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Envoy Air

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Envoy Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
MQ ENY ENVOY
Founded1998 (as American Eagle Airlines)
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programAAdvantage (American Airlines)
AllianceOneworld (affiliate)
Fleet size223
Destinations160
Parent companyAmerican Airlines Group
HeadquartersIrving, Texas, United States
Key peoplePedro Fábregas (President)
Employees14,000+
Websiteenvoyair.com

Envoy Air Inc. (formerly American Eagle Airlines) is an air carrier based in Irving, Texas.[1] It is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group that, along with several carriers outside the group, feeds the American Airlines route network under the American Eagle brand.[2] With over 1,800 flights a day, serving 159 cities across the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean,[2] Envoy is considered to be the world's largest regional airline system.[3] Envoy is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance.

The name "American Eagle Airlines" was also used between April 1980 and April 1981 by an unrelated air charter service that suspended operations and filed bankruptcy before flying any scheduled operations.[4]

History

The headquarters for Envoy Air located at 4301 Regent Blvd. in Irving, TX. (2014)
A Saab 340BPlus formerly operated by American Eagle at Los Angeles International Airport. (2007)

Envoy began as a collection of regional carriers with contracts to carry the American Eagle brand name. The first American Eagle flight was operated by Metroflight Airlines, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro Airlines (formerly Houston Metro Airlines), on November 1, 1984, from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Metroflight utilized Convair 580 turboprop aircraft that had been formerly operated by Frontier Airlines. Other carriers that have flown in American Eagle livery include Executive Airlines, Command Airways, Air Virginia, Simmons Airlines, Chaparral Airlines and Wings West Airlines. Among other aircraft in its fleet, Chaparral flew Grumman I-C turboprops which were stretched, 37 passenger regional airliner versions of Grumman's successful propjet business aircraft and was one of only a few air carriers to ever operate the type in scheduled passenger service.

Until 1987 these third-party carriers flew under contract with American Airlines to provide regional feed to its hubs. During 1987 and 1988 AMR Corp. acquired its regional carriers, starting with Simmons Airlines. AMR's final airline d/b/a American Eagle acquisition was Executive Airlines in 1989.

By mid-1991 AMR had consolidated the number of carriers to four. The May 15, 1998, merger of Wings West and Flagship into Simmons (and the name change of Simmons Airlines to American Eagle Airlines) reduced the number of carriers flying as American Eagle under separate operating certificates to two: American Eagle Airlines, Inc. and Executive Airlines, Inc.

During 2007, AMR began studying ways to spin American Eagle Airlines off into a separate company, including, but not limited to, the possibilities of selling the company to either stockholders or to an unaffiliated third party. In 2008, AMR said any plans had been put on hold until the airline industry stabilized after the worldwide financial crisis. In July 2011, AMR announced the spin-off of American Eagle Airlines but those plans were again put on hold when Parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy in November 2011. In 2014 the company changed its name to Envoy Air Inc.

