Chautauqua Airlines

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Chautauqua Airlines

IATA RP	ICAO CHQ	Callsign Chautauqua
Founded		1973
Hubs		Orlando International Airport Indianapolis International Airport LaGuardia Airport Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Focus cities		Port Columbus International Airport(shares with Shuttle America)
Frequent flyer program		SkyMiles (Delta Connection) Dividend Miles (US Airways Express) Mileage Plus (United Express) AAdvantage (AmericanConnection) OnePass (Continental Express)
Member lounge		Crown Room Club (Delta Connection) US Airways Club (US Airways Express) Red Carpet Club (United Express) Admirals Club (AmericanConnection) Presidents Club (Continental Express)
Alliance		SkyTeam (Continental Express and Delta Connection) Star Alliance (US Airways Express and United Express) Oneworld (AmericanConnection)
Fleet size		100
Destinations		470
Parent company		Republic Airways Holdings
Headquarters		Indianapolis, Indiana
Key people		Bryan Bedford (CEO)
Website: [1]

Chautauqua Airlines is an airline based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It operates scheduled passenger services on more than 670 flights daily to cities in 30 states, Canada and the Bahamas, through feeder services under the names Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines, AmericanConnection for American Airlines, Continental Express for Continental Airlines, United Express for United Airlines, and US Airways Express for US Airways.

Its main bases are Indianapolis International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, Port Columbus International Airport, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, and Louisville International Airport.

The airline's IATA code is RP, the ICAO code is CHQ, and its callsign is: Chautauqua ^[1]

1 History
2 Awards
3 Fleet
4 Destinations
5 External links
6 References

[edit] History

The airline was established on May 3, 1973 in Jamestown, Chautauqua County, New York, USA and started operations on 1 August 1974. It was acquired by Wexford Management in January 1998. Republic Airways Holdings completed its initial public offering in May of 2004. Chautauqua Airlines is wholly owned by Republic Airways Holdings using a fleet of 100 Embraer regional jets (ERJ), including 68 ERJ-145s, 15 ERJ-140s, 17 ERJ-135s. These aircraft are deployed under the "express" banners of five major airlines; American, Continental, Delta, United and U.S. Airways. Chautauqua will take delivery of 24 Canadair CRJ's in the first half of 2007, to fly under its new codeshare agreement with Continental. Some of these aircraft were previously owned by Atlantic Coast Airlines(Independence Air), and some were owned by Comair.

Chautauqua was one of the first U.S. operators of the Embraer 170 regional jet, but was forced to transfer these aircraft to sister companies Shuttle America and Republic Airlines in 2005 after the pilots' union at American Eagle claimed the aircraft violated a "scope clause" regulating the size of regional aircraft operated under American brands. This practice is questionable among pilot groups. This practice is thought of as lowering the bar in the pilot profesion.

In early 2006 Chautauqua opened its new aircraft maintenance complex, capable of holding nine planes, at Louisville International Airport in Louisville, KY.

Maintenance is performed in Indianapolis, Columbus, Louisville, & St Louis.

[edit] Awards

January 26, 2004 Regional Airline of the Year by Air Transport World
April 28, 2004 Regional Airline of the Year by Regional Airline World
April 28, 2004 President & CEO Bryan Bedford named Airline Executive of the Year by Regional Airline World