Compass Airlines (North America)

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Compass Airlines
IATA
CP		 ICAO
CPZ		 Callsign
COMPASS ROSE
Founded 2006
Hubs Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Memphis International Airport
Frequent flyer program WorldPerks
Member lounge WorldClubs
Alliance SkyTeam
Fleet size 6 (+30 orders)
Destinations 8
Parent company Northwest Airlines
Headquarters Chantilly
Fairfax County, Virginia
Key people Neal Cohen, CEO; John Bendoraitis, President; Bill Lange, VP Safety; Robert Coulter, Director of Operations; Steve Sargent, Chief Pilot; Jose Cordova, Dir Quality Control and Chief Inspector; Robert Recchio, Dir Maintenance
Website: compassairline.com

Compass Airlines is a regional airline based in Chantilly, an area in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. It is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines that began flying a single Bombardier CRJ-200LR aircraft under the Northwest Airlink brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington, D.C. on May 2, 2007. Its main base is Minneapolis/St. Paul. On August 21, 2007, it began flying two Embraer 175 76-passenger aircraft, with a planned fleet of 36 aircraft by December, 2008.

Contents

Compass was formed due to a contract dispute between Northwest and its pilots union, the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA), due to a "scope clause" in the Northwest pilot contract, which is intended to protect pilot jobs and pay, which in turn limited the type of mid-sized jets available to the airline, and seat capacity of those jets. Northwest is unable to operate smaller aircraft as a way to avoid paying the existing wage rates. Thus, Compass' operations are limited to flying 76-seat aircraft or less, due to the language in the scope clause.

In order to avert this problem, Northwest bought the operating certificate of bankrupt Independence Air on March 10, 2006, for $2 million to establish a new feeder airline. During the concept phase, the subsidiary was known as "NewCo".

On September 28, 2006, Compass Airlines officially received approval from the United States Department of Transportation to begin operations. On April 5, 2007, Compass Airlines received FAA certification to begin commercial passenger operations with a CRJ-200[1]

Compass' aircraft are not a direct replacement for the aging Douglas DC-9 aircraft flown by Northwest; they have a lower cost per available seat mile, making them more efficient to operate.

The Embraer-175 aircraft has a two-class configuration, with 12 first-class and 64 economy-class seats.

On May 2, 2007, the company announced their first successful revenue flight with the Canadair 50-seat CRJ, from Washington Dulles airport to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.[2], which maintained the operating certificate. Compass announced Embraer operations on August 21, 2007.

Compass Airlines has based its Embraer fleet in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, with plans to open hubs in Detroit, MI and Memphis, TN.

Canada

United States

 This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events.
It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

United States

The Compass Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft as of September 2007:

Compass Airlines Fleet
Aircraft Total Passengers
(First/Economy)		 Routes Notes
Embraer 175LR 6
(30 orders)		 76 (12/64) Northwest Airlink

In September, 2007, Compass announced that construction of a new hangar at Louisville International Airport in Louisville, KY, to be completed by the fall of 2008. The new hangar will have three aircraft bays to service its new fleet of 76-seat Embraer E-175 regional jet aircraft.

The project is planned to be about 136,000 square feet, and will be built on 4.8 acres.

The $9.9 million project is expected to create about 70 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of $3.1 million. The jobs will include skilled mechanics, management and technical-services employees.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority in Frankfort granted the airline preliminary approval for $2 million in state tax incentives for up to 10 years just for using their city as their hangar location.[3]

  1. ^ Compass Airlines Receives DOT & FAA Approval To Begin Operations (USA Today: April 6, 2007)
  2. ^ Northwest Airlines' Subsidiary Compass Takes Off (New York Times: May 2, 2007)
  3. ^ Compass confirms it will build Louisville hangar (Business First: September 14, 2007)

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