People Express Airlines (stylized as PEOPLExpress) was an airline that began operations on June 30, 2014 from

Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport Newport News-Williamsburg Airport is in Newport News, Virginia, United States, and serves the Hampton Roads area along with Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk. The airport is owned and operated by the Peninsula Airport Commission, a polit ...

, targeting the no-frills budget flyer. The air carrier took its name from the original PEOPLExpress Airlines which operated in the 1980s but was unrelated. Due to complications with its contracted fleet, including one aircraft having been hit by a ground vehicle, the airline abruptly ceased operations on September 26, 2014, leaving some passengers stranded and others holding tickets that were not transferable to other carriers. Its hub airport located in Newport News commenced eviction of the airline from the airport terminal on November 12, 2014. On January 22, 2015, People Express Airlines was evicted from its offices at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport.

History

Beginnings

The airline was publicly launched during a press conference at the Newport News airport on February 13, 2012, though its organization began in April 2011 when Michael Morisi, an official at the original People Express Airlines and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

for the revived company, began bringing together a group of people to start the company. People Express received financing from private investors and Newport News area businesses. Service was initially anticipated to begin late-2013, but several delays caused the launch date to push back to mid-2014. People Express had initially intended to acquire

Xtra Airways Avelo Airlines, Inc. () is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Houston, Texas. It previously operated charter flights as ''Casino Express Airlines'' and ''Xtra Airways'' before transitioning to scheduled operations and rebrand ...

in order to expedite the airline's certification process, but the deal was never finalized due to issues identified during the due diligence process. On October 5, Jeffrey Erickson, former

Atlas Air Atlas Air, Inc. is a major American cargo airline, charter airline, passenger charter airline, and Aircraft lease, aircraft lessor based in White Plains, New York. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. Atlas Air is t ...

President and CEO was announced as PEOPLExpress' first CEO.

Start of operations

At a press event on May 30, 2014, PEX announced that flight operations would commence on June 30, 2014. Flights were operated by

Vision Airlines Vision Airlines, formerly Vision Air, was an airline that had its operations headquartered in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline also operated charter flights for their tour services in northern Arizona and Nevada including the Grand Canyon, Ma ...

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

PEOPLExpress. The airline utilized Vision Airlines' existing USDOT scheduled authority and FAA Part 121 certification. People Express had planned on obtaining its own FAA certification and begin operating independently within the next few years. The airline's business model was to operate to niche markets, largely in the eastern United States, that were underserved or unserved by mainline airlines while charging about 40% less than typical fares. The airline's base and hub were located at

(PHF) in

Newport News, VA Newport News () is an independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the fifth-most populous city in Virginia and 140th-most populous city i ...

. The airport was previously served by AirTran in 2012 and

Allegiant Air Allegiant Air is an American ultra low-cost carrier, ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline focuses on serving leisure traffic from small and medium-sized cities which it considers to be underserved, using an ult ...

in 2014; however, both airlines then ceased serving Newport News. In addition, the airport had previously received jet service over the years operated by

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 ...

, National Airlines,

Piedmont Airlines (1948-1989) Piedmont Airlines, Inc. ( ) is an American regional airline headquartered at the Salisbury Regional Airport in Wicomico County, Maryland, near the Salisbury, Maryland, city of Salisbury. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American ...

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 well as

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 ...

and its successor

US Airways US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...

End of operations

On September 26, 2014, the airline announced what it expected to be a temporary suspension of all service until October 16, 2014. According to CEO Jeff Erickson, the airline was forced to suspend operations when both of its aircraft were incapacitated. A vendor's truck crashed into one plane on September 17, and the second was forced out of service on September 26 due to an unspecified maintenance issue. The airline subsequently announced that it would not resume operations on October 16, 2014, and on November 12, 2014, PEOPLExpress was evicted from the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport due to non-payment of Passenger Facilities Charges of US$100,000. On January 22, 2015, People Express Airlines was evicted from its office space at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport due to non-payment of utility bills. In July 2019, Michael Morisi pleaded guilty to fraud charges in relation to the collapse of the airline. On February 21, 2020 he was jailed for two years.

Destinations

People Express served or planned to serve the following destinations in the United States:

Historical fleet

People Express operated as a virtual airline exclusively flying

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

aircraft operated by

including Vision Airlines flight crew. The aircraft were configured with 150 (12/138) seats.

Frequent flyer program

People Express' frequent flier program was called SMARTbank, and it also operated Club Travelati, a group for customers to receive special discounts. In May 2012, the airline was fined by the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

for violating a ban on premature advertising in connection with its solicitation for memberships in Club Travelati, of which the airline claimed to have sold over 130 before suspending sales at the end of March 2012.

References

External links

* {{Airlines of the United States 2012 establishments in Virginia Companies based in Newport News, Virginia Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 2012 Airlines disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Virginia