BUSINESS COMMUTER: United States (1976-1980). BC is established at Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1976 as the scheduled airline division of Business Aircraft Corporation. Employing Piper PA-23 Aztecs, PA-31-310 Navajos, and PA-32 Cherokee Sixes, the company duly inaugurates daily roundtrip commuter services to Philadelphia, Farming-dale, and Albany. Summer seasonal flights are also offered to Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Due largely to the energy crisis, operations cease in 1980.
BUSINESS EXPRESS (BEX): 14 Aviation Ave., Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801, United States; Phone (603) 334-4000; Fax (603) 334-4050; Http://www. flybex. com; Code HQ; Year Founded 1983. In late 1983, negotiations are completed that will allow Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Atlantic Air to be purchased by James R. McManus’ Westport-based Marketing Corporation of America, in which George Valassis is principal shareholder. Operations at the 40-employee company, however, continue as before during a yearlong period of integration. Destinations visited by the carrier’s 5 Beech 99s include Baltimore, Boston, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Philadelphia, and White Plains.
Flights are started to Bedford, Newark, and Worcester in 1984, but traffic figures are not released. The corporate identity of Atlantic Air is reformed into Business Express (BEX) in November.
In 1985, the small regional moves up in status by a grade to large regional when it acquires the Groton-based large regional Pilgrim Airlines for $1 million. The arrangement calls for the bigger carrier to be operated as Pilgrim Business Express during an integration period. Business Express Chairman/President McManus becomes CEO of the combined operation with Pilgrim Airlines founder Joseph Fugere a special transition advisor.
Meanwhile, Pilgrim Airlines’ 8 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otters are replaced by 5 of BEX’s Beech 99s, while McManus’ original carrier purchases 8 Beech 1900Cs.
Unofficial indications show the combined transport of 459,380 passengers on the year.
The integration period is completed on February 28, 1986 and the Pilgrim name disappears. The BEX fleet now includes 4 Fokker F.27-100s, 4 Shorts 360s, and 16 Beech 1900Cs. In a unique arrangement with SAAB, the company orders and receives 2 340As that it may try for a certain period and return if unsatisfied—a “walk-away provision.” Negotiations are undertaken with Delta Air Lines aimed at making New England’s largest regional a member of the major’s commuter network. Negotiations are successfully completed on April 22.
Customer bookings for the year accelerate 12.6% to 525,000.
The 450-employee large regional undertakes “Delta Connection” code-sharing flights early in 1987 and President McManus upgrades his fleet by the addition of 8 Beech 1900Cs, 2 SAAB 340As, 4 Shorts 360s, and 1 Fokker F.27-100.
In October, the FAA launches an intensive program of airport screening. Over the next 18 months, FAA agents will be able to slip 734 test weapons or explosives through airline-run screening points and will, in turn, impose $5.21 million in fines against some 50 airlines that fail the unannounced tests.
Passenger boardings for the year rise 24% to 651,000.
The fleet in 1988 includes 6 SAAB 340As, 16 Beech 1900Cs, 5 F.27-100s, and 4 Shorts 360s. The Fokkers are all retired.
In January, twice-daily service is initiated from Bangor, Maine, to Boston. Frequencies begin from Islip, New York, to Boston in August with four daily Shorts 360 roundtrips and three Beech 1900C roundtrips per day.
Customer bookings during the 12 months jump 17.6% to 765,400.
Airline employment is increased by 25% in 1989 to 750 as 4 additional SAAB 340As are added, while 1 Shorts 360 and all of the Fokkers are withdrawn.
Six-times-per-week SAAB 340A service is started from Boston to Baltimore (BWI) and four daily nonstop 340A flights begin from Philadelphia to Hartford. In addition, nine-times-per-day service is inaugurated from Newark to Providence, Rhode Island.
On June 1, the FAA assesses fines against those carriers failing its latest round of airport screening tests. BEX, with five security breaches, is faced with $50,000 in punishment.
In July, 10 peak-hour landing slots at New York (LGA) are purchased from East Hampton Air for an undisclosed sum. On September 1, the “Delta Connection” partner acquires troubled Mall Airways, which is based at Albany, New York, and flies U. S.-Canada transborder routes.
Passenger boardings zoom upward by 22.4% on the year to 936,000.
The workforce is reduced in 1990 to 525 even as a significant acquisition of flight equipment occurs. Two more Beech 1900Cs, 5 more SAAB 340As, and 9 additional Shorts 360s are delivered, many of the American and Swedish built turboprops coming over from bankrupt Metro Airlines Northeast. During the summer, flights commence from Boston to Baltimore (BWI).
Service is now provided to 27 cities in the Northeast, with over 500 daily departures. Customer bookings accelerate 16.2% to 1,126,059.
