is an
American Regional Airline . Headquartered in
Manassas, Virginia , its major hubs are New York's
LaGuardia Airport , Boston's
Logan International Airport ,
Washington Dulles International Airport , and Houston's
George Bush Intercontinental Airport . It has been operating as
US Airways Express since 1999 and now serves almost 50 cities in the Northeast and Texas as a feeder for
US Airways Express ,
United Express , and
Continental Connection .
On
February 5 ,
2007 , it was announced that Colgan Air will provide service for
Continental Airlines out of
Newark Liberty International Airport starting in early 2008. Colgan will acquire and operate 15 new
Bombardier Q400 aircraft and the service will be marketed as part of
Continental Connection .
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Charles J. Colgan founded
Fixed Base Operator Colgan Airways Corporation at
Manassas Airport in 1965. It began scheduled service under contract with
IBM in 1970 between Manassas,
Washington, D.C. and
Poughkeepsie, New York . It expanded over the next decade and a half and was sold in 1986 to
Presidential Airways .
After Presidential went defunct in 1991, Colgan and his son, Michael J., restarted the service under the name Colgan Air. It was established and started operations on
December 1 ,
1991 . On
July 1 ,
1997 it became a feeder for Continental Airlines, operating under the name Continental Connection.
On
December 11 ,
1999 Colgan left the Continental system and became exclusively a US Airways Express carrier, focusing its routes around major US Airways stations such as LaGuardia,
Pittsburgh , and Boston. On
January 25 ,
2005 it announced it would acquire additional
Saab 340 aircraft and resume service as Continental Connection out of Houston.
On
October 4 ,
2005 Colgan Air started providing flights for United Express flights out of Washington's
Dulles International Airport . Initially serving Charleston, WV, and
Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY, Colgan has expanded its service to include State College, Pennsylvania; Charlottesville, Virginia; Allentown, Pennsylvania; and Binghamton, New York.
On
January 18 ,
2007 , Colgan Air, Inc. was acquired by Pinnacle Airlines Corporation for $20 million. Under the terms of the purchase, Colgan will continue to operate independently of Pinnacle Airline Corporation's major subsidiary,
Northwest Airlink carrier
Pinnacle Airlines . It is a strategic move by Pinnacle to get access to Colgan’s partners, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways
Flight International , 23-29 January 2007.
