Envoy Air

Envoy Air Inc. (formerly American Eagle Airlines) is an air carrier headquartered in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Airlines Group that, along with several carriers outside the group, feeds the American Airlines route network under the American Eagle brand.[6] With over 1000 flights a day, serving 150 cities across the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean,[6] Envoy is considered to be one of the world's largest regional airline systems.[7] Envoy is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. The company slogan is Going for great.

Envoy Air Inc.
IATA ICAO Callsign
MQ ENY ENVOY
Founded1984 (1984) as American Eagle Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas[1]
1998 (1998) (second incarnation from Simmons Airlines)
AOC #SIMA586A[2]
Hubs
Secondary hubs
  • New York–JFK
Frequent-flyer programAAdvantage
AllianceOneworld
Fleet size196[3]
Destinations170[3]
Parent companyAmerican Airlines Group[3]
Traded asNASDAQ: AAL
HeadquartersIrving, Texas, United States
Key people
RevenueSee parent
Operating incomeSee parent
Net incomeSee parent
Total assetsSee parent
Total equitySee parent
Employees18,000[3]
Websiteenvoyair.com

The name "American Eagle Airlines" was also used between April 1980 and April 1981 by an unrelated air charter service that suspended operations and filed bankruptcy before flying any scheduled operations.[8]

History
A Saab 340BPlus formerly operated by American Eagle at Los Angeles International Airport. (2007)

Envoy began as a collection of regional carriers with contracts to carry the American Eagle brand name. The first American Eagle flight was operated by Metroflight Airlines, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Metro Airlines (formerly Houston Metro Airlines), on November 1, 1984, from Fayetteville, Arkansas and Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Metroflight utilized Convair 580 turboprop aircraft that had been formerly operated by Frontier Airlines. Other carriers that have flown in American Eagle livery include Executive Airlines, Command Airways, Air Virginia, Simmons Airlines, Chaparral Airlines and Wings West Airlines. Among other aircraft in its fleet, Chaparral flew Grumman I-C turboprops which were stretched, 37 passenger regional airliner versions of Grumman's successful propjet business aircraft and was one of only a few air carriers to ever operate the type in scheduled passenger service.

Until 1987 these third-party carriers flew under contract with American Airlines to provide regional feed to its hubs. During 1987 and 1988 AMR Corp. acquired its regional carriers, starting with Simmons Airlines. AMR's final airline d/b/a American Eagle acquisition was Executive Airlines in 1989.[9]

By mid-1991 AMR had consolidated the number of carriers to four. The May 15, 1998, merger of Wings West and Flagship into Simmons (and the name change of Simmons Airlines to American Eagle Airlines) reduced the number of carriers flying as American Eagle under separate operating certificates to two: American Eagle Airlines, Inc. and Executive Airlines, Inc.

During 2007, AMR began studying ways to spin American Eagle Airlines off into a separate company, including, but not limited to, the possibilities of selling the company to either stockholders or to an unaffiliated third party. In 2008, AMR said any plans had been put on hold until the airline industry stabilized after the worldwide financial crisis. In July 2011, AMR announced the spin-off of American Eagle Airlines but those plans were again put on hold when Parent AMR Corp. filed for bankruptcy in November 2011. In 2014 the company changed its name to Envoy Air Inc., but American Eagle continues to live on as a brand, as well as livery for Envoy-operated and third party-operated regional flights.

American Eagle carriers
Carrier Eagle service began Acquired by AMR Eagle service ended Notes
Metroflight Airlines (formerly Metro Airlines) November 1, 1984 May 28, 1993 May 28, 1993 Bankrupt; assets acquired by Simmons Airlines[10]
AVAir (formerly Air Virginia) May 15, 1985 May 1988 May 1988 Bankrupt; assets acquired by Nashville Eagle[11]
Simmons Airlines October 1, 1985 August 1, 1987 May 15, 1998 Merged with Flagship and Wings West to form American Eagle Airlines[12]
Command Airways April 27, 1986 September 28, 1988 June 1, 1991 Merged into Nashville Eagle to form Flagship Airlines[13]
Wings West June 1986 August 9, 1987 May 15, 1998 Merged into Simmons to form American Eagle Airlines, Inc.[14]
Executive Airlines November 1, 1986 1990[15] March 31, 2013 San Juan (SJU) American Eagle hub shut down with ATR-72 turboprop aircraft phased out of fleet
Nashville Eagle January 1988 January 1988 June 1, 1991 Merged with Command Airways to form Flagship Airlines[16]
Flagship Airlines June 1, 1991 June 1, 1991 May 15, 1998 Formed by the merger of Command Airways into Nashville Eagle; merged into Simmons to form American Eagle Airlines, Inc.[17]
American Eagle Airlines May 15, 1998 May 15, 1998 Apr 15, 2014 Formed by the merger of Wings West and Flagship into Simmons[12]
Envoy Air Apr 15, 2014 May 15, 1998 Still Operating American Eagle Airlines rebranded to Envoy
  • In January 1988, Nashville Eagle became AMR Corp.’s first and only start-up airline, using equipment acquired from Air Midwest.[16]
  • American Eagle Airlines launched its regional jet service in May 1998 using Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft.
  • Business Express was acquired by AMR Eagle Holdings Corporation in March 1999,[18] although it never flew under the American Eagle brand before being fully integrated into American Eagle Airlines, Inc. in December 2000.

