note

Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) commenced operations on June 27, 1979, utilizing a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft to connect Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia. The fleet expanded with additional Twin Otters and Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante turboprops in 1980. On April 1, 1983, ASA acquired Southeastern Airlines, enhancing its network from Atlanta and Memphis to destinations in Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. In 1984, ASA became a Delta Connection carrier, further diversifying its fleet with Shorts 360s and de Havilland Canada Dash 7s.

Jet services were introduced in 1995 with the addition of British Aerospace BAe 146 aircraft, followed by Canadair Regional Jets (CRJ) in 1997. On March 22, 1999, Delta Air Lines acquired ASA as a wholly-owned subsidiary, facilitating expansion to Dallas to support Delta's hub operations. ASA also briefly operated from Delta's Salt Lake City hub.

On September 8, 2005, SkyWest, Inc. acquired ASA, maintaining it as a separate entity from SkyWest Airlines. In November 2010, SkyWest, Inc. purchased ExpressJet from United Continental Holdings, leading to the merger of ASA and ExpressJet on January 1, 2012, using the ASA certificate and the ExpressJet name.

Post-merger, ExpressJet's operations contracted. Delta reduced its CRJ200 operations in Atlanta, reallocating some aircraft to American Eagle and United Express before transferring them to SkyWest. United reassigned certain ERJ-145s to other operators, and Delta transferred CRJ-900s to Endeavor Air while phasing out CRJ-700 operations. Some CRJ-700s and CRJ200s were reassigned to American Eagle and United Express services, respectively. ExpressJet's final Delta Connection flight occurred on November 26, 2018, and its last American Eagle flight on January 6, 2019.

On January 22, 2019, Mana Air LLC, owned by Kair Enterprises and United Airlines, acquired ExpressJet. United committed to continuing ERJ-145 operations and initially planned to add 25 ERJ-175s, but in February 2020, announced the transfer of these aircraft to SkyWest and the reassignment of Trans States Airlines' ERJ-145s to ExpressJet. The COVID-19 pandemic led United to terminate its relationship with ExpressJet, with the final flight operating on September 30, 2020.

ExpressJet resumed operations on October 24, 2021, under the aha! (air-hotel-adventure) brand, based in Reno, Nevada, serving eight western U.S. markets. Despite adding and dropping various routes, the service failed to gain traction, leading to the cessation of flights on August 22, 2022, and the subsequent bankruptcy filing on August 23, 2022.

founded - demised (age)

March 12 1979 - August 22 2022  (43)

headquarters

1745 Phoenix Blvd., College Park, GA

web

www.expressjet.com
www.flyaha.com

base airports

KMCN Middle Georgia Regional Macon	maintenance
KATL Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Atlanta	hub
KCVG Northern Kentucky International Cincinnati - Covington	hub
KCSG Columbus	maintenance
KCHA Lovell Field Chattanooga	maintenance

related operators

Southeastern Airlines	acquired 1983
SkyWest Airlines	acquired by 9/05
ExpressJet Airlines Inc.	merged 1/12
Delta Connection	1984-2018
United Express	2010-2019
American Eagle	2012-2020