Republic Airways Holdings
| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: RJET |
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
|
Area served
|
North America |
|
Key people
|
Bryan Bedford (CEO) (Chairman) & (President), Paul Kinstedt (COO) , Joe Allman (CFO) , Matt Koscal (VP, Human Resources) |
| Services | Airline Services |
|
Number of employees
|
In holding company (450) In all subsidiaries(10000+) |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | rjet.com |
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. is an American airline holding corporation based in Indianapolis, Indiana,[1][2] that owns two American regional airlines operating in the Midwestern United States: Republic Airlines and Shuttle America.
Republic Airlines operates a fleet of Embraer E-Jet family 170, 175 and 190 aircraft, and Shuttle America operates the Embraer ERJ 145, E-Jet 170 and 175.
Contents
History
Forming the holding company
The company traces its roots to Chautauqua Airlines, 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 USAirways. [3]
In 1988, an affiliate of Guarantee Security Life Insurance Company bought the airline. Three years later, the Florida Department of Insurance took over the insurance company and its airline subsidiary after the insurance company was declared insolvent.[3]
In 1994, Chautauqua swapped routes with Jetstream International which had been owned by USAir. Chautauqua then moved its headquarters to Indianapolis.[3]
In 1998, the company formally organized as a holding company,[4] with Chautauqua as its only subsidiary. The holding company capitalized on the name Republic from Republic Airlines of the 1980s because it had better national recognition than Chautauqua. However, the earlier Republic Airlines has no historic ties to the new company other than the name.
Wexford Management of Greenwich, Connecticut, an investment company, bought the holding company on May 15, 1998. Wexford had already owned National Airlines [3] and was also invested heavily in Midwest Airlines. Wexford’s interest in distressed airline firms dates back to 1995 when the assets of MarkAir were purchased in a bankruptcy auction.
Republic Airways Holdings incorporated a new subsidiary, "Republic Airline, Inc." (sic), in 1999,[5] but the subsidiary was left as a "shell" company until 2004.
On May 26, 2004, an IPO was launched on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol RJET with Wexford Capital remaining the majority shareholder.[6]
Scope clauses
In 2004, the holding company activated Republic Airline in reaction to a pilots' suit against American Airlines. American had awarded the flying of 44-seat regional jets to Chautauqua, then the main operating subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings. However, Chautauqua later started to operate 70-seat regional jets on behalf of another major airline, and this caused American to be in violation of its pilot union scope clause, which prevented another airline from operating on behalf of American if that airline was operating jet aircraft of more than 50 seats, even if such aircraft were operating on behalf of a carrier other than American. To repair the situation, Republic Airways Holdings activated Republic Airline, and upon Part 121 certification in 2005 [7] allowing Republic Airlines to operate commercial service. Republic Airways Holdings then transferred the offending 70-seat regional jets from Chautauqua to Republic Airlines. American was thereby no longer in violation of its pilot union scope clause. Republic Airways Holdings paid US$6.6 million to the Allied Pilots Association to settle the issue.[8]
To sidestep yet another scope clause issue in 2005, Republic Airways Holdings bought Shuttle America from Wexford affiliate Shuttle Acquisition LLC.[6] To avoid further liability, all Embraer 170 aircraft were transferred to Shuttle America, which previously only operated Saab 340 turboprops. Subsequently, American Airlines and its pilots changed the scope agreement as part of the bankruptcy and merger with US Airways to allow more regional airlines, other than wholly owned American Airlines subsidiary American Eagle (now Envoy Air), to fly larger regional airliners under the American Eagle brand. Republic Airlines began flying the first of 47 Embraer 175 aircraft under the American Eagle brand in July 2013.
Further acquisitions
In September 2005, Republic purchased 113 slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, 24 slots at LaGuardia Airport, and ten 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.
