred to as Lambert Field or simply Lambert, it is the largest and busiest airport in the state o ...

. The holding company formerly owned and operated

Trans States Airlines Trans States Airlines was a regional airline 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 Airlin ...

and Compass Airlines until their cessation of operations on April 1, 2020, and April 5, 2020, respectively.

History

Trans States Airlines was originally formed in 1982 as Resort Air, entering into an agreement with Trans World Airlines to operate feeder services in the states of Missouri and Illinois under the Trans World Express brand name. In 1989 the company changed its name to Trans States Airlines. GoJet Airlines was formed in 2005 by Trans States Holdings to operate feeder service for

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

under the

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 ...

brand name using a fleet of

Bombardier CRJ700 The Bombardier CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000 are a family of regional jet airliners that were designed and manufactured by Canadian transportation conglomerate Bombardier (formerly Canadair) between 1999 and 2020. Their design was derived from t ...

70–seat regional jets. In July 2010,

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

sold Compass Airlines to Trans States Holdings as part of a cost reduction scheme, which included the sale of

Mesaba Airlines Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (operating as Mesaba Airlines) was an American regional airline based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012 the airline was a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation with code sharing flights operated as De ...

to the

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. Pinnacle Airlines Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, and was the parent company of Pinnacle Airlines and Colgan Air until Colgan was closed down in 2012. The company contracted its airlines to fly in ...

at the same time. Due to the economic effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Trans States Holdings announced in March 2020 that

would cease operations and close down on April 1, 2020, and Compass Airlines would also cease operations and close down on April 5, 2020, leaving

as their only operating airline. Their maintenance hangar at

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport , formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers and has three runways. Its IATA airport code ...

also closed in April 2020.

Fleet

Trans States Holdings operated an all- narrow-body

regional jet A regional jet (RJ) is a jet-powered regional airliner with fewer than 100 seats. The first one was the Sud-Aviation Caravelle in 1959, followed by the widespread Yakovlev Yak-40, Fokker F-28, and BAe 146. The 1990s saw the emergence of ...

fleet, totaling 29 aircraft. Trans States Holdings has operated a variety of turbo-prop aircraft since its inception, but has operated an all-regional jet fleet since 2006.

References

External links

* Airline holding companies of the United States Companies based in St. Louis County, Missouri Holding companies established in 1982 American companies established in 1982 {{US-transport-company-stub