Republic Airways Holdings

Republic Airways Holdings
Industry	Transportation
Founded	1973
Headquarters	Indianapolis, IN, USA
Area served	North America
Key people	Bryan Bedford (CEO); (Chairman) & (President)
Services	Airline Services
Employees	In holding company (450); In all subsidiaries(10000+)
Subsidiaries	Chautauqua Airlines; Frontier Airlines; Mokulele Airlines; Republic Airlines; Shuttle America;
Website	rjet.com

Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) is an aviation holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana,^[1] which owns four airlines operating in the United States: Chautauqua Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America.

Chautauqua operates regional jet (RJ) aircraft with up to 50 seats, Shuttle America operates Embraer 175 aircraft airliners with 76 seats, and Republic Airlines operates Embraer 170, 175 and 190 aircraft with 70–99 seats. Frontier Airlines operates Airbus A320 family aircraft with 120–162 seats.

History [edit]

The company traces it roots to Chautauqua Airlines which was founded in 1973 in Jamestown, New York, by Joel and Gloria Hall. Joel had been a pilot for Mohawk Airlines. Chautauqua was one of the first airlines to fly under code shares initially with Allegheny Airlines which later became USAir. ^[2]

In 1988, an affiliate of Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company bought the airline. In 1991, the Florida Department of Insurance took over the insurance company and its airline subsidiary after the insurance company was declared insolvent. ^[2]

On May 8, 1994, Chautauqua swapped routes with Jetstream International which had been owned by USAir. Chautauqua then moved its headquarters to Indianapolis. ^[2]

In 1996, the company formally organized as a holding company.^[3]

Wexford Management of Greenwich, Connecticut, an investment company, bought the company on May 15, 1998. Wexford had also owned National Airlines (N7) ^[2] and also invested heavily in Midway Airlines (1993–2003). Wexford’s interest in distressed airline firms dates back to 1995 when the assets of MarkAir were purchased in a bankruptcy auction.

On May 26, 2004, an IPO was launched on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol RJET with Wexford Capital remaining the majority shareholder.^[4] The holding company capitalizes on the name Republic rather Chautauqua because Republic Airlines (1979–1986) has better national recognition even though the earlier Republic Airlines has no historic ties to the new company other than the name.

On May 9, 2005, it acquired Shuttle America from Wexford affiliate Shuttle Acquisition LLC.^[4]

In September 2005, Republic purchased 113 slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 24 at LaGuardia Airport, and 10 Embraer 170 aircraft from US Airways with an agreement to lease those assets back to US Airways. The deal was necessary for US Airways to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

On July 31, 2009, it acquired 89 percent of Mokulele Airlines.^[5]

Scope clauses [edit]

The separation of the four contract airlines is due to “scope clauses” between mainline pilots and each major carrier Republic feeds. These clauses regulate the size of regional jet aircraft that affiliate carriers may operate; the intent behind such clauses is to protect mainline pilots from being replaced by lower-paid regional pilots. In 2005, Republic paid a $6.6 million settlement to the Allied Pilots Association after placing Embraer 170s in service with Chautauqua Airlines as United Express, because such aircraft violated the scope clause in the pilots’ contract at American Airlines, which also contracts with Chautauqua for regional service as American Connection. To avoid further liability, Republic moved all of its Embraer 170 aircraft to Shuttle America, an airline that previously only operated Saab 340 turboprops.

Codeshare agreements [edit]

Until 2009 when Republic acquired Midwest and Frontier, all of its planes flew in the colors of other airlines through code share agreements. Following is a breakdown of traffic upon all Republic Airways Holdings airlines as of December 31, 2008.^[7]

Airline Marketing Banner Carrier "Commuter" Brand	Parent	% of Republic Traffic	Notes
United Express	United Continental Holdings / United Airlines	32%
Delta Connection	Delta Air Lines	29%
US Airways Express	US Airways Group / US Airways	25%
AmericanConnection	AMR Corporation / American Airlines	10%
Shell corporation Frontier Airlines ("F9" Branding)	Republic Airways Holdings / Frontier Airlines	2% with-Frontier Airlines operated by Lynx Aviation branding	Acquired in 2009 from Chapter 11. Merger with the surviving remains of the FAA/DOT Certificated Midwest Airlines and the remaining "YX" branded operations are to be completed by 2011.
Mokulele Express	Republic Airways Holdings / Mokulele Airlines	1%	89% of Mokulele Airlines was acquired in 2009 and has most recently been partially acquired by Mesa Air Group in a joint venture with Republic Airways Holdings under the new company name of go! Mokulele, as Mesa Air Group is technically in bankruptcy while the joint venture is not.

Fleet Overview [edit]

The airlines currently employ approximately 5,000 aviation professionals and operate 226 regional jet aircraft including 34 Embraer 175 aircraft, 76 Embraer 170 aircraft, 60 Embraer 145 aircraft, 15 Embraer 140 aircraft, 17 Embraer 135 aircraft and 24 Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft in addition to Frontier's larger Airbusses.

In February 2010, Republic Airways Holdings became one of the first customers for the 100-150 seat Bombardier CSeries aircraft.^[8] As of December 2012, Republic Airways Holdings has still not indicated which airline subsidiary unit they would be placed with, although Republic Airways Holdings CEO reported that the CSeries could be used for a new, low cost, start-up airline tied to an alliance.^[9]