Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. was an American regional

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

and a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings based in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Prior to the shut down of operations, it operated scheduled passenger services to 52 airports in the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

via

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 communicati ...

agreements as the

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline 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 ope ...

for

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 ...

AmericanConnection AmericanConnection was an American flight connection service brand name for the spoke-hub of U.S. mainline carrier American Airlines, under which regional airline operator Chautauqua Airlines operated feeder flights for American Airlines at i ...

for

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

, and

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 ...

for

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

. Chautauqua previously flew feeder services for other airlines via code sharing agreements including Allegheny, USAir, TWA, Continental, Frontier, and America West. Its last day in operation was December 31, 2014, at which time all flying was absorbed by the Shuttle America certificate. Chautauqua had crew bases at

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia ...

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...

Louisville 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 cod ...

, and

Port Columbus International Airport John Glenn Columbus International Airport is an international airport located east of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as Port Columbus International Airport, it is managed by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also ove ...

History

Embraer EMB-135KL (ERJ-140LR) American Connection (Chautauqua Airlines) N299SK (7295779272)

:''Republic Airways Holdings traces it roots to Chautauqua. See also: History of Republic Airways Holdings'' The airline was established on May 3, 1973, in Jamestown, Chautauqua County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, USA, and started operations on August 1, 1974, using two 15-passenger

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier Be ...

turboprop commuter aircraft. Chautauqua operated the Beechcraft 99 in

Allegheny Commuter Allegheny, Alleghany or Allegany may refer to: Places Geologic and geographic features * Allegheny River, in Pennsylvania and New York * Allegheny Mountains, part of the Appalachian Mountain Range in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Vir ...

service and later as

USAir Express US Airways Express was the brand name for the regional affiliate of US Airways, under which a number of individually owned commuter air carriers and regional airlines operate short and medium haul routes. This code sharing service was previously ...

. In 1984, the airline grew by adding five 19-passenger Fairchild Metro III aircraft to its fleet. In 1986, Chautauqua Airlines was purchased by GAC, an affiliate of Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company, and added twelve 30-passenger

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

aircraft to replace slower Shorts 3-30s in the fleet. Chautauqua was historically significant for it was one of the last remaining companies still in business that once flew as a part of

, one of the first regional franchisee systems combining independent regional and

commuter airline 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 ...

s, under one seemingly contiguous and seamless brand. It no longer services the

Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport Chautauqua County/Jamestown Airport at Robert H. Jackson Field is a county-owned, public-use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of Jamestown, in Chautauqua County, New York, United S ...

from which it began. Chautauqua was acquired by Wexford Management in January 1998 and was subsequently realigned under a holding company, Republic Airways Holdings.

Build up

In 1998, Chautauqua entered into an agreement with Embraer for the purchase of ten 50-seat

Embraer ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

regional jet aircraft. In 1999, Chautauqua entered into a 10-year code-share agreement with

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

to operate at least 15 ERJ-145s for the airline. In June 2001,

, who had purchased TWA, renewed the existing regional jet service with Chautauqua for feeder service at St. Louis using 44-seat

ERJ-140 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

aircraft. In March 2001, Chautauqua entered into a partnership with

America West America West Airlines was a major American airline, founded in 1981, with service commencing in 1983, and having reached US$1 billion in annual revenue in 1989, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. At the time of its acquisition of US Airways, Americ ...

to operate as an America West Express affiliate using 12 ERJ-145 jets in the Eastern United States, but ended this service in February 2003. In November 2002, Chautauqua began flying regional jet service to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

for

. In March 2004,

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

announced that Chautauqua Airlines would operate 16 50-seat regional jets for

. In 2004, Republic Airways Holdings announced a new jet-service agreement with US Airways for the operation of

Embraer E170 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliners designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed as a complement to the preceding E ...

and Embraer E190 aircraft. Chautauqua was one of the first U.S. operators of the E170, but was forced to transfer these aircraft to sister company Shuttle America in 2005, after the pilots’ union at

claimed the aircraft violated a “

scope clause A scope clause is part of a contract between a major airline and the trade union of its pilots that limit the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate. The goal is to protect the union pilots' jo ...

” regulating the size of regional aircraft operated under American brands. In the first half of 2007, Chautauqua took delivery of 24

Bombardier CRJ The Bombardier CRJ or CRJ Series (for Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of regional jets introduced in 1991 by Bombardier Aerospace. The CRJ was formerly manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace with the manufacturing of the first CRJ generation, ...

s and flew them under a code-share agreement with

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines, simply known as Continental, was a major United States airline founded in 1934 and eventually headquartered in Houston, Texas. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started ...

. Some of these aircraft were previously owned by

Atlantic Coast Airlines Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) was an airline based in the United States owned by Atlantic Coast Holdings, Inc. It operated as United Express for United Airlines and Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. It was headquartered in the Dulles area o ...

(

Independence Air Independence Air was a low-cost airline, owned by FLYi, Inc., headquartered in the Loudoun Gateway Corporate Center in Dulles, Virginia, United States (near Washington, D.C.) that operated from 1989 until 2006. Its route network focused on the ...

), and some were owned by Comair. Chautauqua eventually phased out all of its CRJ aircraft. Saab-Fairchild SF-340A, Trans World Express (Chautauqua Airlines) AN0963612

Saab-Fairchild SF-340A, Trans World Express (Chautauqua Airlines) AN0963612

In early 2006, Chautauqua opened its new aircraft maintenance complex, capable of holding nine aircraft, at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Maintenance was performed in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, Louisville, and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. The ERJ-135/140/145 heavy ("C-check") maintenance was performed in Columbus. In April 2010, the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

proposed a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

348,000 fine against Chautauqua Airlines for allegedly not performing required inspections for three years. The FAA alleged that the airline flew an Embraer 145 jet for 43 days past the time one of its inertial navigation units should have been replaced.

Wind down

In October 2012, Republic Airways Holdings reworked a deal with partner Delta Air Lines, part of the company's broader effort to trim costs and boost revenue amid a decline in demand for regional airline service, to operate seven additional 50-seat Embraer 145 planes under the Delta Connection brand. In the spring of 2014, Republic Airways Holdings announced that it would begin to pull down much of Chautauqua's flying. Specifically, it would not renew its contract with United Airlines to fly ERJ-145s out of Cleveland and that it would ground all 14 ERJ-145s on April 1, in response to a shortage of qualified pilots. This was shortly followed by an announcement that it would also not seek renewal of its

contract. Chautauqua's operation as AmericanConnection ended on August 18, 2014. On July 28, 2014, Republic Airways Holdings announced that Chautauqua Airlines would be absorbed into Shuttle America "by year-end" to reduce costs. Chautauqua's only remaining aircraft, 41

ERJ-145 The Embraer ERJ family (for Embraer Regional Jet, model names EMB-135, EMB-140 and EMB-145) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ135 (37 passengers), ERJ140 (44 passenger ...

s, were transferred to the Shuttle America operating certificate, effectively abandoning Chautauqua's operating certificate. On December 31, 2014, Chautauqua operated its last flight for Delta Connection. All crew and maintenance bases were absorbed by the Shuttle America certificate.

Awards

References

External links

Official website
(Archive)
Republic Airways Holdings

{{Navboxes , list= {{Airlines of the United States {{Republic Airways Holdings {{American Eagle Carriers {{Continental Express Carriers {{Delta Connection Carriers {{Midwest Connection Carriers {{US Airways Express Carriers Regional Airline Association members Defunct regional airlines of the United States Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1973 Companies based in Indianapolis Republic Airways American companies established in 1973 Airlines disestablished in 2014 Airlines based in Indiana