Fleet
Indigo's initial fleet consisted of four French-built Dassault Falcon jets fitted with: large executive style leather seats; a full hot galley; private bathroom; and laptop power outlets. Indigo was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois at Chicago Midway International Airport in the former Ameritech corporate hangar facilities. This was a comprehensive, 220,000-square-foot (20,000 m2) co-located hangar, office complex, private passenger terminal and maintenance facility.
Indigo was a fully vertically integrated aviation company and fully owned, employed and controlled its own aircraft fleet, pilots, dispatchers and maintenance services. The company operated as a Federal Aviation Administration FAR 135 commercial operator and additionally was certified by the United States Department of Transportation under parts 41101 and 380 as a public charter operator. Indigo was the first business jet commercial operator to receive an additional DOT fitness approval and was granted a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.
As part of its overall planning and growth objectives, Indigo early in its initial operations distributed a request for proposal to several global aerospace manufacturers for a next generation regional business jet to eventually replace its initial aircraft. Brazilian manufacturer Embraer both embraced Indigo's business model and responded strongly to the RFP in its efforts to introduce its new corporate shuttle aircraft, the "Legacy" jet. The Embraer Legacy was a customized business jet version of the popular Embraer regional airline aircraft. Indigo was the first U.S. certified commercial operator of the Legacy and launched service with this new, environmentally advanced stage 4 aircraft in 2003 in a 16-seat all business-class service. Indigo also solicited the management support of former senior American Airlines executive and American Eagle President Peter Pappas to help guide Indigo's transition to broader regional jet service. Mr. Pappas, while at American, was responsible for the introduction of the Embraer regional jet across the American Eagle division.
Read more about this topic: Indigo Airlines
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