COMMUTAIR

(Redirected from Commutair)

'CommutAir' is an American regional airline based in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. It operates under the name Continental Connection for Continental Airlines. Its main base is Hopkins International Airport. It flies mainly out of Hopkins International Airport in Cleveland to destinations in the Northeast and Midwest United States.

Contents

History

Future Expansion Plans

Relocation

Services

Fleet

Incidents and Accidents

References

External links

History

The airline was established in 1989 and started operations on August 1, 1989. It had a marketing affiliation with US Airways since its inception, but changed affiliations to Continental Airlines in December 2000, when US Airways did not renew the codeshare agreement. In July 2001 the company announced plans to downsize their fleet and workforce by approximately half and begin a reorganization of the airline. In early 2002 the company began a "micro-hub" operation based in Albany, New York. At its high point in 2003 and 2004 the hub served the following cities: Allentown, Harrisburg, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Burlington, Manchester, Portland, Bangor, Providence, Islip, Hartford/Springfield, White Plains, Ottawa and Montreal, all with a fleet of Raytheon Beech 1900Ds. Following unprofitable operations as Continental's regional affiliate in Albany, operations were pulled down in 2005.
In January 2003, CommutAir announced an agreement with Continental to feed the latter's Cleveland, Ohio hub. Service was commenced on March 16, 2003 with service to Kalamazoo, MI and Elmira, NY. Two cities were added the following month and by August 2003, CommutAir served 12 cities from the Cleveland hub.
As of May 2007 the company has expressed plans to move operations from Plattsburgh to the Cleveland area, according to News Channel 5, WPTZ.

Future Expansion Plans

On September 12 2006, a CommutAir announced that they will lease sixteen Bombardier Q-200 Dash 8 aircraft from Horizon Air. They will operate these 37-passenger turboprop aircraft under the Continental Connection name from Continental's Cleveland hub.^[1]

Relocation

The company plans to move to the Midwest, once another carrier is found for the Plattsburgh area.

Services

CommutAir operates services to the following domestic scheduled destinations (As of August 2007):

★ Indiana

★
★ Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne International Airport)

★
★ Indianapolis (Indianapolis International Airport)

★
★ South Bend (South Bend Regional Airport)

★ Kentucky

★
★ Covington/Cincinnati, Ohio (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport)

★
★ Lexington (Blue Grass Airport)

★ Massachusetts

★
★ Boston (Logan International Airport)

★ Michigan

★
★ Flint (Bishop International Airport)

★ New York

★
★ New York City (John F. Kennedy International Airport)

★
★ Plattsburgh (Plattsburgh International Airport)

★
★ Saranac Lake (Adirondack Regional Airport)

★
★ White Plains (Westchester County Airport)

★ Ohio

★
★ Cleveland (Hopkins International Airport) 'Hub'

★
★ Columbus (Port Columbus International Airport)

★
★ Toledo (Toledo Express Airport)

★ Pennsylvania

★
★ Erie (Erie International Airport)

★
★ Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh International Airport)

★
★ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport)

★ Vermont

★
★ Rutland (Rutland State Airport)

★ West Virginia

★
★ Charleston (Yeager Airport)

★ Wisconsin

★
★ Madison (Dane County Regional Airport)

Fleet

The CommutAir fleet includes the following aircraft (as of August 2006):

★ 14 Raytheon Beech 1900D Airliner ^[2]

★ 3 Bombardier Q200

Incidents and Accidents

★ January 3, 1992: CommutAir Flight 4821, a Raytheon Beech 1900C Airliner was flying from Plattsburgh to Saranac Lake when it crashed into wooded mountaintop as it was landing at Adirondack Regional Airport. Of the 4 people onboard (2 passengers and 2 crew) 2 were killed while the other 2 sustained serious injuries. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error in establishing a stabilized approach and cross-checking instruments.
[1]

References

1.
2. Flight International, 3-9 October 2006

External links

★ CommutAir

★ ESOP Litigation