Enterprise Airlines was a scheduled airline based in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, USA. It operated scheduled service to 14 destinations from Cincinnati and from another focus city, Columbus Ohio.
History
In May 1988, Patrick Sowers and Robert Tranter, two of the founders of
Comair, along with Ron Williams launched a new scheduled regional jet airline at the
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is a public international airport located in Boone County, Kentucky, United States, around the community of Hebron. The airport serves the Cincinnati tri-state area. The airport's code, CVG, i ...
, named Enterprise Airlines. The company began with two Citation II jets and quickly grew to a fleet of seven with annual revenues of $11 million by the end of the second year.
The company is credited with "spearheading the regional jet revolution". Enterprise served 14 cities at its peak with over 50 daily departures. The "corporate commuter" operated seven 10-passenger Citation II business jets and targeted local business travelers with convenient, same day, non-stop flights to regional destinations with inadequate direct service. The company was created as a hub by-pass, time saving alternative to the lengthy delays experienced when making connecting flights at hub airports. The service was widely accepted.
Sticking to its innovative roots, in 1989 Enterprise became the first international code sharing partner to British Airways by feeding premium traffic to the "Concorde" at Kennedy from Hartford and Boston - aptly named, the "Concorde Connection". In addition it connected business travelers from Hartford to Boston to connect to British Airways evening transatlantic, 747 first and business class passengers.
In November 1990, Enterprise was forced to cease operations and liquidate due to rocketing fuel prices resulting from the first Gulf War and from a suspension of the lucrative BA contract during that period.
Destinations
The airline served destinations including Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Cedar Rapids (CID), Columbus (CMH), Cincinnati (CVG) Green Bay (GRB), Greensboro (GSO), Greenville/Spartanburg (GSP), Hartford/Springfield (BDL), Memphis (MEM), Milwaukee (MKE), New York (JFK), and Wilmington (ILM). In addition, it offered specialized "scheduled" service to local Fortune 100 clients on a weekly shuttle basis to their remote plant locations in Missouri and Pennsylvania.
Fleet
The Enterprise Airlines fleet consisted of the following business jet aircraft:
*
Cessna Citation II
The Cessna Citation II models are light corporate jets built by Cessna as part of the Citation family.
Stretched from the Citation I, the Model 550 was announced in September 1976, first flew on January 31, 1977, and was certified in March 1978 ...
See also
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List of defunct airlines of the United States
The following is a list of defunct airlines of the United States. However, some of these airlines have ceased operations completely, changed identities and/or FAA certificates and are still operating under a different name (e.g. America West Ai ...
References
Airlines established in 1988
1988 establishments in Ohio
Defunct airlines of the United States
Airlines disestablished in 1990
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