Southern Airways Express

Southern Airways Express
IATA ICAO Callsign
9X FDY FRIENDLY
Founded 2013
Hubs
Fleet size 23
Destinations 15
Parent company Southern Airways Corporation
Headquarters Memphis, TN
Key people Stan Little (Chairman and CEO)[2]
Website http://www.iflysouthern.com
One Commerce Square, which houses the company headquarters
Southern Airways Express Cessna Caravan

Southern Airways Express is a commuter airline operating in the United States, headquartered in One Commerce Square in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee.[3] It acts as a local service airline for several cities in the Southern United States and provides scheduled passenger service in the Mid-Atlantic Region subsidized by the US federal government under the Essential Air Service (EAS) program.[4][5]

In its Gulf Region, Southern operates from executive terminals at primary airports, meaning that passengers are not required to check-in at the main passenger terminals, nor are they required to pass through TSA security screening.[6] In Southern's Mid-Atlantic footprint, which includes the Metropolitan Washington Airports, passengers embark and disembark through the primary terminals.

History

Southern Airways Express was founded by Stan Little, an attorney based in Hernando, Mississippi. Little owned a Cessna 208 Caravan which he provided on loan before receiving US Department of Transportation air commuter authority and securing capital financing from unknown investors in order to start the airline. Southern Airways Express continues to operate Cessna Caravan aircraft and Little's personal pilot, Scott Honnoll, later became the airline's assistant chief pilot.[6][7]

The airline started operations in June 2013, with its first flight from Olive Branch Airport near Memphis, Tennessee to Destin Executive Airport.[8] Early destinations included University-Oxford Airport, Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, New Orleans Lakefront Airport, and Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. Due to the nature of the flights being public charters, the airline did not originally use TSA terminals. During the first year, the airline was run experimentally, operating different routes to test demand.[7]

Southern Airways Express started flights to DeKalb–Peachtree Airport in September 2013,[6] but the routes were then suspended. Service to DeKalb-Peachtree resumed on 30 May 2014.[9] On 1 October 2014, Southern Airways Express relocated its Memphis hub from Olive Branch Airport to the Private Signature Terminal at Memphis International Airport, which is closer to the Memphis city center.[10][11]

Southern Airways began operating flights in behalf of Seaport Airlines in the Fall of 2015 but discontinued that service when Seaport filed for bankruptcy in January 2015.

Southern Airways Express announced on March 7, 2016 that it had purchased Fort Lauderdale-based Sun Air Express. The combined airline has since retired Sun Air Express's Piper aircraft in favor of the Cessna Caravan and has retired the Sun Air Express name in all cities that it serves.

With the addition of Nashville (BNA) and Jackson, Mississippi (JAN) in the Gulf footprint, Southern continues its expansion near its hometown.


Destinations

City Airport IATA ICAO FAA LID Remarks
Altoona Altoona–Blair County Airport AOO KAOO AOO
Atlanta DeKalb–Peachtree Airport PDK KPDK PDK
Baltimore Baltimore–Washington International Airport BWI KBWI BWI
Bradford Bradford Regional Airport BFD KBFD BFD
Destin Destin Executive Airport DSI KDTS DTS
DuBois DuBois Regional Airport DUJ KDUJ DUJ (begins January 3, 2017)[12]
Franklin Venango Regional Airport FKL KFKL FKL
Hagerstown Hagerstown Regional Airport HGR KHGR HGR
Harrisburg Harrisburg International Airport MDT KMDT MDT
Jackson (MS) Jackson-Evers International Airport JAN KJAN JAN
Jamestown (NY) Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport JHW KJHW JHW
Johnstown (PA) Johnstown–Cambria County Airport JST KJST JST
Lancaster Lancaster Airport (Pennsylvania) LNS KLNS LNS
Memphis Memphis International Airport MEM KMEM MEM Focus City
Morgantown (WV) Morgantown Municipal Airport MGW KMGW MGW
Nashville Nashville International Airport BNA KBNA BNA
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh International Airport PIT KPIT PIT Hub
Washington, D.C. Washington Dulles International Airport IAD KIAD IAD Focus City