In July 2009, Republic acquired 89 percent of Mokulele Airlines[9] and financially troubled Midwest Airlines.[6] In October 2009, the company acquired Frontier Airlines which was being reorganized along with Frontier Airlines Holdings' Lynx Aviation in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[6] On April 13, 2010, Republic announced that Midwest and Frontier would combine into a single airline, keeping the Frontier Airlines name.[10]
On October 23, 2009, Republic announced a joint venture with Mesa Air Group in which Embraer E170 routes operated by Shuttle America were transitioned to smaller Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet aircraft provided by Mesa Airlines.[6]
In the fourth quarter of 2011, Republic announced that it would spin off Frontier as a separate company.[11] On December 2, 2013, Frontier was sold in its entirety to an affiliate of Indigo Partners. As part of the agreement, Republic Airlines removed the remaining Frontier branded Embraer 190 jets in "pro-rated" service with Frontier Airlines.
On July 28, 2014, Republic Airways Holdings announced that Chautauqua Airlines will be absorbed into Shuttle America "by year-end" to reduce costs. Chautauqua's only remaining aircraft, 41 ERJ-145s, will be transferred to the Shuttle America operating certificate.[12] This will leave only two subsidiaries, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America, flying under Republic Airways Holdings.
Subsidiary timeline
| Republic Airways Holdings subsidiaries | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974~ | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | ||
| Chautauqua Airlines | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Republic Airlines | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Shuttle America | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Midwest Airlines | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Frontier Airlines | ||||||||||||||||||||
Following is a breakdown of traffic upon all Republic Airways Holdings airlines as of December 31, 2013.[13]
| Regional Brand | Mainline Airline | Parent | % of Republic Traffic |
| United Express | United Airlines | United Continental Holdings | 29% |
| Delta Connection | Delta Air Lines | Delta Air Lines, Inc | 30% |
| American Eagle | American Airlines | American Airlines Group | 41% |
Fleet overview
Republic Airways Holdings' airlines currently operate 231 regional aircraft.
In February 2010, Republic Airways Holdings became the first North American customer for the Bombardier CSeries regional jet.[14] In 2014, following delays in the CS300 program, Republic expressed doubts in keeping their CS300 order, but announcement that a final decision would be put off.[15] In September 2014 Republic confirmed that their order for 40 Cseries aircraft was still in place, despite ongoing technical issues.[16] As of September 2014, Republic Airways Holdings has still not indicated which airline subsidiary unit they would be placed with when delivered.
On September 17, 2014, Republic Airways Holdings announced it would stop flying Bombardier Q400 turboprops in 2016. The company ordered E-175s that Shuttle America will operate for United Express.[17]
| Airline | Operating as | Flight number range | Total | Aircraft | Seats | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Y | Total | ||||||
| Republic Airlines | Caesars Entertainment Corporation | YX6100-6200 | 5 | Embraer 190 | 0 | 99 | 99 | |
| American Eagle | AA3100-3499 AA4400-4899 | 38/48 | Embraer 175 | 0/12 | 80/64 | 80/76 | 12 left on order, with an option for 45 more | |
| 20 | Embraer 170 | 0 | 69 | 69 | ||||
| United Express | UA3800-4941 | 18 | Bombardier Q400 | 0 | 71/74 | 71/74 | To be retired by September 2016. 24 being leased to Flybe, deliveries starting March 2015[18] | |
| Shuttle America | Delta Connection | DL6000-6099 S5 6000-6299 |
41 | ERJ-145 | 0 | 50 | 50 | |
| 16 | Embraer 175 | 12 | 64 | 76 | ||||
| Delta Shuttle | S5 5800-5999 | 12 | Embraer 170 | 9 | 60 | 69 | ||
| United Express | UA3400-3599 UA5100-5199 |
38 | Embraer 170 | 6 | 64 | 70 | ||
| 0 | Embraer 175 | 76 | 50 on order; replacing Republic Airlines Q400's | |||||
| Undeclared division | 0 | CS300 | TBA | 40 firm orders, 40 options. Deliveries unlikely before 2017[16] | ||||
| Company Total | 241 | |||||||
Further reading
- Sandra Arnoult, "Three Heads are better than One," Air Transport World January 2006, p. 60.
References
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