Chautauqua Airlines, Inc. was 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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and a subsidiary of

Republic Airways Holdings Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that owns Republic Airways, an American regional airline operating in the United States, and LIFT Academy. Republic Airways operates a ...

based in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

via

code sharing 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 ...

agreements for

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

(as

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

(as

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 ...

), and

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

(as

United Express United Express is a regional airline network that supports United Airlines operations, primarily by serving smaller cities and connecting traffic to United's main hubs. Representing six percent of United's total capacity for 2024, United Express ...

). Chautauqua previously flew feeder services for other airlines via code sharing agreements including

Allegheny Airlines Allegheny Airlines was a local service carrier that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979, with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which i ...

(as

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 ...

USAir US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it was renamed Allegheny Airlines an ...

(as USAir Express),

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

(as

Trans World Express Trans World Express (TWE) was the fully owned and certified regional carrier for Trans World Airlines ( TWA) and an airline trademark name for TWA's corporation. * Trans World Express - The formerly independent regional airline known as Ransom ...

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

(as

Continental Express Continental Express was the brand name used by a number of independently owned regional airlines providing commuter airliner and regional jet feeder service under agreement with Continental Airlines. In 2010 at the time of Continental's merger ...

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

(as Frontier JetExpress), and

America West Airlines America West Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1981 until it merged with US Airways in 2007. It was headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. Its main hub was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, with secondary hubs ...

(as America West Express). Its last day in operation was December 31, 2014, at which time all flying was absorbed by the

Shuttle America Shuttle America Corporation was a regional airline in the United States based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It fed United Airlines flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport as United Express, a ...

certificate. Chautauqua had crew bases at

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

Louisville International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport — also known by its former official names as Standiford Field and Louisville International Airport — is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport was ...

, 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 overs ...

History

:''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 (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

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

Beechcraft 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by American manufacturer 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, deriv ...

turboprop commuter aircraft. Chautauqua operated the Beechcraft 99 in

service and later as USAir Express. In 1984, the airline grew by adding five 19-passenger

Fairchild Metro III The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild Aircraft at a plant in San A ...

aircraft to its fleet. In 1986, Chautauqua Airlines was purchased by GAC, an affiliate of

Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company, or GSLIC, represented one of the most severe cases of insurance fraud in Florida history. According to the Florida Insurance Commissioner: SLICwas, almost from the beginning, a massive fraud, aided an ...

, 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 differen ...

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 airliner, regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract Mainline ...

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 ...

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

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) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

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

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

America West America West Airlines was an airline in the United States that operated from 1981 until it merged with US Airways in 2007. It was headquartered in Tempe, Arizona. Its main hub was at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, with secondary hubs ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

for

. In March 2004,

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-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ...

and

Embraer E190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ...

aircraft. Chautauqua was one of the first U.S. operators of the E170, but was forced to transfer these aircraft to sister company

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 Aviator, pilots that limits the number and size of aircraft that may be flown by the airline's regional airline affiliate. Airlines The scope clause's goa ...

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

s and flew them under a code-share agreement with

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

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. 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, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

, Louisville, 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 ...

. 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 a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

proposed a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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 unit An inertial navigation system (INS; also inertial guidance system, inertial instrument) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning ...

s 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) are regional jets designed and produced by the Brazilian aerospace company Embraer. The family includes the ERJ 135 (37 passengers), ERJ 140 (44 passengers), and ERJ 145 (50 passen ...

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 companies based in Indianapolis Airlines established in 1973 Republic Airways American companies established in 1973 Airlines disestablished in 2014 Airlines based in Indiana