Today, "aha!" Airlines along with its parent company ExpressJet Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and ceased all operations. While Chapter 11 bankruptcy is typically used as legal protection in order to restructure, the airline has intended to liquidate its assets.
This is unfortunate, but not surprising news, considering that since resuming operations as an independent niche carrier after losing it's last CPA contract with United in 2020, ExpressJet's "Aha!" branded operations in reality, hasn't appeared viable, based on load factors and the inability to roll out the air-hotel-adventure vacation packages that was to be the foundation of it's business model (much like Allegiant scaled down); as a result, the airline has been facing lower-than-expected revenues. Passenger complaints about how disorganized the operation has been has done nothing more but tarnish the airline's reputation. The ongoing repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic (especially from its variants) as well as the high-cost of jet fuel were likely contributing factors.
Again, unfortunate news because you feel for the employees who lost their jobs. Unfortunate because this particular operation hasn't even lasted a year. On paper, the ExpressJet's "aha!" business model looked like a good idea. Reality however, showed otherwise. And I was certainly rooting for them because they were underdogs, but I too had doubts regarding the viability of ExpressJet's "Aha!" branded operations; with very thin markets of the routes they operated and the high-cost equipment they flew, it seemed blatantly obvious that this was a weak business model.
So this is the end of a storied regional airline name. With only a handful of jets in their fleet since resuming operations and having continuously operated into Eugene, Oregon from launch to shutdown, I was fortunate to have been able to photograph all of their ERJ-145s when the opportunity permitted. With that, here's a photo montage:
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| Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N844HK) on the inaugural flight to Eugene. |
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| N844HK receiving the water cannon salute. All ERJ-145s ExpressJet operated as part of their "Aha!" operations were former Trans States Airlines frames. |
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| N844HK airborne on the inaugural departure out of Eugene. The first day of flights was a rather dreary day... |
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| Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N846HK), the only airframe that wore the complete "aha!" livery shown on the renderings. |
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| In many of the destinations it served, ExpressJet's "Aha!" branded operations flew 2-3 times weekly. |
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| Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N843HK). This airframe clearly had a bit of an identity crisis as it never even received any livery. |
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| Clearly, this airframe was rushed into service so the airline didn't have time to get it painted. |
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| On the left side of the fuselage, it's quite evident who the previous operator of this frame was! |
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| After United transferred all the ERJ-145XLRs ExpressJet used to operate on their behalf, they picked up these second-hand ERJ-145LRs previously operated by Trans States Airlines and these airframes were probably some of the oldest ERJ-145s in operation. |
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| Catching N844HK in more ideal weather conditions compared to their inaugural flights in and out of Eugene. |
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| Upon resuming operations independently for the final time, ExpressJet maintained one airframe bearing the ExpressJet logo. |
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| Embraer EMB-145LR ERJ-145LR (N839HK). This was the other airframe to sport the "Aha!" logo, but still retained the partial livery/cheatline of United Express back when it was operated by Trans States Airlines. |
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| The airframe spent most of the winter and spring this year operating college sports charter flights out east prior to returning to scheduled passenger service (needless to say, I caught this airframe just in time!). |
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| In total, ExpressJet's "Aha!" operations flew to 12 destinations from their Reno hub. It's too bad they weren't able to make things work out... |
With that, a storied airline name, once the largest operator of the ERJ-145 comes to a rather unspectacular and unclimactic end. One of three new airline brands that started up in 2021, "Aha!" would be the one to go belly-up. I wish the employees and flight crews of ExpressJet the best of luck in securing other employment.
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