The payroll increases by 62.5% in 1991 to 1,300. James Malski becomes president as Jim McManus moves up to chairman/CEO. The fleet is further expanded by the addition of 2 Beech 1900Cs and 7 SAAB-340As. The fleet now includes 35 SAABs, 11 Shorts 360s, and 19 Beech 1900Cs.
Plans are made to acquire Pan Am Express and, during the year, the carrier’s first jetliners, 5 British Aerospace BAe 146-200s, are placed into service. A $450-million order is placed in mid-December for 20 British Aerospace BAe RJ70s, on top of the outstanding $250-million request for 48 more SAAB 340As.
The growing regional introduces “Delta Connection” service to Boston and New York (LGA) and between June and November,17 new routes are opened in existing markets, with the company now the ninth largest regional airline in the U. S.
While on a training flight from Bridgeport on December 28 a Beech 1900C crashes into the sea off Block Island, Rhode Island; all three crew aboard are killed.
Customer bookings ascend 19.3% to pass the 1-million mark in annual boardings for the first time (1,343,197). Revenues total $109.3 million and with costs held down, profits are earned: $7.96 million (operating) and $3.79 million (net).
Company employment is increased by 25.1% in 1992 to 1,626 as the onetime regional is elevated to the status of a national airline.
Service is expanded to Delta’s new New York (JFK) hub, feeding the major’s transatlantic flights from there.
The five chartered British Aerospace BAe 146-200s are employed to in March to inaugurate “Delta Connection” flights from Boston to Baltimore (BWI), Norfolk, Mountpelier, and Hartford.
It will later be alleged that in May, Marketing Corporation of America and Creditanstalt-Bankverein use BEX assets as collateral for a $17-million loan to BEX by the latter. BEX, in turn, passes $12.5 million back to MCA, which uses the money to repay outstanding loans to two Connecticut banks. These charges, which will be placed by a Committee of Unsecured Creditors when the carrier runs into fiscal problems four years hence, will note that from 1989 to this point, MCA has withdrawn more than $20 million.
In June, it is announced that the carrier will become the first major tenant at the former Pease AFB in New Hampshire, now the Pease International Tradeport. The airline will sign a long-term lease with the Pease Development Authority and construct its fourth maintenance facility at the ex-USAF base. The State of New Hampshire provides a $10-million loan guarantee. Service is started during the fall to Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Richmond.
The first public stock offering is made and the fleet at year’s end, in addition to the BAes, includes 17 SAAB 340As, 20 SAAB 340Bs, 19 Beech 1900Cs, and 8 Shorts 360-300s.
All of this expansion assists passenger boardings to jump 18% to 1,584,606 and revenues increase 50.4% to $162.5 million.
In 1993, Chairman/CEO McManus oversees a workforce of 1,500, down 126 from the previous year. The fleet is also reduced to 34 SAABs and 15 Beech 1900s as 3 additional Shorts 360-300s are acquired. During the spring, nonstop SAAB flights commence from the former Pease AFB in New Hampshire to Manchester, Boston, and Providence.
Plans to abandon service at Bridgeport and Presque Isle, Maine, are shelved in August following meetings between company officials and leaders of those communities. The BAe 146-200s are replaced, beginning in October, by 3 RJ70 Avroliners, which are the U. K.-Taiwan joint venture upgrade of the BAe 146-300.
In the face of continuing fiscal problems, President Malski resigns in December.
Although customer bookings swell 9.5% to 2,026,913, the carrier encounters severe financial loss: $47.39 million (operating) and $50.9 million (net).
As a result of the economic downturn, former Phoenix Airline Services CFO Bryan K. Bedford is appointed president in February 1994. As a first step toward profitability, Bedford returns the Shorts aircraft to their lessors and suspends payments on the Avros and Beechcraft. Deliveries for 20 SAAB 340Bs and 9 RJ70s are rescheduled.
A marketing alliance is signed with Northwest Airlines in July and, although several replacement services have been flown on behalf of other airlines, BEX elects, in August, not to expand southward from its New York (LGA) hub to Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia.
Service to Canada is significantly increased in September and is timed to connect with Delta Air Lines jetliner flights from Boston, as well as other “Delta Connection” services to cities in the Northeast and Midwest. Employing Beech 1900Cs, frequencies are initiated from Logan International Airport to Quebec City, Halifax, and Moncton.
The year’s passenger boardings plunge 19.1% to 1,640,000 and revenues decline by 9.4% to $180.3 million. Expenses fall 24.3% to $186.6 million, generating an operating loss of $6.3 million. Still, a $7.4-million net gain is reported.
The workforce stands at 1,500 in 1995. The fleet grows to include 37 SAAB 340As, 16 Beech 1900Cs, and 2 Avro RJ70s. BEX is now the largest airline operating in the Northeast.
