Air Wisconsin

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Air Wisconsin
IATA ZW	ICAO AWI	Callsign AIR WISCONSIN
Founded		1965
Hubs		Norfolk International Airport Philadelphia International Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Focus cities / secondary hubs		Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Washington Dulles International Airport (Ground Handling)
Fleet size		70
Destinations		65
Parent company		Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation
Headquarters		Appleton, Wisconsin
Key people		Jim Rankin (President)
Website: http://www.airwis.com

An AWAC Canadair Regional Jet prepares to depart to Madison, Wisconsin from Chicago O'Hare.

Air Wisconsin is an airline based in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation, or AWAC, is the largest privately held regional and commuter airline which operates regional jet flights as US Airways Express under contract to US Airways. Its headquarters base is Outagamie County Regional Airport (ATW) in Appleton, Wisconsin.

[edit] History

The airline was established in 1965 and started operations on 23 August 1965. It was originally founded to connect Appleton, Wisconsin with Chicago. In 1985 it merged with Mississippi Valley Airlines and continued to operate under the Air Wisconsin name. In 1990 it acquired Denver based Aspen Airways and was itself bought by United Airlines a year later. Air Wisconsin pioneered the concept of code-sharing with United Express and rapidly became the nation's largest regional airline in the 1980s. United Airlines then sold Air Wisconsin to CJT Holdings in 1993. In February 1998 it acquired the assets of Mountain Air Express, allowing it to expand operations in the west. It flew as a feeder for AirTran Airways under the name AirTran JetConnect, but this relationship was discontinued in July 2004. Even after significant concessionary givebacks by all unions, the management team was unable to secure a longterm deal providing service for United Airlines. The company sought other opportunities with US Airways. The company has invested $175 Million into US Airways to gain routes on US Airways Express. United ended its contract with Air Wisconsin in April 2005, and the last flight under the United code operated on April 16, 2006. Air Wisconsin now flies exclusively as US Airways Express, serving US Airways' customers from bases in Philadelphia, Washington Reagan National Airport in Virginia, and Norfolk, Virginia. It employs 3,844 staff (at January 2005). Air Wisconsin also handles ground operations for United Express in 19 cities, the largest hub being at Washington Dulles International Airport.

[edit] Services

Air Wisconsin operates the following services (at April 2006):

• Domestic scheduled destinations: Albany, Allentown, Asheville, Aspen, Atlanta, Baltimore, Bangor, Bentonville, Binghamton, Boston, Bristol/Johnson/Kingsport, Buffalo, Burlington, Charleston (SC), Charleston (WV) Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbia, Columbus, Dayton, Detroit, Elmira/Corning, Erie, Greensboro, Greenville/Spartanburg, Hartford/Springfield, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Islip, Ithaca, Jackson, Jacksonville (NC), Kansas City, Knoxville, Lexington, Louisville, Manchester (NH), Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Montgomery, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, Newark, New Bern, Newport News, New York, Norfolk, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (ME), Providence, Raleigh/Durham, Richmond, Roanoke, Rochester (NY), Savannah, Scranton, State College, Syracuse, Washington, White Plains and Wilmington.

• International scheduled destinations: Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto, Canada.

[edit] Fleet

The Air Wisconsin fleet includes the following aircraft (at August 2006) ^[1] :

• 4 Canadair CRJ-200ER
• 66 Canadair CRJ-200LR

[edit] External links

• Air Wisconsin

[edit] References

1. ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006