Envoy Air (MQ, Dallas/Fort Worth) has retired its last EMB-145LR following an industry trend in transitioning to a simplified fleet of larger dual-cabin E170/E175s.
The wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) announced that N933JN (msn 14500918) conducted a final scheduled revenue flight under the American Eagle brand on May 31 from Wausau Mosinee (Central Wisconsin) to Chicago O'Hare. "Bringing this journey full circle, the aircraft's first flight with Envoy departed out of ORD on May 15, 1998," the airline said in a statement.
ADS-B data showed the 18-year-old, 50-seater jet was ferried for storage to Abilene Regional on June 1.
According to Envoy Air, its E145 fleet operated more than 4 million departures and transported more than 150 million passengers over the past 25 years. "The launch of American Eagle regional jet service in May 1998 was an important milestone for our company and our customers," said Envoy Senior Vice President, Air Operations Dee Temples. "Our regional jet fleet enabled Envoy and the customers we serve to reach new markets and destinations with speed and comfort. This process continues today with our growing fleet of large regional jets [E170/175]."
Contrary to Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) and United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare), which are phasing out 50-seater aircraft, American Airlines is bucking the trend, having moved a number of ex-Envoy E145s to sister carrier Piedmont Airlines (PT, Salisbury, MD) and having signed a new capacity purchase agreement with Air Wisconsin (ZW, Appleton Outgamie County Regional) covering 50-seater CRJ200.
