TRAVEL NEWS & TIPS
ExpressJet will end commercial passenger flights
The airline, which serves Ontario and Long Beach airports, will stop flying under its own name in September. It will continue flying 205 aircraft as the Continental Express commuter service, however.
ExpressJet Airlines, which serves Ontario and Long Beach airports, is grounding its own branded flights in September but will continue to operate the Continental Express commuter airline.
ExpressJet Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday night that its ExpressJet commercial passenger service would end Sept. 2 and that it would return the unit's 39 planes to the lessor.
A media release on its website tells customers holding tickets for a flight after Sept. 1 to contact ExpressJet Reservations at (888) 958-XJET (9538) for a refund. ExpressJet said it would immediately stop selling tickets for travel after Sept. 2.
"If we had any other choice, we would not take this difficult action," said chief executive Jim Ream. "However, rising fuel prices has made the operation impossible to sustain."
Last week, Delta Air Lines Inc. said it would end its agreement to use Houston-based ExpressJet for its Delta Connection commuter service on Sept. 1. ExpressJet used 23 aircraft for the service.
ExpressJet said Tuesday it would continue flying 205 aircraft as Continental Express and running charter flights with 30 aircraft in its ExpressJet Corporate Aviation unit.
ExpressJet was spun off in 2002 from Continental Airlines Inc., which still uses it to connect customers in smaller cities to Continental hubs in Houston, Cleveland and Newark, N.J.
The smaller carrier expanded its services last year with scheduled flights under its own name, flying for Delta, and the charter business.
In April, SkyWest Inc., the parent of SkyWest Airlines, offered about $182 million for ExpressJet, which rebuffed the bid. ExpressJet has since mulled over its options, including selling the company, but SkyWest said last month it was no longer interested.
Shares of ExpressJet fell 2 cents, to 36 cents, in trading Wednesday.
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