Multi-Aero, Inc., doing business as Air Choice One, a division of Southern Airways Corporation, was an American

commuter airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional airliner, regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract Mainline ...

with its headquarters in Concord, Missouri, within the

Greater St. Louis Greater St. Louis is the 23rd-largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, the largest in Missouri, and the second-largest in Illinois. Its core city—St. Louis, Missouri—sits in the geographic center of the metro area, ...

area. It operated as a

regional 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 ...

offering commuter flights from

St. Louis Lambert International Airport St. Louis Lambert International Airport is the primary international 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 st ...

to smaller regional airports, subsidized under the

Essential Air Service Essential Air Service (EAS) is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which had been served by certificated airlines prior to deregulation in 1978, maintain commercial service. Its aim is ...

program. Air Choice One's callsign, "Weber," is in honor of Mike Weber, the airline's first Chief Pilot.

History

Multi-Aero was founded in 1979 under the name Multi-Aero Corporation. In October 2009, Air Choice One won the EAS contract to serve Decatur, Illinois, and Burlington, Iowa. Air Choice One was awarded its first EAS contract to replace

SeaPort Airlines SeaPort Airlines is an American airline with daily commuter flights between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. The airline, which is a sister company of regional airline Alaska Seaplanes, is a division of Kalinin Holdings, Inc., a closely held famil ...

Jonesboro, Arkansas Jonesboro () is a city located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the U.S. State of Arkansas. Jonesboro is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, Craighead County. In 2023, the city had an estimated population of ...

in December 2011. In January 2013, the DOT granted Air Choice One a three-year contract extension for both Decatur, Illinois,Voyles, Rya
Way cleared for Air Choice One to serve Decatur for three more years
''Herald Review'', January 8, 2013, Retrieved 2013-02-24 and Burlington, Iowa. As a stipulation for obtaining both extensions, Air Choice One implemented systems for electronic ticketing and baggage agreements via WorldSpan (a part of the global distribution system, or GDS) in December 2012. This allows passengers to book tickets with connections to and from other major airlines on popular travel websites in a "one-click" process, as opposed to buying tickets at one airline and then having to book tickets with another on two separate confirmations. On December 21, 2017, Air Choice One was granted a four-year contract extension in Burlington, Iowa, and was not selected for another term in Decatur, marking the end of Air Choice One's nearly eight years of service to Decatur Airport. On March 14, 2018, the airline passed the FAA mandated proving runs with its

Beechcraft 1900C The Beechcraft 1900 is a U.S made twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With customers favoring ...

, meaning that the aircraft is now approved to be used in daily line operations. Air Choice One began operating the aircraft between Fort Dodge, Iowa and both

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

in May 2018 and continues to bid on other essential air service routes proposing to use the Beechcraft 1900. Effective February 1, 2019, the 3-letter ICAO prefix changed from WBR to ACO. In March 2019, the airline started utilizing InteliSys' reservation system. This system provides

Passenger Service System A Passenger Service System or PSS is a network of software applications that help airlines manage all the passenger-related operations from ticketing to boarding. The PSS usually comprises an airline reservations system, an airline inventory system ...

(PSS) and departure control systems (DCS), reservation management, codeshare, interline and real-time inventory control. Air Choice One began a new frequent flyer program in early 2020 named Choice Plus. Customers can earn points from flying and redeem them on future flights. The airline does not participate in any significant global

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare agreement, codeshare ...

s, nor does it have any

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 ...

s. Also, in early 2020, the airline added the ability for web check-in and mobile compatibility for passengers. Air Choice One has flown cargo seasonally during peak season for

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...

from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, Raleigh–Durham International Airport and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. In March 2021, Air Choice One fully integrated TSA PreCheck into their customer booking experience, allowing passengers to use a Known Traveler Number (KTN) for expedited and simplified security screening. In August 2021, the Burlington airport board voted to recommend

Cape Air Hyannis Air Service Inc., operating as Cape Air, is an airline headquartered at Cape Cod Gateway Airport in Hyannis, Massachusetts, United States. It operates scheduled passenger services in the Northeast, the Caribbean and Eastern Montana. ...

to take over the EAS contract for Burlington, IA. In September 2021 the Jonesboro airport board voted to recommend to keep Air Choice One in JBR with the possibility of two destinations,

as well as adding

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

service. In December 2021 the DOT granted a four-year contract extension and approved the new Nashville service which started March 1, 2022. On March 28, 2022, it was announced that Air Choice One would be bought by the Southern Airways Corporation, the parent company of Southern Airways Express. It was initially planned that the two air operator certificates would be kept separate. On July 2, 2022, Southern Airways Corporation closed the Air Choice One website and decided to discontinue the Air Choice One service, bringing the company's aircraft and operations to the SAC operator certificate. All remaining flights were transferred to the Southern Airways Express brand.

Destinations

Former Destinations

Fleet

Prior to closure, Air Choice One operated the following aircraft: At the peak of Air Choice One's operation they operated 12 Cessna 208B (N732MD, N1983X, N1258B, N4118K, N208EE, N750Z, N803F, N107KA, N942AC, N943AC, N91AC, N958AC) and 1 Beechcraft 1900C (N165LC) aircraft.

Choice Plus

Air Choice One had a frequent flyer program called Choice Plus. Customers that sign up for the program could earn points on every Air Choice One flight when they enter their rewards number. Depending on the fare chosen, a different percentage of points would be applied. * Business Fare - 100% * Everyday - 60% For every dollar spent, one point is earned. These points would expire after two years.

References

External links

*
Multi-Aero, Inc.
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Defunct regional airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1979 Airlines disestablished in 2022 Companies based in St. Louis County, Missouri American companies established in 1979 American companies disestablished in 2022 1979 establishments in Missouri 2022 disestablishments in Missouri Airlines based in Missouri