Republic Airways Holdings - History

History

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.

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.

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

In 1996, the company formally organized as a holding company.

Wexford Management of Greenwich, Connecticut, an investment company, bought the company on May 15, 1998. Wexford had also owned National Airlines (N7) 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. 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.

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.

On July 31, 2009, it acquired financially troubled Midwest Airlines from TPG Capital; and on October 1, 2009, it acquired Frontier Airlines which was being reorganized along with Frontier Airlines Holdings Lynx Aviation in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. On April 13, 2010, Republic announced that Midwest and Frontier would combine into a single airline, keeping the Frontier Airlines name.

On October 23, 2009, it announced a joint venture with Mesa Air Group in which E170 routes operated by Shuttle America were transitioned to smaller Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet aircraft provided by Mesa Airlines.