Can a downsized regional airline relaunch in a pandemic? ExpressJet thinks it can

Amid the devastating pandemic, a moment of hope opened the door for ExpressJet Airlines, formerly the nation’s largest regional airline, to seriously think about restarting its commercial operations. The carrier, which flew in partnership with for major US airlines, plans to launch service on its own this fall. ExpressJet was forced to cease flying when United terminated its United Express contract with the regional carrier last September. It was the announcement of the Payroll Support Program Extension or PSP2, which the company applied for but didn’t get, that triggered ExpressJet’s desire to reboot, said CEO Subodh Karnik. “When PSP2 occurred, we said there is an opportunity for the company to do something from a fiduciary perspective and we just couldn’t keel over and die,” Karnik said. “So we had to say, ‘you’ve got this pool of 3,000 union employees that are on furlough, and we have bills to pay,’ how do we make it all come together?” After creating a business plan, ExpressJet submitted its application to the US DoT’s Fitness Authority to reinstate the airline’s ability to fly commercially. The DoT released its final fitness order July 30, allowing ExpressJet to restart commercial operations, in part thanks to its balance sheets, including $14m received in federal aid under the Cares Act and US Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, an ExpressJet spokesperson said.<br/>