Air Fresno in Talks About Bringing Back Older Aircraft
Executives and staff at Air Fresno are discussing the possibility of taking the fleet back to the early days of the airline. The current roster is made up of more than 10 pilots who have been with the airline, going back to it’s opening a dozen years ago. Those pilot fill out a monthly survey of where they would like to see the airline go as far as fleet and routes in the coming months. “There is a growing trend to go back and expand the regional service profile, discontinue the transcontinental service and the airliners servicing those routes, and concentrate specifically on the western United States”. Currently the British Aerospace RJ-100 and Embraer EMB-120RT offer that alternative, but under the proposed plan the airline would drop the RJ-100 and 737-700 service completely, keep the single example of the 737-300 and re-introduce the Beech 1900 into fleet service. “There would be more than one choice of the Beech 1900, including the PMDG Express payware in both the C-1 and D models, and the GMAX Academy “D” flight model”. The Cantu Embraer would continue service as it has since 2006, both the EMB-120 and Beech 1900 would receive retro 1998 style livery changes.
Air Fresno Reopens
This month marks the reopening of a virtual airline icon; Air Fresno Virtual Airlines has decided to put it’s airlines webpage back up to satisfy the requests of some of it’s former pilots. Since 1997 the airline has been on the lips of many in the hobby, when it opened in March of 1998 it set many standards. Air Fresno CEO Peter McKay was awarded the VANF’s Pilot of the Year 10 years ago, and the airline garnered many awards in the infancy of this hobby. Over the years however, as airlines modernized Air Fresno choose to stay with what worked for them; the hands on approach. In it’s reopening on the CEO’s 50th birthday on March 12th it establishes itself as a Legacy airline, one that does not actively seek new pilots but Continue reading
California Express Re-Birth Rises from Shelved Merger Talks
Amidst talks of a merger that would have seen Air Fresno and Pacific Coast Cargo converge and consolidate their fleets to form a cargo-only operation, Air Fresno C.E.O., Peter McKay, and Pacific Coast Cargo C.E.O., John King, have instead decided to redevelop California Express, a venture sparked when Air Fresno closed in 2006. California Express will begin operations early next year utilizing the Boeing 737-300 aircraft incorporating upwards of twenty-five unique liveries.
Original plans called for a flight schedule based on real world flight times supplied by Southwest Airlines, and operating from San Diego (18 routes), Los Angeles (18 routes), San Jose (12 routes), San Francisco (6 routes), Orange County (6 routes), and Ontario (6 routes). Jet service through Fresno will not be scheduled, instead Air Fresno will be a feeder through one of those hubs. Continue reading
Aloha ‘Oe: The Hawaii Express Bows Out of the Hawaiian Air Travel Market
In an unexpected turn, Hawaii-based The Hawaii Express has decided to close its operations effective November 22, 2008. This announcement follows recent downsizing that saw the company return an Airbus Industrie A380 back to the leasing company. Recent membership drives had been slow to produce results and submitted pireps were at an all-time low. The airline operated a fleet of DC-9, DC-10, A330 and A340 aircraft. Peter McKay, C.E.O. of The Hawaii Express, has expressed his gratitude to all of those who have supported the company during its tenure. Sadly, by December 1, 2008 The Hawaii Express web pages will have been removed from the server and all traces of the airline deleted from the internet. At the time of press, email addresses associated with the virtual airline have already ceased operating.
The Hawaii Express was an innovator in the Hawaiian inter-island market maintaining two version of its operations– a historically accurate rendition and a contemporary adaptation, both proudly displaying the spirit of The Hawaii Express name. Continue reading
