is a
Regional Airline Subsidiary of
Mesa Air Group . It operates 30
Embraer ERJ 145 s as
Delta Connection for
Delta Air Lines out of
Orlando International Airport in
Orlando, Florida and will begin serving Delta's hub at
John F. Kennedy International Airport in
New York City as of July 2006.
The airline was established in March
2002 , started operations in
October 2002 and was the launch customer for the
Bombardier CRJ-900 . The airline was started in order that
Mesa Air Group could fufill its contractual obligations to operate
Bombardier CRJ-900 services on behalf of
America West Airlines . Establishing Freedom was necessary as
Mesa Airlines was operating as
US Airways Express under a
Code Share agreement on behalf of
US Airways and
US Airways ' collective bargaining agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) prohibited contract carrier
Code Share arrangements with regional jet carriers such as Mesa if the carrier operated aircraft with more than 70 seats.
Mesa Airlines , therefore, could not operate for
US Airways and operate the
Bombardier CRJ-900 .
Initially Freedom operated the
Bombardier CRJ-700 and
Bombardier CRJ-900 on behalf of
America West Airlines . Once
US Airways ' pilot scope limitation was relaxed,
Mesa transferred the operation of all of Freedom's
Regional Jet s to
Mesa Airlines . Once this transfer was complete Freedom placed a few
Beech 1900D turboprops on its certificate and operated these as
America West Express under a pro rate
Code Share agreement with
America West . In October
2005 , Freedom Airlines began operations as
Delta Connection .
- Delta Connection
- --- Akron, Ohio ( Akron-Canton Regional Airport )
- --- Austin, Texas ( Austin-Bergstrom International Airport )
- --- Baton Rouge, Louisiana ( Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport )
- --- Birmingham, Alabama ( Birmingham International Airport )
- --- Columbia, South Carolina ( Columbia Metropolitan Airport )
- --- Dayton, Ohio ( Dayton International Airport )
- --- Fayetteville / Springdale / Rogers / Bentonville, Arkansas ( Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport )
- --- Jackson, Mississippi ( Jackson-Evers International Airport )
- --- Knoxville, Tennessee ( McGhee Tyson Airport )
- --- Little Rock, Arkansas ( Little Rock National Airport )
- --- Louisville, Kentucky ( Louisville International Airport )
- --- Miami, Florida ( Miami International Airport )
- --- Nashville, Tennessee ( Nashville International Airport )
- --- New Orleans, Louisiana ( Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport )
- --- Orlando, Florida ( Orlando International Airport )
- --- Panama City, Florida ( Panama City-Bay County International Airport )
- --- Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina ( Raleigh-Durham International Airport )
- --- Richmond, Virginia ( Richmond International Airport )
- --- Tri-Cities, Tennessee ( Johnson City, Tennessee / Kingsport, Tennessee / Bristol, Tennessee and Virginia ) ( Tri-Cities Regional Airport )
- New service to New York City JFK Airport (starting Summer 2006 with Dash-8s)
- --- Washington, D.C.- Dulles (starts July 5, 2006)
- --- Philadelphia, Pa. (starts July 15, 2006)
- --- Syracuse, New York (starts August 1, 2006)
- --- Albany, New York (starts August 1, 2006
- --- Hartford, Conn. (starts August 15, 2006)
- --- Providence, Rhode Island (starts August 15, 2006)
- --- Richmond, Virginia (starts September 5, 2006)
- --- Baltimore, Md. (starts September 5, 2006)
- --- Washington, D.C.- National (starts September 15, 2006)
Freedom Airlines operated the following aircraft:
As of October, 2005, Freedom Airlines operates 30
Embraer ERJ 145 as Delta Connection
Dash-8s to be added by July 2006 as Delta Connection
