GP Express Airlines was a scheduled passenger commuter air carrier with its headquarters located in

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Nebraska, 4th most populous ...

The parent corporation of the airline began on-demand air charter operations in December 1975. In December 1985 the Department of Transportation notified GP AIR (the parent corporation) that its bid to provide

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 ...

(EAS) service in the Midwest had been accepted, GP AIR subsequently created subsidiary GP Express in order to conduct these operations under 14 CFR Part 135. By 1992, the airline had expanded to provide air service with many flights being operated under EAS contracts in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, Service in the southern U.S. began on June 6, 1992. By 1993 the airline was operating several

Cessna 402 The Cessna 401 and 402 are a series of 6 to 10 seat, light twin-piston engine aircraft.Montgomery, MR & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplanes, Second Edition'', page 108. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. All seats are easily removable so ...

twin prop aircraft in addition to eight

Beechcraft Model 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 ...

turboprops and five

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 ...

turboprops with the latter being introduced in 1990.http://library.erau.edu/worldwide/find/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-summaries.htm AAR 94-01-SUM Aircraft Accident / Incident Summary Report; Controlled Flight into Terrain; GP Express Airlines N115GP; Beechcraft C-99; Shelton, Nebraska; April 28, 1993 GP Express operated as a

Continental Connection Continental Connection was the brand name under which several commuter airline carriers and their holding companies operated services marketed exclusively by Continental Airlines. As such, all Continental Connection banner carrier services were o ...

carrier in association with

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 ...

at the major carrier's hub in Denver (DEN) beginning on March 9, 1994. GP Express replaced

Britt Airways Britt Airways was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1964 until it merged with ExpressJet in 1996. It was established as Vercoa Air Service in 1964 and renamed to Britt Airlines when it was purchased by William and Ma ...

at Denver as Continental was disbanding its hub operation there. By October 30, 1994, Continental was down to only serving Denver from four U.S. airports while GP Express was continuing to run a full

operation at Denver as well as limited operations at Kansas City and Omaha. During the next two years, GP Express subsequently discontinued all operations at Denver. The carrier then began feeder services in support of new

Continental Lite Continental Lite was a short-lived subsidiary brand of Continental Airlines established in 1993. The airline folded in 1995 after losing what has been reported in the press as between $140 million and $300 million. History Continental Lite was ...

operations at

Greensboro, NC Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

and

Tampa, FL Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsboroug ...

in 1995 but filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations a year later.

Destinations in 1992

According to a GP Express route map, the airline was operating two different route systems in 1992 as an independent air carrier with one located in the north central U.S. stretching from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Kansas City to Denver and the other located in the southeastern U.S. with the two route systems being separately operated:

North Central U.S. Destinations

* Alliance, NE *

Brookings, SD Brookings is a city in and the county seat of Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 23,377 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth most populous city in South Dakota, and was estimated to be 24,312 in 2023. It is h ...

* Chadron, NE *

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

* Fairmont, MN *

Grand Island, NE Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Nebraska, 4th most populous ...

- ''Headquarters'' *

Hastings, NE Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 census, making it the 8th most populous city in Nebraska. Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid in Hastings in 1927; the to ...

Huron, SD Huron is a city in and the county seat of Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,263 at the 2020 census, making it the 8th most populous city in South Dakota. The first settlement at Huron was established in 1880. H ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Kearney, NE Kearney ( ) is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 33,790 in the 2020 census, making it the 5th most populous city in Nebraska. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward pus ...

Lincoln, NE Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's second-most populous city and the 72nd-most populous in the United States. The county seat o ...

Mankato, MN Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Min ...

* McCook, NE * Minneapolis/Saint Paul - ''Hub'' * Mitchell, SD * North Platte, NE *

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

* Scottsbluff, NE * Sidney, NE *

Worthington, MN Worthington is a city in and the county seat of Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,947 at the time of the 2020 census. History The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on a line of the Ch ...

Southeastern U.S. Destinations

* Anniston, AL *

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

- ''Hub'' *

Gadsden, AL Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statistical ...

Hattiesburg Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County (where it is the county seat and most populous city) and extending west into Lamar County. The city population was 48,730 in 2020, making it the 5th m ...

Laurel, MS Laurel is a city in and the second county seat of Jones County, Mississippi, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,161. Laurel is northeast of Ellisville, the first county seat, which contains the first county ...

Hilton Head, SC Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), a ...

* Muscle Shoals, AL *

Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-most populous city, the population was ...

Continental Connection service from Denver in 1994

According to the

system timetable, GP Express was operating

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 ...

flights as

on behalf of

with

commuter turboprop aircraft flying nonstop or direct between Denver (DEN) and the following destinations on October 30, 1994: *

Amarillo, TX Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County. It is the 16th-most populous city in Texas and the most po ...

Casper, WY Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the List of municipalities in Wyoming, second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of th ...

Cheyenne, WY Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents per the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan area, which enco ...

Cody, WY Cody is a city in and the county seat of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Buffalo Bill Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,028 at the 2020 census, making Cody the eleventh-largest cit ...

Durango, CO Durango is the home rule city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of La Plata County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 19,071 at the 2020 United States census. Durango is the home of Fort Lewis College. ...

* Gillette, WY *

Grand Junction, CO Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and largest city of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. Grand Junction's population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in western C ...

Gunnison, CO Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States census. The city was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a ...

* Jackson Hole, WY *

* McCook, NE *

Montrose, CO Montrose is a List of cities and towns in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat and the List of cities and towns in Colorado, most populous municipality of Montrose County, Colorado, United States. The ...

* North Platte, NE *

Omaha, NE Omaha ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 41st-most-populous city, Omaha had a popul ...

Pueblo, CO Pueblo ( ) is a home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States census, making Pueblo the ninth most ...

Rapid City, SD Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

* Riverton, WY * Rock Springs, WY * Scottsbluff, NE *

Sheridan, WY Sheridan is a city in the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Sheridan County. The city is located halfway between Yellowstone Park and Mount Rushmore by U.S. Route 14 and 16. It is the principal town of the Sheridan, Wyoming, Microp ...

* Steamboat Springs, CO (served via the

Yampa Valley Airport Yampa Valley Regional Airport is in Routt County, Colorado, United States, serving the communities of Steamboat Springs, Hayden, and Craig, Colorado. The airport is two miles southeast of Hayden, about 20 miles east of Craig and about west o ...

) *

Telluride, CO Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County, Colorado, San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River (Colorado), San M ...

The above referenced timetable also lists only four destinations served nonstop from Denver by Continental Airlines mainline jet service at this time: Chicago Midway Airport (MDW), Cleveland (CLE), Houston (IAH) and Newark (EWR), three of which were the location of Continental hubs in 1994.

Accidents

GP Express Airlines was noted for an unusually high fatal accident rate for its fleet size and received additional FAA oversight as a result. *On December 23, 1987 a GP Express

crashed on approach to

Chadron, Nebraska Chadron ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dawes County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 5,206 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is home to an 11-story high-rise on the campus o ...

. The crash resulted in fatal injuries to the two person flight crew and serious injuries to the only passenger. * GP Express Flight 861 crashed near

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...

on June 9, 1992, only two days after operations began in the GP Express Southern Region. *On April 28, 1993, a GP Express Airlines

crashed near

Shelton, Nebraska Shelton is a village in Buffalo County, Nebraska, Buffalo and Hall County, Nebraska, Hall counties, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Kearney, Nebraska Kearney micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,059 at ...

during execution of an aerobatic maneuver during a non-revenue check ride. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries.https://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/1994/A94_11_12.pdf NTSB Safety Recommendation A-94-11 and -12; February 14, 1994

References