'Atlantic Southeast Airlines' ('ASA') is an
American airline based in
Atlanta, Georgia,
USA flying to 144 destinations as a
Delta Connection carrier. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of
SkyWest, Inc. All flights are operated as Delta flights numbered 4083-4932. ASA operates nearly 900 flights each day. Its main hub is at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Former hubs were
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and
Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). ASA opened up a focus city at
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in December 2006, and also operates from
Cincinnati,
Ohio. Even though ASA opened its LAX crew base in December
2006, the base was closed in June
2007, with Delta shifting their operations to
ExpressJet Airlines.
History
On
March 12 1979, the company was incorporated as Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc. with headquarters established in Atlanta.
June 27 saw the start of operations with one 19-passenger
Twin Otter aircraft between Atlanta and Columbus, Georgia. The callsign, Candler, was derived from the last name of a former mayor of Atlanta and
Coca-Cola Company founder,
Asa Candler, who originally owned the property that became Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. "Candler" was chosen as a play on words when Acey became temporarily unavailable.
[1] Over the years, ASA's ICAO identifier changed from ASE to CAA to ACY to ASQ.
The company went public when the initial stock offering was completed in
1982. On
April 1 1983 the company acquired
Southeastern Airlines. About a year later, in
1984, ASA joined the Delta Connection Program as one of the first regional partners. After only a few years as a true regional airline, the company was named 'Regional Airline of the Year' by ''
Air Transport World'' in
January 1987.
ASA initiated jet service with introduction of BAe 146 aircraft in
1995. Two years later, the company began using the
Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) for service from its Atlanta hub. CRJ service from the Dallas/Fort Worth hub began in
2000.
On
September 8,
1998 the company was honored as one of the global aviation and aerospace industry's best managed companies by
Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine.
Delta Air Lines acquired the company on
March 22 1999, increasing its stake in Atlantic Southeast Airlines from 28% to 100%, and operations began on
May 11 of that year. In
2000, Comair, a Delta Connection partner, joined ASA in announcing industry's largest regional jet order. Also in
2000, ASA went international with flights to Toronto, Canada, from Atlanta.
In
2001, President Skip Barnette was named Regional Airline Executive of the year by the 2000 Commuter/Regional Airline News. Near the end of 2001, ASA carried the 2002
Olympic Flame between
Miami, Florida and
Mobile, Alabama, as part of Delta's sponsorship of the 2002
Olympic Winter Games in
Salt Lake City.
In
2002, ASA received and began using its first Delta Connection 70-seat
CRJ700 aircraft. All previous CRJs were CRJ200 models, which only offered 50 seats. Also in
2002, ASA began service to its 100th airport:
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in
Cincinnati, Ohio. By
June 2003, ASA had received its 100th CRJ. In
2004, a special-edition CRJ700 was delivered to ASA to celebrated its 25th anniversary of passenger service.
On
August 15 2005, Delta announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell ASA to
SkyWest, Inc. for $425 million, and on
September 8 2005, SkyWest announced that the acquisition had been completed, and that the
code shares and flying would commence that night.
Shortly after the completion of the purchase by
SkyWest, Inc. the decision was made to close ASA's Salt Lake City hub and transfer 12 of ASA's CRJ700s to
SkyWest Airlines. Eventually only 4 of the 12 airplanes were transferred between the certificates.
SkyWest Airlines also took delivery of the remainder of ASA's regional jet orders, as 5 additional CRJ700s and 17 CRJ900s.
On
June 1 2006, ASA filed with the
US Department of Transportation for an exemption to begin service from
Los Angeles International Airport to nine Mexican destinations under the
Delta Connection brand. This service is contingent on US as well as Mexican government approvals. ASA also announced the opening of a Los Angeles crew base on
December 1 2006, to support the expanded west coast operations. ASA began operations at its new Los Angeles focus city on
December 15 2006.
On
December 20 2006, Skywest Inc. announced that 8 Comair CRJ700 aircraft would be transferred to Atlantic Southeast Airlines and operated out of Delta's Cincinnati hub beginning in
January 2007. This followed a request for proposal put out by
Delta Air Lines aiming to reduce costs of its Delta Connection service.
ASA had the lowest rate of on-time performance, and the worst rate of mishandled baggage among all 19 US air carriers reporting to the
US Department of Transportation for the full-year
2006.
[2]
Changes planned for
2007 include a
June closing of the Los Angeles International Airport crew base and Delta taking over ASA's ground operations in Atlanta. ASA was the last Delta Connection carrier in Atlanta to handle its own ground operations. As of
March 2007, the airline had 5,908 employees.
[3]
Destinations
Fleet
The Atlantic Southeast Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft (as of July
2007):
As of
July 2007, the average age of planes in the Atlantic Southeast Airlines fleet was 6.0 years.
[4]
Previous aircraft
Embraer Brasilia aircraft were retired from service in 2003, and aircraft that have not been sold are in storage at
Hot Springs, Arkansas. The airline operated:
★
Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante
★ 3
Embraer EMB 120ER Brasilia
★ 12
Embraer EMB 120RT Brasilia
Incidents and accidents
★
Flight 2311 (
Brunswick, Georgia,
April 5,
1991; killed 24, including former U.S. Senator
John Tower and astronaut
Sonny Carter)
★
Flight 529 (
Carrollton, Georgia,
August 21,
1995)
External links
★
Atlantic Southeast Airlines
★
Interactive Route Map
References
1. ASA History
2. Air Travel Consumer Report - Febuary 2007
3. Directory: World Airlines
4. Atlantic Southeast Airlines Fleet Age
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