ExpressJet Airlines Receives DOT Fitness Authority

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued its final fitness order allowing ExpressJet Airlines to restart commercial operations. ExpressJet stopped flying last year after the termination of its United Express operations. The passage of time required the company to seek DOT fitness recertification in order to “reboot.”

ExpressJet is a commercial passenger airline (Part 121 FAA certificated), headquartered in College Park, GA – near Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport - and currently operates 50-seat Embraer ERJ145 aircraft.

As described in its DOT filing, ExpressJet expects to resume service within the quarter with a focus on cities, markets, and customers that have seen diminished air service as a result of airline consolidation and an industry trend towards larger aircraft. ExpressJet will leverage its 35-year history of having flown several hundred aircraft to most of America’s smaller airports and intends to provide service in small and abandoned markets with unmet customer needs - avoiding needless overlap with the major airlines and “ultra-low-cost carriers.”

ExpressJet expects to unveil its detailed flying plans in the coming weeks.

Resumption of service will allow ExpressJet to begin recalling and reinstating furloughed employees. A majority will be covered by collective bargaining agreements with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).