When Delta Air Lines realigns its hub system on May 1, it significantly reduces the number of its jetliner departures from Boston. To help take up the slack, BEX expands its own Logan site and adds 22 flights, raising its total from 125 to 147 daily departures.
Enplanements for the year dip 1.6% to 1,742,000 and there is a net loss of $9.13 million.
Deeply in debt, BEX is placed into involuntary Chapter XI bankruptcy in U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Hampshire on January 22, 1996 by SAAB Aircraft Credit, A. B. and two other creditors who fear loss of company assets before aircraft payments are completed. It will be revealed some months later by a Committee of Unsecured Creditors (CUC) that a long list of debts are owed: SAAB and various of its divisions, $30,311,000; Creditanstalt-Bankverein, $9.3 million; BAe Finance, $8 million; Raytheon Aircraft Credit Corp., $22 million; Pease Development Authority, $8 million; Others, $7 million.
Former American Eagle head Robert E. Martens is appointed the company’s new chairman/CEO replacing McManus and Malski and is given a mandate to reorganize the carrier.
“Delta Connection” and Northwest Airlink services continue, though in reduced number. The airline operates 400 departures per day, including 38 from New York (JFK), 42 from New York (LGA), and 120 from Boston.
The RJ70s are withdrawn at the end of March and orderly retirement of the Beech 1900Cs, scheduled to take 12 to 18 months, begins. There are no personnel reductions.
Late in the year, SAAB files a reorganization plan with the U. S. Bankruptcy Court. Under its terms, BEX will be forced to sell all of its slots at New York (JFK) to Delta Air Lines for $5 million (if Delta elects not to purchase, SAAB will be free to auction them off). What remains of the company will then be turned over to John Sullivan’s Champlain Enterprises, which owns Commutair.
At the same time, the management of BEX submits its own plan. It would feature a code-sharing pact with American Airlines, as well as a continuance of the alliances with Delta and Northwest.
Customer bookings plunge 40.7% to 1,033,711 and financial figures, released only for the first quarter, show an $11.771-million net loss. There are 151,640 scheduled departures.
The fleet in 1997 is cut to just the SAABs as the last of the leased Beech 1900Cs are returned. The code-sharing agreements with Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines continue, pending a ruling from the bankruptcy court.
In January, the CUC proposes to sue former Chairman McManus, President Malski, and investor Valassis for misappropriation of funds back in 1989-1992—misappropriation that they claim left BEX with so little capitalization as to render it insolvent.
In March, the carrier’s management, together with SAAB Aircraft of America, combine their revitalization efforts and jointly file a reorganization plan with the U. S. Bankruptcy Court. Left out of the action, John Sullivan’s Champlain Enterprises files suit against BEX and SAAB for breach of contract.
BEX emerges from Chapter XI on May 22 when its new reorganization plan is approved. Although secured creditors receive a greater amount, unsecured creditors, including SAAB, receive only 21 cents on the dollar of investment. The SAAB 340A lease amounts are also reduced and taxpayers in New Hampshire will ultimately foot a $13-million bill, including interest payments. All assets are sold to a new Business Express operating company formed by the Philadelphia-based investment partnership of Dimeling, Schreiber & Park.
As part of the arrangement, the carrier continues its code-sharing and alliances with Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines and agrees to fly from Boston as “American Eagle.” The fleet of 37 SAAB 340s will continue to fly 320 daily departures from its hubs at Boston and New York (LGA).
On September 24, a contract is entered into with American Airlines to provide feed to the major at Boston. At month’s end, the city of Portland, Maine, refuses a company bid to relocate its headquarters and maintenance facility in exchange for tax credits.
The American Connection service is offered to Burlington, Portland, Bangor, and Lebanon, plus Quebec City, beginning on October 1, with the new network later expanded to Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, White Plains, Islip, Ottawa, and Halifax.
By the end of the year, the number of daily departures has been increased by 20 and the company is now the largest regional operator in the Northeast.
Passenger boardings drop 2.3% to 1,326,300 on 100,052 scheduled departures. Revenues total $145.31 million and allow an operating gain of $312,000. Interest expense in excess of $2 million and $3 million in restructuring costs create a net loss.
In January 1998, the company’s Delta Connection emphasis is shifted to Boston and New York (LGA) after the major signs a code-sharing pact with Trans States Airlines covering feed at New York (JFK).
SAAB 340A roundtrips from Boston to Presque Isle, Maine, begin on November 1, four times a day.
Strengthening its regional presence in the Northeast, American Eagle Airlines (2) purchases Business Express for an undisclosed price on December 4, thereby gaining the much-desired BEX slots at New York (LGA). The regional will operate as a separate entity until all takeover arrangements are completed. BEX, meanwhile, negotiates with Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines concerning its regional partnerships with those majors and manages to hold on to them.
