Sky Regional Airlines

Sky Regional Airlines
IATA ICAO Call sign
KV SKV MAPLE
Founded2010
Ceased operationsMarch 31, 2021
AOC #Canada: 17536[1]
United States: 6SYF337F[2]
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programAeroplan (Air Canada)
AllianceStar Alliance (affiliate)
Fleet size25
Destinations24
HeadquartersMississauga, Ontario
Key peopleKent Woodside - President and COO
Employeesapprox. 700
Websiteskyregional.com

Sky Regional Airlines (SRA) was an airline whose corporate headquarters was located on the property of Toronto Pearson International Airport, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Linked with Skyservice Business Aviation, it began operation under the Air Canada Express brand on May 1, 2011.[3] The airline began offering daily flights between Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.[4][5]

History

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In 2010, Air Canada leased the Bombardier Q400s and began sub-leasing them to SRA.[6] The aircraft had been operated by Lynx Aviation of Denver.[7] They were delivered to Sky Regional between November 2010 and the beginning of 2011. The aircraft are configured with 74 seats,[8] similar to the Porter Airlines fleet.[9] The planes are painted in Air Canada Express livery. Russell Payson was founder and chairman of the board of SRA.[10]

In October 2012, SRA added flights between Montreal and Moncton, New Brunswick.[11] Since the early stages of operation the airline has been active in introducing new technology to its operation. Sky Regional was the first airline in Canada to adopt the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). Each pilot at the company is issued an Apple iPad which is the platform for the EFB allowing crews to not only have quick access to flight plans and manuals but eliminate paper charts and numerous large manuals which previously would have been present on the flight deck.

Air Canada started to transfer its 15 Embraer E175 planes to SRA in April 2013 and completed the transfer in September 2013.[12] In the fall of 2015 SRA added an additional 5 E175 aircraft to its fleet. These aircraft were previously operated by Azul Brazilian Airlines.

SRA introduced a fleet of Embraer E175 jets in March 2013 to serve US destinations such as New York, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Dallas/Fort Worth.[12]

Between October and December 2015 the fleet of 20 was expanded to 25 after obtaining 5 additional Embraer E175s previously operated by Azul Brazilian Airlines. These aircraft were put into service in April 2016 allowing the airline to add routes to more US destination such as Denver International Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

In early 2017, SRA's fleet of 5 Bombardier Q400s were transferred to fellow Air Canada Express carrier Jazz Aviation with the last flight arriving into Montreal from Moncton on February 23. SRA received 5 additional E175s in early 2017. The first of the aircraft came into service on May 16 with the last going into service on July 1. These new aircraft features an extra 3 seats in business class for a total of 12 seats. The rest of the fleet were reconfigured by the end of 2017 to a 76-seat configuration.

In 2018, Brent Card was promoted to Vice-president Flight Operations.

On March 1, 2021, Air Canada announced that the airline was going to consolidate all regional flying under the Jazz banner thereby ending the affiliation between Sky Regional and Air Canada. The aircraft flown by Sky Regional, the Embraer E175, will be transferred to Jazz.[13] On March 30, 2021, Sky Regional operated its last flight from Newark, NJ to Toronto.

Destinations

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Sky Regional Embraer 175 operated for Air Canada Express
Sky Regional Airlines Embraer 175 operated for Air Canada Express

Prior to March 2021, SRA served the following destinations:[14]

Canada

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United States

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Fleet

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Prior to March 2021, the fleet of SRA consisted of the following aircraft:[15][16]

Sky Regional Airlines fleet
Aircraft In service Passengers
J Y Total
Embraer E175
25
12
64
76

References

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  1. ^ Transport Canada (2019-09-03), Civil Aviation Services (CAS) AOC. wwwapps.tc.gc.ca.
  2. ^ "Federal Aviation Administration - Airline Certificate Information - Detail View". av-info.faa.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  3. ^ "AIR CANADA ANNOUNCES MAY 1 LAUNCH DATE FOR TORONTO CITY CENTRE SERVICE - Mar 4, 2011". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  4. ^ "Air Canada Delays Sky Regional's Toronto City Launch - PCC Daily Aviation News for Pilots - PILOT CAREER CENTRE". www.pilotcareercentre.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
  5. ^ "AC to use Sky Regional Airlines out of Toronto City Airport - PCC Daily Aviation News for Pilots - PILOT CAREER CENTRE". www.pilotcareercentre.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
  6. ^ "AIR CANADA TO COMMENCE TORONTO CITY AIRPORT FLIGHTS IN FEBRUARY 2011 - Oct 4, 2010". aircanada.mediaroom.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11.
  7. ^ http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/11/349596/air-canada-takes-ex-lynx-q400s-for-sky-regional-operation.html [dead link]
  8. ^ "Air Canada - Our Fleet".
  9. ^ "Porter Airlines - Our Fleet". www.flyporter.com. Archived from the original on 2011-01-26.
  10. ^ Payson, Russell (28 August 2020). "Opinion: We need to start flying again". Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
  11. ^ "Sky Regional to serve Moncton for Air Canada from October 1". CH Aviation. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Air Canada Completes Transfer of Embraer E175 Regional Jets to Sky Regional". September 5, 2013.
  13. ^ "Air Canada to shift E175s from Sky Regional to Jazz".
  14. ^ "Routes - Sky Regional Airlines Inc". Archived from the original on July 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register: Quick Search Result for Sky Regional Airlines". Transport Canada. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  16. ^ "Global Airline Guide 2019 (Part One)". Airliner World. October 2019: 9.
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