CommuteAir is 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 ...

of the United States founded in 1989. Today, CommuteAir operates more than 1,600 weekly flights, exclusively on behalf of

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 ...

, serving over 75 U.S. destinations and 3 in Mexico. CommuteAir's fleet of

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 ...

aircraft fly from its bases at Washington–Dulles and Houston–Intercontinental. The company was previously called CommutAir until July 26, 2022, when it legally changed its name to the present-day CommuteAir.

History

The airline was established in 1989, with headquarters at Clinton County Airport in Plattsburgh,

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 * ...

. Operations began on August 1, 1989, as a marketing affiliate of

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 ...

. The airline changed affiliations to

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 ...

in late 2000, when US Airways and CommuteAir failed to reach a mutually acceptable extension agreement, and CommuteAir decided not to renew the codeshare agreement. In July 2001, the company announced plans to downsize its fleet and workforce by approximately half and change the route structure of the airline. In early 2002, the company began a "micro-hub" operation based in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. At its high point in 2003 and 2004, the hub served 21 cities within the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

and Canada with a fleet of

Beechcraft 1900 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 ...

s. Service was also provided out of Boston's

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

to several

cities. In January 2003, CommuteAir announced an agreement with Continental to feed the latter's

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

hub. Service commenced on March 16, 2003, serving

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

and

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. ...

. Two cities were added the following month and by August 2003, CommuteAir served 12 cities from the Cleveland hub. CommuteAir leased sixteen Bombardier Q200 aircraft from Horizon Air in 2006. The following year, the Beech 1900s were phased out. On October 30, 2007, the company moved all remaining operations from Clinton County Airport, due to the closure of the airport. All operations were then conducted out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. On October 2, 2008, the company began operations out of

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport is a major international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport straddles the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and E ...

, following

plan to adjust to the softening industry. CommuteAir's pilot group voted for union representation by the

Air Line Pilots Association The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 79,000 pilots from 42 US and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadian ...

in 2008. That same year, Continental Airlines announced that it would cut flights and more than 3,000 jobs. Subsequently, it was announced that some of CommuteAir's Cleveland flights would be eliminated as part of Continental's cutbacks. In 2010, following the merger of United and Continental, CommuteAir became a United Express carrier 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 ...

asked CommuteAir to obtain five Bombardier Q300s. Two of the aircraft were allocated to Cleveland services and three aircraft were allocated to Newark services. In 2012, CommuteAir opened a hub at Washington-Dulles International Airport. In July 2014, CommuteAir closed its pilot base at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, after United Airlines withdrew its Cleveland hub. CommuteAir also closed its Cleveland

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

base, and replaced it with a new maintenance base in Albany, New York. On November 9, 2015, CommuteAir announced that it has reached an agreement with United Airlines to significantly increase the number of airplanes flown under the United Express brand by adding Embraer ERJ 145 jet operations to the company's existing fleet of Bombardier turbo-prop aircraft. In July 2016, CommuteAir began commercial service with its inaugural flight on the ERJ 145 jet from Washington, D.C. to Columbia, SC. In September 2017, the Q300 was phased out and in January 2018, the Q200 was phased out, marking the end of turbo-prop operations. On July 30, 2020, it was announced that

had decided to end its contract with fellow

affiliate ExpressJet and transferred these operations to CommuteAir. CommuteAir became the sole operator of the United Express ERJ 145 fleet. On September 30, 2020, CommuteAir started servicing United's Houston hub and on March 28, 2021, it began service out of

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to by locals 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 , Effective Ju ...

. The latter marks the return of the ERJ 145 to the Denver

fleet since COVID and the cessation of operations by Trans States Airlines. CommuteAir operated its final flights from Denver in May 2024 before closing its pilot and flight attendant bases and consolidating its operations in Houston and Washington-Dulles. On January 19, 2023, hacker maia arson crimew announced she had compromised web servers belonging to CommuteAir and obtained access to flight and personnel scheduling systems, the

personal data Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely used in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates has fou ...

of airline staff, and a 2019 copy of the US Government No Fly List. On May 19, 2025, CommuteAir announced closure of its Lincoln Airport (LNK) base. All operations at LNK cease on July 18, 2025.

