Independence Air stopped flying at 1900 Hrs today, except for one flight from HPN-IAD.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/IDE1777
Man, 18 months. That’s a short run. I don’t follow the business enough to know, but it seems like this would be the worst time to get into an airline business.
That was the last departure, but not the last flight of IDE. IDE687 was the last plane to touch down at IAD. After they closed up shop, many of the the A319’s were ferried down to Louisiana, where ILFC and any other leasers probably have new owners lined up, and they will be repainted sometime in the near future.
They were not in business for 18 months. Rather, they had been in business since 1989. Here’s a brief history:
1989: WestAir forms the Atlantic Coast division to operate United Express flights
1991: The unit is sold to some investors. The airline is called Atlantic Coast Airlines
2000: Starts operating Delta Connection flights
2003: Atlantic Coast Airlines is renamed Independence Air. They no longer operate code share flights with either United or Delta. I’m not sure what happened with Delta but with United there was a difference of opinion between Atlantic Coast and United when it came time to renew the contract.
Not all of the aircraft were taken to LA, this one went to Mexico…
Local news channel did a story about IDE planes going to MRB. They are being returned to the lease company.
flightaware.com/live/flight/N620BR
flightaware.com/live/flight/N621BR
flightaware.com/live/flight/N624BR
flightaware.com/live/flight/N625BR