Delta Connection

A Delta Connection Bombardier CRJ-701, operated by SkyWest, landing at Vancouver

A Delta Connection CRJ-100, operated by Comair, landing at Baltimore

A gated ERJ 145 during winter at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport.

Delta Connection was founded in 1984[1] as a means of expanding the Delta network to smaller markets via partnerships with regional airlines. Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) began Delta Connection service on March 1, 1984, from their hub in Atlanta, and soon had a substantial presence at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. ASA was a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines under the Delta Connection, Inc., holding company from May 11, 1999, to September 7, 2005, when it was purchased by SkyWest, Inc, the parent company of SkyWest Airlines.

Ransome Airlines operated Delta Connection flights from March 1, 1984, to June 1, 1986, when it was purchased by Pan Am. Comair began Delta Connection service on September 1, 1984. In January 2000, Comair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.[1] Rio Airways operated Delta Connection flights from their hub in Dallas/Fort Worth from June 1, 1984, to December 14, 1986, when the airline declared bankruptcy. Business Express Airlines operated Delta Connection flights in the northeastern US and Canada from June 1, 1986, to March 15, 2000. The company was purchased by AMR Corporation in 1999 and integrated into the American Eagle Airlines system in 2000. Following the acquisition of Western Airlines by Delta Air Lines, SkyWest Airlines, which had been operating codeshare service flying as Western Express for Western, became a Delta Connection carrier on April 1, 1987.[2] Trans States Airlines operated Delta Connection flights from March 1998 to March 31, 2000, mainly from their focus cities in Boston and New York.

On November 2, 2004, Atlantic Coast Airlines ended service as a Delta Connection Carrier. Atlantic Coast Airlines reinvented itself as a low fare carrier called Independence Air, based at Washington Dulles International Airport. Atlantic Coast Airlines operated over 30 FairChild Dornier Do328JET aircraft as part of its Delta Connection service from 2000 until 2005.

On December 22, 2004, Delta Air Lines announced that Republic Airways would order and operate 16 Embraer 170 aircraft under the Delta Connection banner. Since then, it has been announced that the Republic Airways subsidiary Shuttle America would operate the flights. The initial flight took place on September 1, 2005. On May 4, 2005, Delta Air Lines announced that Mesa Air Group subsidiary Freedom Airlines would operate up to 30 Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft under the Delta Connection banner beginning in October 2005. Shortly after the announcement, the decision was made for Freedom Airlines to operate the Embraer ERJ 145 for Delta Connection instead of the CRJ. After a legal battle with Mesa Air Group, Delta and Freedom Airlines terminated their contract, ending all flights on August 31, 2010.[3] On December 21, 2006, Delta announced that Big Sky Airlines would become a Delta Connection carrier, using eight Beechcraft 1900 turboprops out of Boston Logan International Airport.[4]

On March 1, 2007, it was announced that ExpressJet would operate 10 Embraer ERJ 145XR aircraft under the Delta Connection banner beginning in June 2007 on flights from Los Angeles International Airport. It was later announced that ExpressJet would operate an additional eight aircraft as Delta Connection. On July 3, 2008, Delta and ExpressJet announced that they had terminated their agreement and that ExpressJet operations as Delta Connection would end by September 1, 2008.[5] On April 30, 2007, it was announced that Pinnacle Airlines would operate 16 Bombardier CRJ-900 under the Delta Connection banner starting in December 2007.

Delta Connection CRJ-200 operated by SkyWest Airlines

As of January 2021, Delta Connection operates the following aircraft:

Due to scope clause limits, the Delta Connection fleet is currently limited to 450 aircraft. This includes 125 small regional jets (50 seats or less), and 325 large regional jets (51-76 seats).[22] The large regional jets are divided between 102 airplanes with 51-70 seats, and 223 airplanes with 71-76 seats.

Due to the impacts on travel in 2020, Delta Connection may also retire the CRJ-200 fleet by the end of 2023, after the majority of aircraft parked already during 2020.[23]

Delta Connection Academy is an airline flight school established in October 1989. The academy is located in Sanford, Florida on the grounds of the Orlando Sanford International Airport. It contains a fleet that has 73 aircraft and over 550 flight students who attended the academy. On January 13, 2010, it was acquired by Flight Training Acquisitions for $50 million.[24]

• January 15, 1987: SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834 a Fairchild Metro collided with a Mooney M20 transporting an instructor and a student, while on a flight between Pocatello to Salt Lake City in the vicinity of Kearns, Utah. All eight people on Flight 1834 and the two occupants of the Mooney were killed. The accident was found to be a navigation error of the student pilot aboard the Mooney.[25]
• On February 1, 1991, SkyWest Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner, was waiting for takeoff clearance on a runway at LAX when USAir Flight 1493 collided with it. The ten passengers and two crew members onboard Flight 5569 were killed as well as twenty-three passengers and crew on USAir Flight 1493. The crash was blamed on the Air Traffic Controller who allowed the USAir plane to land on the same runway that the SkyWest flight was using.[26][27]
• On April 5, 1991, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 2311, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, crashed on approach to the Glynco Jetport serving Brunswick, GA. Twenty passengers and three crew members on board all died in the crash. The cause of the crash was an engine malfunction coupled with crew fatigue.[28]
• On August 21, 1995, Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, crashed near Carrollton, Georgia. Officials determined that a propeller blade loss and inability to feather the remaining blades caused the accident, which killed 8 of the 28 passengers and crew on board.[29][30][31][32][33][34]
• On January 9, 1997, Comair Flight 3272, an Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia, crashed near Monroe, Michigan. The flight, which originated from Cincinnati, Ohio, was on approach to Detroit. All 29 passengers and crew were killed when the plane crashed 18 miles from the airport. The cause is listed to be the "FAA's failure to establish adequate aircraft certification standards for flight in icing conditions, the FAA's failure to ensure that an FAA/CTA-approved procedure for the accident airplane's deice system operation was implemented by U.S.-based air carriers, and the FAA's failure to require the establishment of adequate minimum airspeeds for icing conditions."[35]
• On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191, a Bombardier CRJ-100, crashed on takeoff at Lexington, Kentucky's Blue Grass Airport, with 47 passengers and three crew members on board. Only the First Officer survived. The pilots took off from the wrong runway, which was not long enough for the aircraft.[36]
• On April 12, 2007, Northwest Airlink Flight 4712, a Bombardier CRJ200LR from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport overran the runway when landing at Cherry Capital Airport (TVC), Traverse City, Michigan. The plane was damaged, but no one was injured. The NTSB determined that the cause of the accident was the "pilots’ decision to land at TVC without performing a landing distance assessment", which in turn was caused by fatigued pilots and unclear directions from the TVC controller tower. The report recommended more landing distance training, post-accident drug testing, and further criteria for runway closures in snow and ice conditions.[37]