Rebranding as Envoy Air

On January 14, 2014, American Airlines Group officially announced the rebranding of its American Eagle subsidiary as Envoy. Aircraft operated by American Eagle continued to operate under the current American Eagle branding, but an "Operated by Envoy Air" label was added, similar to the label used by other contract airlines that fly aircraft with American Eagle livery.[19] This name change was created to avoid confusion when American Airlines announced that other regional carriers would operate on behalf of American. The term 'Envoy' is a reincarnation of the now deprecated Envoy Class of seating on US Airways aircraft.[20]

Corporate affairs
The headquarters for Envoy Air located at 4301 Regent Blvd. in Irving, TX. (2014)

The headquarters is in Irving, Texas,[21] in two buildings located north of the northeast portion of DFW Airport.[22]

American Eagle was previously headquartered at the American Airlines headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas and had employees in several buildings: HDQ1, HDQ2, the Systems Operations Control (SOC) center, the DFW American Eagle hangar, the DFW-area warehouse CP-28, Flight Academy, and the Flagship University. It was scheduled to consolidate operations and move 600 employees; from the headquarters, SOC, and training divisions; into the Irving offices in July 2014; they were formerly occupied by Epsilon.[22]

Codeshare agreements with other airlines

For a brief period, American Eagle Airlines cooperated with Trans World Airlines by allowing the placement of the TW two-letter IATA code upon American Eagle Airlines flights feeding into Los Angeles and later New York's JFK Airports. These services were known as the Trans World Connection.[23] These American Eagle Airlines/Trans World agreements were forged prior to and well in advance of AMR Corporation's route and asset acquisition of TWA in 2001.

Until April 11, 2012, the carrier also had a codeshare agreement with Delta Air Lines on California routes.

Destinations
Further information: List of Envoy Air destinations
MQ hubs listed by departures (January 15, 2020)[24]
Rank Airport Flights
1 Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 172
2 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 170
3 Miami, Florida 32
4 New York–LGA, New York 30
5 New York–JFK, New York 11

[25]

Crew bases

There were previously bases in Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville, Raleigh/Durham, and San Juan.

Fleet
An American Eagle Embraer E140LR departing Chicago O’Hare International Airport (2007).
An American Eagle Embraer ERJ-145 parked at Joplin Regional Airport, Missouri (2014).
American Eagle Embrear E-175 on approch to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Ontario, Canada

As of May 2020, the Envoy Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:[26]

Envoy Air Fleet
Aircraft Active Stored Orders Passengers Notes
F Y+ Y Total
Embraer ERJ-140
45
14
—
 — — 44 44 Stored aircraft are at Mathis Field in "Near-Flying" condition on month to month lease of ramp space.[27]
Embraer ERJ-145
58
2

—

 — — 50 50
Embraer E175
93
—
11
 12 20 44 76 Deliveries began November 2015. Includes 46 options.[28] 20 transferring from Compass Airlines
Total 196 16 11


In September 2009, AMR Corporation announced plans to add a First Class cabin to its fleet of 25 Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jets and also signed a letter of intent with Bombardier, Inc. to exercise options for the purchase of 22 additional CRJ-700 aircraft for delivery beginning in the middle of 2010.[29]

In January 2014, American Eagle's pilots' union reached an agreement with the regional carrier's management that guaranteed 60 of the 90 new Embraer E175 aircraft that American Airlines ordered in December were to be operated by Eagle. The deal included options for 90 other aircraft to be operated by the regional carrier. Delivery of the aircraft would begin in the first quarter of 2015. This deal was voted down by the pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).

Envoy was awarded 40 new Embraer E175 aircraft with 90 options. Deliveries began on November 13, 2015.[30][31]

In October 2016, Envoy announced that they had taken delivery of two additional Embraer E175 aircraft.

In May 2018, Envoy announced that they had taken delivery of fifteen additional Embraer E175 aircraft between March and November 2019 bringing the total of E175's to 69 by the end of 2019.[32]

In November 2018, Envoy announced that they had taken delivery of an additional fifteen Embraer E175 aircraft totaling 84 by mid-2020.

In December 2019, Envoy transferred all of the remaining Bombardier CRJ-700 aircraft to PSA Airlines.

