RegionsAir
Encyclopedia
RegionsAir was a Part 121 regional airline
Regional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...

. Its headquarters and maintenance base were located at the Smyrna Airport in Smyrna, Tennessee
Smyrna, Tennessee
Smyrna is a town in Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. Smyrna's population was 25,569 people at the 2000 census. The Census estimate of the 2009 population is 39,142.-Geography:Smyrna is located at ....

, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|. The hub airports for RegionsAir were Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...

 (STL) and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Cleveland, a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The airport lies just within the city limits of Cleveland...

 (CLE).

RegionsAir operated under a code-sharing agreement with TWA
Twa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....

 and American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

 to provide flights to communities as AmericanConnection
AmericanConnection
AmericanConnection is a brand name used by Chautauqua Airlines in the operation of passenger air service as a regional affiliate of American Airlines at its Chicago hub...

 from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...

, and as Continental Connection
Continental Connection
Continental Connection is a brand name under which several commuter airline carriers and their holding companies operate services marketed exclusively by Continental Airlines...

 from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a public airport located nine miles southwest of the central business district of Cleveland, a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The airport lies just within the city limits of Cleveland...

.

RegionsAir ceased all operations on March 8, 2007 and furloughed all of its employees a month later.

History

RegionsAir was known as Corporate Express Airlines from 1996 to 1998, and then Corporate Airlines from 1998 to 2004. Operating as Corporate Express, it flew for Midway Airlines (JI)
Midway Airlines (JI)
Midway Airlines was an airline based in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA, near Durham. It operated between 1993 and 2003.-History:Midway Airlines was formed by Jet Express, a carrier that fed Trans World Airlines and USAir during the late 1980s and early 1990s...

 providing feed until their 1st shutdown in 2001 and also flew for TWA
Twa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....

 as Trans World Express out of St. Louis. At that time, the airline was run by Chuck Howell, who is now the President at Great Lakes Airlines
Great Lakes Airlines
Great Lakes Airlines , is an American regional airline operating domestic scheduled and charter services. Corporate headquarters are located in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with hubs at Denver International Airport, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, McCarran...

. The airline changed its corporate name to RegionsAir in May of 2004 to end confusion with similarly named airlines. RegionsAir had been the air service provider for many small communities as part of the Federally-subsidized Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service
Essential Air Service is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which, prior to deregulation, were served by certificated airlines, maintained commercial service. Its aim is to maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service to these...

 (EAS) program.

On October 7, 2005 Viva International, an aviation holding company, issued an irrevocable Letter of Intent to Purchase RegionsAir for an undisclosed sum, but nothing ever became of the LOI.

RegionsAir operated under a code-sharing agreement with American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...

 to provide flights to communities as AmericanConnection
AmericanConnection
AmericanConnection is a brand name used by Chautauqua Airlines in the operation of passenger air service as a regional affiliate of American Airlines at its Chicago hub...

 from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...

 until March 2007. At that time, the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 (FAA) grounded the airline, saying there had been problems with the airline's training and certification program.

Incidents and accidents

On October 19, 2004 Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
Corporate Airlines Flight 5966
Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 was a flight route from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, United States to Kirksville Regional Airport in unincorporated Adair County, Missouri, near the city of Kirksville. Corporate Airlines flew the route as part of the...

 crashed on approach to Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville, Missouri
Kirksville is the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. It is located in Benton Township. The population was 17,505 at the 2010 census. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties. The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman...

. Thirteen people died and two were injured. The NTSB has determined pilot error to be the cause of this accident.

On March 2, 2007 the local Airline's FSDO office, FAA officials in DC, and the airline got into a disagreement over wording in the airline's training manuals. The airline voluntarily ceased scheduled operations until the items could be clarified. FAA officials found no discrepancies when they went over all pilots records. In the end, about 35 of the airline's flights were canceled that Saturday.

On March 8, 2007 at 4:36pm the FAA again grounded RegionsAir due to discrepancies in the airlines training procedures for line-check airmen. As a result of this second grounding within one week, several regional airports serviced by RegionsAir announced intentions to replace the airline with other regional carriers.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK