Air Wisconsin

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Air Wisconsin
IATA ZW	ICAO AWI	Callsign WISCONSIN
Founded		1965
Hubs		Philadelphia International Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Frequent flyer program		Dividend Miles (US Airways Express)
Member lounge		US Airways Club (US Airways Express)
Alliance		Star Alliance (US Airways Express)
Fleet size		70
Destinations		70
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. Air Wisconsin was then renamed Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation or AWAC because UAL retained the rights to the Air Wisconsin name and sold CJT Holdings the operating certificate. 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 long term deal providing service for United Airlines. The company then sought other opportunities with US Airways. The company invested $175 Million into US Airways to gain routes on US Airways Express. United ended its contract with AWAC in April 2005, and the last flight under the United code operated on April 16, 2006. During the last 3 years AWAC has been unable to acquire any extra flying except for the transfer of its 70 regional jets from UAL to US Airways. This has been Due to intense competition with other regional airlines for every RFP from the mainline carriers. AWAC now flies exclusively as US Airways Express, serving US Airways' customers from bases in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.. Air Wisconsin handles ground operations for United Express in 19 cities, the largest station being at Washington Dulles International Airport; as well as for Northwest Airlines at smaller cities throughout the Midwest. They employ approximately 2,300 staff as of March 2007.

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Air Wisconsin Destinations

[edit] Crew Bases

• Pilots
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington D.C.
  • Norfolk
• Flight Attendants
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington D.C.
  • Norfolk

[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