MQ Various AOC # Various Alliance Oneworld (affiliate) Founded Texas Parent organization American Airlines Group | Various See Operators Frequent-flyer program AAdvantage Destinations 242 Fleet size 628 | |
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Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas, United States Hubs Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport | ||
American eagle airline brand
American Eagle is an American brand name for the regional branch of American Airlines, under which ten individual regional airlines operate short and medium haul feeder flights. Three of these airlines, Envoy Air (formerly American Eagle Airlines), Piedmont Airlines and PSA Airlines, are wholly owned subsidiaries of American Airlines Group. Just like the regional brands of the other two major airlines (Delta Connection and United Express), American Airlines' regional brand accounts for more than 60% of American Airlines flights.
Contents
History
Prior to the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, most major US air carriers had maintained close relationships with independent regional carriers in order to feed passengers from smaller markets into the larger cities, and, in turn, onto the larger legacy carriers. In the post-regulation era, the hub-and-spoke system gained prominence, and in order to feed traffic from smaller markets into these newly established hubs, the major carriers outsourced regional operations to these smaller carriers. These relationships included the use of code sharing, shared branding, and listing regional partners in the computer reservations systems of the mainline carrier.
American Eagle commenced service on November 1, 1984 with a flight from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. This flight was operated by Metroflight Airlines (a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro Airlines), using a Convair 580 turboprop aircraft. Other operators contracted by American Airlines to fly the American Eagle banner during this time included Air Midwest, Air Virginia (later AV Air), Chaparral Airlines, Command Airways, Simmons Airlines, and Wings West.
On September 15, 1986, Executive Airlines joined the American Eagle system. With hub operations at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the addition of Executive Airways to the American Eagle family opened up an extensive inter-island network throughout the Caribbean.
Between 1987 and 1989 AMR Corp. (parent corporation of American Airlines) gradually acquired most its regional carriers, starting with Simmons Airlines. By 1991, AMR had consolidated its wholly owned regional carriers into four separate entities: Executive Airlines, Flagship Airlines, Simmons Airlines, and Wings West. AMR would later purchase the assets of bankrupt Metro Airlines in 1993. At this point, AMR owned all of the airlines that were operating for American Eagle.
On May 15, 1998, Flagship Airlines and Wings West were merged into Simmons Airlines, with the new entity given the name American Eagle Airlines. Along with Executive Airlines, these would be the only two operators using the American Eagle brand name for the next fourteen years.
After American Airlines acquired Trans World Airlines in 2001, it retained the contracts with the carriers that operated under the Trans World Express banner, which, at the time, included Chautauqua Airlines, Corporate Airlines, and Trans States Airlines. However, instead of being integrated into the American Eagle brand, these carriers operated under a separate regional brand known as American Connection. This brand name was used for thirteen years before being discontinued in 2014.
Recent Developments
As part of its restructuring and emergence from chapter 11 bankruptcy, AMR announced that it would start contracting American Eagle flying to carriers outside of its wholly owned subsidiaries. On November 15, 2012, SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines, both subsidiaries of SkyWest, Inc. began operations for American Eagle. On August 1, 2013, Republic Airlines a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, commenced flying operations under the American Eagle branding as part of a 12-year capacity purchase agreement to operate Embraer E-175 aircraft for American Eagle.
On September 12, 2012 AMR announced the discontinuation of the AmericanConnection brand, and all operations were going to be integrated into the American Eagle brand. However, Chautauqua Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings and the only operator of American Connection flights at the time of the announcement, opted not to renew its contract. All AmericanConnection flights ended on August 19, 2014.
American Eagle service operated by Executive Airlines ceased operations on March 31, 2013. At the same time, its base at San Juan was dehubbed.
Due to the fact that an increasing number of other carriers were being contracted to fly under the American Eagle brand, it was announced on January 15, 2014 that American Eagle Airlines would change its name to Envoy Air. The name change took effect on April 15, 2014.
Compass Airlines, a subsidiary of Trans States Holdings, began American Eagle operations on March 27, 2015, as part of a deal to operate 20 new Embraer E-175 aircraft on behalf of American. These aircraft are based at American’s Los Angeles hub.
Operators & Fleet
As of October 2015, the combined American Eagle branded fleet consists of the following regional jet aircraft:
American Eagle is the regional marketing brand of American Airlines. Currently, several airlines fly as American Eagle. Chautauqua's last scheduled flight with AmericanConnection was on August 18, 2014, and Envoy Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group, was previously known as American Eagle Airlines prior to the merger with US Airways. PSA Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group and an operator for US Airways Express, began operating new Bombardier CRJ900 next generation regional jet aircraft in American Eagle livery since Spring 2014. As of May 20, 2014, PSA has taken delivery of three CRJ900s. On May 19, 2014, Mesa Airlines agreed to add another six Bombardier CRJ900 regional jets to its fleet, and operate them as American Eagle. American has also purchased 40 Embraer E-175 regional jets to be placed at Envoy Air.
• In January 1988, Nashville Eagle became AMR Corp.’s first and only start-up airline, using equipment acquired from Air Midwest.
• Business Express was acquired by AMR Eagle Holdings Corporation in March 1999, although it never flew under the American Eagle brand before being fully integrated into American Eagle Airlines, Inc. in December 2000.
Historical Fleet
The American Eagle brand, through its various regional and commuter airline partners, operated a variety of twin turboprop aircraft over the years including the ATR-42, ATR-72, Beech 99, British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and 32 models, CASA 212, Convair 580, Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, Grumman Gulfstream I (stretched G-IC model), NAMC YS-11, Short 330, Short 360, and the Saab 340. Piedmont Airlines, a regional carrier wholly owned by American Airlines Group, and acquired through the merger with US Airways, is currently operating a fleet of Bombardier (formerly de Havilland Canada) DHC-8 Dash 8 turboprops for the US Airways Express regional brand. These aircraft have been or will be rebranded as American Eagle as the merger process is now fully complete.