American Eagle carriers
Carrier Eagle service began Acquired by AMR Eagle service ended Notes
Metroflight Airlines (formerly Metro Airlines) November 1, 1984 May 28, 1993 May 28, 1993 Bankrupt; assets acquired by Simmons Airlines[5]
AVAir (formerly Air Virginia) May 15, 1985 May 1988 May 1988 Bankrupt; assets acquired by Nashville Eagle[6]
Simmons Airlines October 1, 1985 August 1, 1987 May 15, 1998 Merged with Flagship and Wings West to form American Eagle Airlines[7]
Command Airways April 27, 1986 September 28, 1988 June 1, 1991 Merged into Nashville Eagle to form Flagship Airlines[8]
Wings West June 1986 August 9, 1987 May 15, 1998 Merged into Simmons to form American Eagle Airlines, Inc.[9]
Executive Airlines November 1, 1986 1990[10] March 31, 2013 San Juan (SJU) American Eagle hub shut down with ATR-72 turboprop aircraft phased out of fleet
Nashville Eagle January 1988 January 1988 June 1, 1991 Merged with Command Airways to form Flagship Airlines[11]
Flagship Airlines June 1, 1991 June 1, 1991 May 15, 1998 Formed by the merger of Command Airways into Nashville Eagle; merged into Simmons to form American Eagle Airlines, Inc.[12]
American Eagle Airlines May 15, 1998 May 15, 1998 Apr 15, 2014 Formed by the merger of Wings West and Flagship into Simmons[7]
Envoy Air Apr 15, 2014 May 15, 1998 Still Operating American Eagle Airlines rebranded to Envoy
  • In January 1988, Nashville Eagle became AMR Corp.’s first and only start-up airline, using equipment acquired from Air Midwest.[11]
  • American Eagle Airlines launched its regional jet service in May 1998 using Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft.
  • Business Express was acquired by AMR Eagle Holdings Corporation in March 1999,[13] although it never flew under the American Eagle brand before being fully integrated into American Eagle Airlines, Inc. in December 2000.

Codeshare agreements with other airlines

For a brief period American Eagle Airlines cooperated with Trans World Airlines by allowing the placement of the TW two letter IATA code upon American Eagle Airlines flights feeding into Los Angeles and later New York's JFK Airports. These services were known as the Trans World Connection.[14][15] These American Eagle Airlines/Trans World agreements were forged prior to and well in advance of AMR Corporation's route and asset acquisition of TWA in 2001.

Until April 11, 2012, the carrier also had a code share agreement with Delta Air Lines on California routes.

American Eagle Airlines rebranding as Envoy Air

On January 14, 2014, American Airlines Group officially announced the rebranding of its American Eagle subsidiary as Envoy. Planes operated by American Eagle will continue to operate under the current American Eagle branding, but an "Operated by Envoy Air" label will be added, as is the case when contractors fly American Eagle aircraft.[16]

Destinations

Further information: Envoy Air destinations
MQ hubs listed by departures (January 1, 2014)[17]
Rank Airport Flights
1 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 242
2 Chicago-O'Hare, Illinois 211
3 Miami, Florida 74
4 New York-LGA, New York 68
5 New York-JFK, New York 27

Crew Bases

There were previously bases in Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City Raleigh/Durham, San Juan.

Envoy Air Fleet

An American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-700 departing Los Angeles International Airport, California (2014).
An American Eagle Embraer ERJ-145 parked at Joplin Regional Airport, Missouri (2014).

The Envoy Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2015):[18]

Envoy Air Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Options Passengers Routes Notes
F EX Y Total
Bombardier CRJ700 25 — — 9 — 54 63 High-density routes from JFK, LAX, LGA and ORD All Aircraft being transferred to PSA Airlines through 2017[19]
21 56 65
Embraer ERJ-140 29 — — — — 44 44 Continental U.S., Mexico, Canada Phased out by 2015[20]
Embraer ERJ-145 99 — — — — 50 50 Central and eastern U.S., Canada, Mexico 35 being transferred to ExpressJet
15 being transferred to Trans States Airlines
Embraer E-175 — 40 90 12 20 44 76 TBD Deliveries Begin in 2015
Total 177


As of April 2015, the average age of the Envoy Air fleet was 11.7 years.[21]

In September 2009, AMR Corporation announced plans to add a First Class cabin to its fleet of 25 Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets and also signed a letter of intent with Bombardier, Inc. to exercise options for the purchase of 22 additional CRJ700 SRS 702ER aircraft for delivery beginning in the middle of 2010.[22]

In January 2014, American Eagle's pilots union reached an agreement with the regional carrier's management that guarantees 60 of the new Embraer 175 aircraft that American Airlines ordered in December to be used with Eagle. The deal includes options for 90 other aircraft to be operated by the regional carrier. Delivery of the aircraft would begin in the first quarter of 2015. This deal was voted down by the pilots' union ALPA.