Destinations

Crew bases

*Washington, D.C. / Northern Virginia - Washington Dulles International Airport *Houston, Texas -

George Bush Intercontinental Airport George Bush Intercontinental Airport is an international airport in Houston, Texas, United States, serving the Greater Houston metropolitan area. Initially named Houston Intercontinental Airport upon its opening in 1969, it was renamed in ho ...

Maintenance bases

* Albany, New York - Albany International Airport * Houston, Texas -

* Lincoln, Nebraska - Lincoln Airport (Ceasing operations on July 18th, 2025) * Washington, D.C. / Northern Virginia - Washington Dulles International Airport

Fleet

As of February 2025, the CommuteAir fleet includes the following aircraft: As of January 2020, CommuteAir average fleet age was 15.2 years old.

Historical fleet

The CommuteAir fleet was once composed entirely of

aircraft, operated for

US Airways 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 ...

and later for Continental Connection. CommuteAir operated the final turboprop flight for

on Sunday, January 7, 2018. This flight, UCA4909/C54909 between Syracuse Airport and Dulles Airport was operated by tail number N363PH. It marked the end of an era for both CommuteAir and

. The Bombardier DHC-8-200 was subsequently ferried to Roswell International Air Center for retirement. * Beechcraft 1900C * Beechcraft 1900D * Bombardier Q200 * Bombardier Q300

Incidents and accidents

CommutAir Flight 4821

On January 3, 1992, CommutAir Flight 4821, a Beechcraft 1900C operating for USAir Express was flying from

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, with stops in Saranac Lake and Albany in New York, crashed into a wooded mountaintop as it was landing at Adirondack Regional Airport. Of the four people on board (two passengers and two crew), two were killed while the other two sustained serious injuries. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error in establishing a stabilized approach and cross-checking instruments. Factors related to the accident were: weather conditions and possible precipitation static interference, caused by inadequate grounding between the radome and fuselage that could have resulted in unreliable glide slope indications."

CommutAir Flight 4933

On March 4, 2019,

CommutAir Flight 4933 CommutAir Flight 4933 (operating as United Express Flight 4933) was a domestic flight, domestic regional flight operating from Newark, New Jersey, to Presque Isle, Maine, in the United States. The flight was operated by CommutAir under the United ...

, operating for

, landed off the runway during its second attempt at landing in

Presque Isle International Airport Presque Isle International Airport , formally Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle, is a mile northwest of Presque Isle, Maine, Presque Isle, in Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostook County, Maine, United States. It serves the resident ...

. The left main landing gear was torn from the aircraft and embedded in one of the two rear engines. The accident resulted in a loss of the airframe. Passengers and crew were evacuated, with three passengers and one crew member requiring treatment for minor injuries. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB) attributed the accident to

confirmation bias Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias, or congeniality bias) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or Value (ethics and social sciences), val ...

which prompted the pilots to continue descending even though they could not see the runway due to snow. Contributing factors were poor decision-making by the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, fatigue of the first officer, and misalignment of the localizer caused by snow. The NTSB criticized the airline's training practices, as the captain had been promoted to that status despite a history of training failures and disciplinary action. The NTSB also noted that at least six CommutAir flight crews had noticed the localizer misalignment prior to the accident but none had reported it under the airline's safety program until after the event; one CommuteAir crew had reported the problem to 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 ...

beforehand, but the agency did not issue a

NOTAM A NOTAM (ICAO & FAA: Notice to Airmen, CAA: Notice to Aviation or, for the FAA from 2021 to 2025, Notice to Air Missions) is a notice filed with an aviation authority to alert aircraft pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a loca ...

because protocol dictated that more than one report was required.

References

External links

*
Airline Pilot Central

ESOP Litigation
{{US Airways Express Carriers Regional Airline Association members Transportation in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Airlines established in 1989 American companies established in 1989 Regional airlines of the United States Airlines based in Ohio 1989 establishments in New York (state) North Olmsted, Ohio