Former Destinations

City Airport References
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport [13]
Gulf Shores, Alabama Jack Edwards Airport [14]
Panama City, Florida Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport
Chamblee, Georgia DeKalb–Peachtree Airport [15]
New Orleans, Louisiana Lakefront Airport [16]
Gulfport, Mississippi Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport [17]
Madison, Mississippi Bruce Campbell Field [18]
Olive Branch, Mississippi Olive Branch Airport [19]
Oxford, Mississippi University-Oxford Airport [20]
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport [21][22]
Knoxville, Tennessee McGhee Tyson Airport [23][24]
Memphis, Tennessee General DeWitt Spain Airport [25]

Fleet

As of August 2016, the Southern Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[26]

Aircraft Total Passengers Notes
Cessna 208 Caravan 14 9
Piper PA-31 Chieftains 9 9
Total 23

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/11042513-74/pittsburgh-service-airport
  2. ↑ "About Us". Southern Airways Express. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "Contact Us." Southern Airways Express. Retrieved on November 21, 2014. "Southern Airways Express One Commerce Square, 21st Floor P.O. Box 3088 Memphis, TN 38173"
  4. ↑ "About Us". Southern Airways Express. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  5. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/48841-southern-airways-express-secures-more-eas-contracts
  6. 1 2 3 Murff, Richard; Jones, Matthew. "Fly Me to the Gulf". THE BITTER SOUTHERNER. Retrieved 2015-06-25.
  7. 1 2 Associated Press (2014-06-07). "Southern Airways Express Tries to Replace Big Airlines One Small Mississippi Airport at a Time". Skift.com. Retrieved 2015-06-28.
  8. ↑ "Southern Airways Express Flight 001 Touches down in Destin!". Southern Airways Express Facebook Page. June 6, 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  9. ↑ Yamanouhi, Kelly (7 May 2014). "Southern Airways to resume PDK flights". AJC.com. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Southern Airways Moving Hub to Memphis International". Memphis Daily News. 2014-09-16. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  11. ↑ Turner, Dennis (2014-09-16). "Southern Airways Express moves to MEM". WREG. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  12. ↑ Hrin, Eric (November 25, 2016). "Southern Airways start date now Jan. 3 at DuBois aiport". Courier Express. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  13. ↑ http://www.neworleanshyatt.com/southern-airways-express-start-birmingham-new-orleans-flight
  14. ↑ http://blog.al.com/live/2013/05/gulf_shores_airport_lands_low-.html
  15. ↑ http://visitatlantasdekalbcounty.com/southern-airways-express-announces-service-from-dekalb-countys-pdk-airport-to-six-southern-cities/
  16. ↑ http://www.nolaeast.com/airport/southern_airways_express_first_flight.htm
  17. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/blog/memphis-in-motion/2013/08/southern-airways-announces-new-flight1.html
  18. ↑ http://msbusiness.com/2014/05/unchartered-skies-southern-airways-adds-another-mississippi-airport/
  19. ↑ https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2014/sep/16/southern-airways-moving-hub-to-memphis-international/
  20. ↑ http://djournal.com/oxford/2014/05/09/sae-resume-oxford-service-june/
  21. ↑ http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/business/aroundregion/story/2014/oct/03/southern-airways-express-premieres-chattanooga-to/268655/
  22. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2015/05/04/flights-to-vols-country-temporarily-suspended.html
  23. ↑ http://www.local8now.com/home/headlines/McGhee-Tyson-Airport-offers-direct-flights-to-Memphis-277903781.html
  24. ↑ http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2015/05/04/flights-to-vols-country-temporarily-suspended.html
  25. ↑ http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/Southern-Airways-Express-Adds-Four-Destinations-218013771.html
  26. ↑ "Southern Airways Express eyes Atlanta Dekalb-Peachtree ops". ch-aviation.ch. Retrieved 2014-10-04.
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