Envoy was awarded 40 new embraer 175 aircraft with 90 options. Deliveries will begin 4th quarter 2015.[23][24]

Historical turboprop fleet

The American Eagle brand via 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), Nihon YS-11, Short 330, Short 360, and the Saab 340. Currently, no turboprop aircraft are flown on any American Eagle branded passenger services as all flights are operated with regional jets. Piedmont Airlines (wholly owned by US Airways @ merger with AA) currently is operating a fleet of Bombardier DASH-8 turbo props as American Eagle.

Incidents & Accidents

  • January 2006: American Eagle Flight 3008 from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles, a Saab 340B+ operated by American Eagle Airlines, encountered icing at 11,000 feet and regained control only at 6,500 feet, after some 50 seconds' descent. During the incident, in which no one was injured, the autopilot disconnected, the stall alarm/clacker sounded, and the plane rolled sharply left and right, experienced vibration, and pitched down. Manual deice boots were activated and ice could be heard shedding off and striking the fuselage.[25][26] The NTSB report on this incident referenced three other Saab 340 icing incidents, as well as the Flight 4184 incident referenced above. The three were Nov. 11, 1998, in Eildon Weir, Victoria, Australia; June 28, 2002, in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia; and June 18, 2004, in Albury, New South Wales, Australia.[27][28]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2014/04/irving-lands-headquarters-for-american-eagle-which-will-be-called-envoy.html/
  2. ^ a b "Una mirada a Envoy". Aa.com. 2009-03-30. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  3. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-03-27. p. 75.
  4. ^ Tom W Norwood (1996). "1980". Deregulation Knockouts, Round One. Airways. p. 33. ISBN 0-9653993-0-3.
  5. ^ [1][dead link]
  6. ^ [2][dead link]
  7. ^ a b [3][dead link]
  8. ^ [4][dead link]
  9. ^ [5][dead link]
  10. ^ [6][dead link]
  11. ^ a b [7][dead link]
  12. ^ [8][dead link]
  13. ^ "Company News: American Eagle Air buying Business Express." The New York Times. December 5, 1998 "?". New York Times. December 5, 1998.
  14. ^ "TWA Will Expand Trans World Connection Service Via New York (JFK) - FlyerTalk Forums". Flyertalk.com. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  15. ^ "Before the Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.:" (PDF). Trans World Air Lines, Inc. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  16. ^ Envoy is picked as new name for American Eagle Airlines | Dallas News - Business. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  17. ^ "Flight Stats". flightstats.com. January 1, 2014.
  18. ^ "Envoy Air fleet". ch-aviation.com. ch-aviation. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  19. ^ American Airlines Group to Transfer 47 Bombardier CRJ-700 Aircraft to PSA Airlines
  20. ^ http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2014/05/with-american-parking-regional-aircraft-envoy-will-need-47-percent-fewer-pilots.html
  21. ^ http://www.airfleets.net/ageflotte/Envoy.htm
  22. ^ "AMR Corporation Takes Significant Steps to Face Near-Term Challenges". American Airlines Newsroom. 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  23. ^ "New Eagle pilots contract would increase flying options but freeze pay". star-telegram.com. 2014-01-15. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  24. ^ "American Airlines Signs Multibillion-Dollar Jet Deals". wsj.com. 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
  25. ^ NTSB Safety Recommendation July 10, 2006. Addressed to Honorable Marion Blakey, Commissioner, Federal Aviation Authority, pp. 1-4. Retrieved 2-15-09.
  26. ^ "LAX06IA076". Ntsb.gov. 2006-01-02. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
  27. ^ "Safety Recommendation" (PDF). Federal Aviation Authority. NTSB. July 10, 2006. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
  28. ^ "Investigation: 200402415 - Saab Aircraft Co SF-340A, VH-KEQ". Atsb.gov.au. Retrieved 2012-10-14.
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