public traded as otc pink current rjetq 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 republic airlines shuttle america 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 and 175 aircraft and shuttle america operates the embraer erj 145 e jet 170 and 175 . contents 1 history 1.1 forming the holding company 1.1.1 bankruptcy 1.2 scope clauses 1.3 further acquisitions 1.4 subsidiary timeline 2 codeshare agreements 3 fleet overview 4 further reading 5 references 6 external links history edit forming the holding company edit 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 bankruptcy edit on february 25 2016 republic airways holdings inc filed for bankruptcy protection because of plunging profits a pilot shortage 7 8 and a loss of revenue during the past several quarters associated with grounding aircraft . 9 scope clauses edit 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 10 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 . 11 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 edit 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 12 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 . 13 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 . 14 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 . 15 this will leave only two subsidiaries republic airlines and shuttle america flying under republic airways holdings . in 2015 it was announced that republic airways holdings will begin to merge existing subsidiaries shuttle america and republic airlines with the merger expected to be completed by december 1 2016 . as 2015 ended subsidiary shuttle america began to transfer aircraft flight attendants and pilots over to the republic airlines certificate . as part of the merger process republic airways holdings also announced that it would be seeking a single aircraft type and began to phase out the e 145 aircraft from the shuttle certificate with the final flight to take place on september 30 2016 . additionally republic airways holdings also announced it would begin to phase out the q 400 flying on the republic airlines certificate with the final q 400 flight taking place on march 31 2016 . subsidiary timeline edit republic airways holdings subsidiaries 1974 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 chautauqua airlines republic airlines shuttle america midwest airlines frontier airlines codeshare agreements edit following is a breakdown of traffic upon all republic airways holdings airlines as of december 31 2013 . 16 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 edit as at october 2016 republic airways holdings airlines operate 229 regional aircraft . in february 2010 republic airways holdings became the first north american customer for the bombardier cseries regional jet . 17 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 . 18 in september 2014 republic confirmed that their order for 40 cseries aircraft was still in place despite ongoing technical issues . 19 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 last q400 was retired in march 2016 . the company ordered e 175s that republic airlines will operate for united express . 20 on december 1 2016 all remaining aircraft operating under the shuttle america certificate will be transferred to republic airlines as shuttle america ceases operations as part of the final step in the merger process . airline operating as flight number range total aircraft seats notes f y total republic airlines american eagle aa3100 3499 aa4400 4899 38 48 embraer 175 8 12 72 64 80 76 12 left on order with an option for 45 more 20 embraer 170 9 60 69 all 20 aircraft being returned in bankruptcy filing . united express ua3300 3574 29 embraer 170 6 64 70 transferred from shuttle america 16 embraer 175 12 64 76 deliveries continue 2016 2017 shuttle america delta connection dl6000 6099 s5 6000 6299 41 erj 145 0 50 50 erj 145 operations cease september 30 2016 . 16 embraer 175 12 64 76 delta shuttle s5 5800 5999 12 embraer 170 9 60 69 united express ua3300 3599 9 embraer 170 6 64 70 all being transferred to republic airlines undeclared division 0 cs300 tba 40 firm orders 40 options . deliveries unlikely before 2017 19 company total 229 further reading edit sandra arnoult three heads are better than one air transport world january 2006 p. 60 . references edit contact us . republic airways holdings . archived from the original on april 30 2009 . retrieved may 19 2009 . contact us . republic ariways holdings . retrieved june 25 2014 . a b c d international directory of company histories vol . 38 . st. james press 2001 . republic airways holdings marketwatch.com . retrieved february 12 2010 . republic airways holdings form 10 k for year ended december 31 2004 . retrieved 2013 08 16 . a b c d e republic airways history republicwairways.com . retrieved february 12 2010 . republic airways holdings chapter 11 petition pdf . pacermonitor . pacermonitor . retrieved 9 may 2016 . http www.cnbc.com 2016 02 25 the associated press republic airways files for bankruptcy protection.html http www.indystar.com story money 2016 02 25 republic airways files bankruptcy protection 80950752 exhibit99 .1 republic airlines certification . retrieved 2013 08 16 . republic airways continues attack on pilots group with sham furloughs . 2011 09 08 . retrieved 2013 08 16 . segal dave 2009 07 31 . republic air increases its stake in mokulele . honolulu star bulletin . archived from the original on 2009 08 01 . retrieved 2010 02 12 . daykin tom 2010 04 13 . new name for midwest frontier airline frontier . milwaukee journal sentinel . retrieved 2010 04 13 . does frontier have a future . businessweek . 2011 11 08 . archived from the original on 2011 11 10 . retrieved 2012 05 17 . shuttle america to absorb chautauqua airlines . ch aviation . republic airways holdings inc rjet.o company profile reuters.com . bombardier inc. february 25 2010 . republic airways holdings becomes first north american customer for bombardier cseries aircraft with order for up to 80 airliners . retrieved december 18 2012 . republic puts off decision on cseries order . 15 may 2014 . a b tomesco frederic september 26 2014 . bombardier wins order for 40 cseries jets from macquarie . bloomberg . michael garko september 18 2014 . republic airways ending bombardier q400 turboprop opations in 2016 . retrieved september 18 2014 . external links