The fleet at the end of the year includes 43 SAAB 340As. A total of 350 daily flights are made between 16 cities. During the 12 months, customer bookings dip 0.9% to 1.31 million.
While en route from Boston to Philadelphia on March 3, 1999, Flight 6277, a SAAB 340A with 3 crew and 30 passengers encounters turbulence at 7,000 ft., 40 nm. NE of Atlantic City; the flight attendant is seriously injured when thrown onto the deck. She is rushed to the hospital upon landing at the Pennsylvania airport.
The acquisition of BEX by American Eagle Airlines (2) is completed on March 11. Initially, it is operated as a separate company, with President Ellmer remaining in place, but now reporting to American Eagle President Bowler. Marketing relationships, including code-sharing with several other airlines, is continued. Rather than perform costly modifications to conform BEX aircraft to Eagle specifications, Eagle begins to retire units of the BEX SAAB fleet as their leases expire and to replace them with American Eagle aircraft.
By an 89% margin, the company’s ALPA-represented pilots ratify a new two-year labor contract on June 29.
Customer bookings accelerate 5.8% to 1,391,000 and operating revenues total $150 million.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 1,000, a 33.3% decrease over the previous 12 months. The decision is taken not to repaint any of the SAAB 340Bs, which are being replaced by Embraer jetliners.
Thrice-daily ERJ-135 roundtrips commence on January 25 from Boston to Columbus, Ohio; 4 of the 12 daily nonstops between Boston and Philadelphia are simultaneously upgraded to ERJ-135.
Thrice-daily ERJ-135 return flights from Boston to Richmond begin on March 21, as do twice-daily ERJ-135 roundtrips from Boston to Nashville.
ERJ-135 roundtrips from Boston to Norfolk commence on April 2 and twice daily from New York (JFK) to Columbus. Thrice-daily SAAB 340B return flights are simultaneously launched between New York (JFK) and Worcester, Massachusetts.
The code-sharing agreement between the American Eagle subsidiary and Midwest Express Airlines is deepened in May. Under terms of the enhanced arrangement, the Milwaukee-based carrier will share its designator on 15 Eagle flights from Boston to cities in the Northeast, Virginia, and Canada beginning during the year’s third quarter.
On July 6, the carrier launches the only service to New York (JFK) from Worcester, thrice-daily SAAB 340B roundtrips. Four-times-a day ERJ-135 roundtrips, code-shared with Midwest Express Airlines, begin on July 17 from Boston to Toronto.
New daily service is launched on August 31 from New York (LGA) to Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, Norfolk, and Richmond.
SAAB 340B frequencies are initiated on September 11 from Boston to Montreal, four times a day.
On October 27, a historic agreement is signed between American Eagle Airlines and Trans World Airlines (TWA). The American Eagle subsidiary Business Express will provide “Trans World Express” services to nine new markets and the five existing “Trans World Express” cities of Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, Pittsburgh, and the District of Columbia, from which Trans States Airlines will withdraw by January 5.
Employing SAAB 340Bs, a new “Trans World Express” service is launched on December 2 from New York (JFK) to Albany, Buffalo, Montreal, Providence, Rochester, Syracuse, and Worcester. ERJ-135 “Trans World Express” flights also start from JFK to Cleveland and Columbus.
Thrice-daily roundtrips are launched on December 15 from Chicago (ORD) to Greensboro, North Carolina.
BUSINESS FLIGHT OF SCANDINAVIA, A. S.: Denmark (19881995). Business Flight Service, A. S. is reorganized in late 1988 and renamed. Jasper Hougaard remains as managing director, however, the fleet is dramatically increased to include 7 Beech Super King Air 200s, 1 Beech 1900, 2 Beech King Air 90s, 4 Beech Bonanzas, and 2 Fokker F.27s.
Scheduled services are introduced in early 1989 to both domestic destinations and markets in Germany and Luxembourg. In September, financially troubled Danish competitor Midtfly, A. S. is taken over and merged. Enplanements total 20,000.
The fleet is revised during 1990. Gone are 2 Super King Air 200s, replaced by 1 F.27, 1 Beech 1900, and 1 Fairchild Metro III. Citing heavy costs, the company abandons scheduled passenger flights in July to concentrate solely on all-cargo services. Two Super King Air 200s are withdrawn in 1991.
Operations continue in 1992 and in 1993-1994, Managing Director Hougaard’s fleet is upgraded to include 6 Beech Super King Air 200s, 2 Beech King Air 90s, 2 Beech 58 Barons, 6 Beech 33 Bonanzas, 2 Fokker F.27s, and 2 Beech 1900s.
A victim of economic reversal, the company shuts down in 1995.
World History
