American Airlines Group Inc. is sending 20 of its new 76-seat regional jets to Compass Airlines to fly under the American Eagle brand beginning early next year, Compass and American officials said Wednesday.
The 20 airplanes are part of an order of 60 Embraer E175s that American placed last December. American has not yet said where the other 40 will go, but Compass said American holds an option to put more aircraft with Compass.
“We’re thrilled to begin our partnership with American with these 20 new state-of-the-art aircraft that will allow us to provide a top-tier experience to customers of American,” Compass president and CEO Richard Leach said in the company’s announcement.
“The opportunity to grow our operation for American beyond the 20 initial E175s we have been awarded also points to a bright future for Compass and our employees,” Leach said.
American hasn’t previously contracted with Compass to operate as an American Eagle partner. However, Compass is part of Trans States Holdings, parent of Trans States Airlines. Trans States in the past has operated American Connection flights out of St. Louis for American.
“Compass Airlines has a proven history of providing safe, reliable, customer-friendly and cost-effective service on the E175 aircraft and this made Compass a great choice for our business and our customers,” said Kenji Hashimoto, American’s senior vice president of regional carriers.
“This is the first time Compass will provide regional flight service for American. We are looking forward to Compass operating these new aircraft to provide an exceptional travel experience to American’s customers connecting to our extensive global network,” Hashimoto said.
Trans States also operates as US Airways Express out of Pittsburgh for US Airways, which is now part of American Airlines Group. Trans State also operates as United Express out of Chicago and Washington Dulles.
Minneapolis-based Compass Airlines flies 42 Embraer E170s and E175s as “Delta Connection” flights for Delta Air Lines, mostly out of Delta’s Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit hubs.
Compass operates eight daily Delta Connection flights out of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, including three to New York, three to Minneapolis-St. Paul and one each to Detroit and Salt Lake City.
The order for the 60 Embraer jets had become entangled in a dispute between American Airlines Group and the pilots’ union for Envoy Air, formerly American Eagle Airlines before it was renamed in April.
American this year promised the airplanes to Envoy Air if Envoy pilots would approve a contract that gave concessions. However, Envoy pilots turned down the deal.
“We hope Envoy will be able to fly larger and more cost-effective aircraft in the future,” American spokesman Casey Norton said Wednesday. “The E175 will be awarded as part of a competitive bidding process.”
Another regional airline, Republic Airlines, began operating Embraer E175s as an American Eagle carrier last year. It is committed to acquire 47 E175s for its American Eagle operations by early 2015, with 24 delivered as of March 31.
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