In March 2020, it was announced that all twenty of the Embraer E175 aircraft operated by Compass Airlines would be transferred to Envoy upon their closure in April 2020. Currently stored at Tucson-Marana Regional Airport awaiting transfer as of 22 April 2020.

Historical turboprop fleet

The American Eagle brand operated a variety of twin turboprop aircraft over the years via its various regional and commuter airline partners, including the ATR 42 and ATR 72; Beechcraft Model 99; British Aerospace Jetstream 31 and 32 models; CASA C-212 Aviocar; Convair 580; Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner; Grumman Gulfstream I (stretched G-IC model); NAMC YS-11; Short 330 and Short 360; and the Saab 340. Piedmont Airlines (wholly owned by US Airways at the time of its merger with AA) operates a fleet of de Havilland Canada DHC-8 turboprop aircraft as American Eagle. The -100 variety was retired in November 2017. The -300 variety was retired in July 2018.

Incidents and accidents
  • January 2006: American Eagle Flight 3008 from San Luis Obispo to Los Angeles, a Saab 340B+ operated by American Eagle Airlines, encountered icing at 11,000 feet and regained control only at 6,500 feet, after some 50 seconds' descent. During the incident, in which no one was injured, the autopilot disconnected, the stall alarm/clacker sounded, and the plane rolled sharply left and right, experienced vibration, and pitched down. Manual deice boots were activated and ice could be heard shedding off and striking the fuselage.[33][34] After this incident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a safety recommendation which referenced other Saab 340 icing incidents, including the American Eagle Flight 4184 accident.[35][36]
  • On November 11, 2019, American Eagle Flight 4125 slid off the taxiway at Chicago O’Hare Airport after landing on runway 10L in icy conditions. The Embraer 145LR was taken out of the snow later. None of the 41 occupants were injured.[37]

See also

References
  1. "History of American Airlines". American Airlines Inc. 2015. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  2. Federal Aviation Administration. "Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  3. "Our Company". Envoy Air Inc. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  4. "Leadership". Envoy Air Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  5. "American Airlines Group Executive Leadership Team". American Airlines, Inc. 2015. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  6. "Una mirada a Envoy". Aa.com. March 30, 2009. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  7. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. March 27, 2007. p. 75.
  8. Tom W Norwood (1996). "1980". Deregulation Knockouts, Round One. Airways. p. 33. ISBN 0-9653993-0-3.
  9. Pettus, Michael L. (June 19, 2017). Growth from Chaos: Developing Your Firm's Resources to Achieve Profitability Without Cost Cutting. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9781567206333. Retrieved June 19, 2017 – via Google Books.
  18. "Company News: American Eagle Air buying Business Express." The New York Times. December 5, 1998 "?". New York Times. December 5, 1998.
  19. Envoy is picked as new name for American Eagle Airlines | Dallas News - Business Archived March 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved on 2014-01-14.
  20. "American Eagle: Where every seat is Envoy Class - Wandering Aramean". January 14, 2014.
  21. Home page. Envoy Air. Retrieved on January 8, 2017. "4301 Regent Boulevard Irving, TX 75063"
  22. Maxon, Terry (April 9, 2014). "American Eagle to move 600+ employees into Irving offices in summer 2014". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  23. "Before the Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C." (PDF). Trans World Air Lines, Inc. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  24. "Flight Stats". flightstats.com. September 14, 2017. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014.
  25. "Major Hubs". Envoy Air | The Largest Regional Carrier for American Airlines. Envoy Air, Inc. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  26. "Envoy Fleet - Airfleets aviation".
  27. "Why So Many American Eagle Jets are Parked at Mathis Field". April 9, 2015.
  28. "Envoy Continues to Grow Embraer Fleet". November 6, 2018.
  29. "AMR Corporation Takes Significant Steps to Face Near-Term Challenges". American Airlines Newsroom. September 17, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  30. "New Eagle pilots contract would increase flying options but freeze pay". star-telegram.com. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  31. "American Airlines Signs Multibillion-Dollar Jet Deals". wsj.com. December 12, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  32. https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2018/05/03/american-airlines-bombardier-embraer-psa-envoy.html
  33. NTSB Safety Recommendation July 10, 2006. Addressed to Honorable Marion Blakey, Commissioner, Federal Aviation Authority, pp. 1-4. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  34. "NTSB Identification: LAX06IA076". ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board. January 2, 2006. LAX06IA076. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  35. "Safety Recommendation" (PDF). Federal Aviation Authority. National Transportation Safety Board. July 10, 2006. pp. 1–4. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  36. "Investigation: 200402415 - Saab Aircraft Co SF-340A, VH-KEQ". atsb.gov.au. Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  37. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Embraer EMB-145LR (ERJ-145LR) N619AE Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
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