LONG BEACH - ExpressJet Airlines is ending its branded flights in September and will stop flying out of the Long Beach Airport altogether then, citing higher fuel costs, the company announced Wednesday.
Commuter airline ExpressJet has flown out of the L.B. Airport for eight months and offered the only Long Beach flights to Reno/Tahoe, Fresno and Monterey. The company cited the rising cost of fuel to explain why it will no longer be flying under its name.
"On behalf of everyone at ExpressJet Airlines, I would like to express our gratitude to the communities that provided such a warm welcome and were always supportive of our branded service," ExpressJet president and CEO Jim Ream said.
"If we had any other choice, we would not take this difficult action. However, rising fuel prices made the operation impossible to sustain."
Flights under the name ExpressJet will no longer exist as of Sept. 2. The company's operating agreement with Delta Air Lines will end on Sept. 1. The 39 aircraft used in those flights will be returned to the lessor by June 2009.
The company ExpressJet, however, will not entirely end its operations. It will continue to fly a fleet of 205 aircraft as Continental Express elsewhere.
Houston-based ExpressJet offered six nonstop daily flights to Reno/Tahoe, Fresno and Monterey. There also was a one-stop daily to Spokane.
Losing ExpressJet is a blow to the L.B. Airport, but the percentage of usage in Long Beach was low at 8.8 percent.
"We were notified (Wednesday) that ExpressJet is ceasing operations in September, and we will miss their service," said Sharon Diggs-Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach Airport.
"They provided new destinations for our travelers, and we believe they were serving the community. Fortunately for us, it's only a small percentage of our service routes that we're losing."
ExpressJet operates six of 25 commuter flight slots available at the Long Beach Airport. In September, only six commuter slots of the 25 available will be used.
All 41 of the airport's commercial flight slots are in use, with JetBlue Airlines controlling 28 of them.
The commuter slots have requirements for smaller planes, and ExpressJet fits in those because it uses an Embraer-model aircraft that carries 50 passengers.
Those aircraft have two seats on each side of an aisle and no middle seat. Those planes are categorized as "Stage 4 compliant," meaning they are the quietest on the market.
When the airline started flying in Long Beach in November, it was trumpeted as not just another tiny airline to come to Long Beach, but a major player. It then had a fleet of 274 Embraer jets flying to 23 destinations under its company name.
For a relatively new airline, ExpressJet has done well in Long Beach. Its flights from Long Beach have averaged about a 50 percent capacity.
ExpressJet invested more than $325,000 in the L.B. Airport's facilities and equipment when it arrived and hired roughly 15 employees there. Although its departure hurts the L.B. Airport, it is more significant to the nearby Ontario International Airport, where ExpressJet serves 15 destinations.
Tickets on ExpressJet before Sept. 2 will not be affected and are still available for purchase before that date. Customers holding tickets for travel after that date may contact the company for a refund.
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