History
Charles J. Colgan founded fixed base operator Colgan Airways Corporation at Manassas Airport in 1965. It began scheduled service under contract with IBM in 1970 between Manassas, Virginia near Washington, D.C., and Dutchess County Airport near Poughkeepsie, New York. It expanded over the next decade and a half and was sold in 1986 to Presidential Airways.
After Presidential went defunct in 1989, Colgan and his son, Michael J., restarted service under the name National Capital on a Washington/Dulles – Binghamton, NY route on December 1, 1991. Service was provided with Beechcraft 1900C equipment. This route was later dropped and the name Colgan Air adopted. On July 1, 1997 Colgan became a feeder for Continental Airlines, operating under the name Continental Connection.
On December 11, 1999 Colgan left the Continental system and became exclusively a US Airways Express carrier, focusing its routes around major US Airways stations such as LaGuardia, Pittsburgh, and Boston. On January 25, 2005 it announced it would acquire additional Saab 340 aircraft and resume service as Continental Connection out of Houston.
On October 4, 2005 Colgan Air started providing flights for United Express flights out of Washington's Dulles International Airport. Initially serving Charleston, WV, and Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY, Colgan has expanded its service to include State College, Pennsylvania; Charlottesville, Virginia; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Binghamton, New York.
On January 18, 2007, Colgan Air, Inc. was acquired by Pinnacle Airlines Corporation for $20 million. Under the terms of the purchase, Colgan's regional aircraft fleet continued to operate independently of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation's major subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines, whose all regional jet fleet continued to fly and operate in the livery of Northwest Airlink. It was a strategic move by Pinnacle to get access to Colgan’s partners, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.
On February 5, 2007, it was announced that Colgan Air will provide service for Continental Airlines out of Newark Liberty International Airport starting in early 2008. The service is marketed as Continental Connection.
Colgan Air headquarters moved from Manassas, VA (Washington DC Metro Area) to the Pinnacle Airlines Corp. headquarters in Memphis, TN as of December 2009.
In early October 2009, Colgan Air announced that LaGuardia Airport would be closing as a crew base, effective January 4, 2010. This decision was in response to the slot transaction at LaGuardia and Washington National Airport announced by US Airways and Delta Air Lines.
In July 2010 Pinnacle Airlines Corp. announced that the Colgan Air name would be phased out. All Pinnacle Airlines Corp. propeller flights would be operated by Mesaba Airlines.
On May 15, 2012, Colgan ceased its flying as US Airways Express.
On June 5, 2012, Colgan ceased its flying in the George Bush Intercontinental Airport hub for United Express.
On July 31, 2012, Colgan ceased its Saab 340 flying with a Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport.
On September 5, 2012, Colgan flew its last revenue flight as United Express. The flight number was 3923 from Washington-Dulles to Albany, NY and was operated by Captain Steve Norton, First Officer Kevin Duff and flight attendants Tiffany Destefano and Tracy Pinkham. The Dispatcher of the flight was LeeAnn Brewer. The departure was delayed by a little over an hour due to a maintenance issue.
The remaining Q400s were delivered to Bombardier heavy check facilities in MCN and TUS for modification and eventual delivery to Republic Airways.
Read more about this topic: Colgan Air
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