ExpressJet to Stop Flying in September, Leaving Cleveland-Based Aircraft Mechanics Out of Work

CLEVELAND, Ohio — ExpressJet, the small airline with a long-time presence in Cleveland, will stop flying next month, leaving dozens of Clevelanders out of work.

The carrier, which flies under the United Express banner, notified employees this week that the company would stop flying Sept. 30. The shutdown affects 75 aircraft mechanics employed by ExpressJet at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Chris Moore, international representative for the Airline Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents ExpressJet mechanics, said the move is likely the end of ExpressJet.

“If you have no future flying, you have no airline,” he said. “There is no white knight on the horizon.”

The decision comes a month after United Airlines decided to terminate its relationship with the carrier in favor of another small regional airline with Cleveland ties, CommutAir, which is based in North Olmsted.

Because of the dramatic downturn in air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic, United didn’t need both regional carriers flying the same aircraft, the 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145.

Initially, ExpressJet planned to keep flying for United through the end of the year. But because of uncertainty over schedules and federal subsidies for the airline industry, United and ExpressJet moved up the timeline.

According to a statement from ExpressJet: “After spending considerable time planning this wind-down, ExpressJet and United’s management teams decided that due to uncertain schedules from October to December, it would be best to accelerate the termination of all ExpressJet scheduled service flying, on behalf of United Express, on September 30, 2020.”

Both United and ExpressJet received federal CARES Act funding, designed to sustain the industry during the dramatic, pandemic-related downturn in travel. The law prohibits the carriers from laying off employees before Sept. 30. Unless it is extended, U.S. airlines are expected to lay off tens of thousands of employees this fall.

ExpressJet is the latest small U.S. airline to announce plans to stop flying this year. The expected closure of ExpressJet comes as sad news to many.

“Most of us in CLE have served Continental/United for 15-30 years,” said one long-time ExpressJet employee. “We are heartbroken to see such a wonderful, well-performing airline go away.”

ExpressJet, with approximately 2,500 employees throughout the U.S., started in 1987 as Continental Express.

In recent years, the airline has operated exclusively as a regional carrier for United Airlines, which merged with Continental Airlines in 2010.

Continental, and then United, operated a hub at Cleveland Hopkins until 2014. Because of that hub, ExpressJet maintained both a crew base and a mechanics base in Cleveland for decades.

Since 2014, United has dramatically decreased its flying from Cleveland. Earlier this year, ExpressJet relocated its Cleveland crew base, which included several hundred pilots and flight attendants. Employees were given the option of relocating to United hub airports in Chicago, Newark or Houston, according to one long-time employee.

ExpressJet mechanics have remained in Cleveland, however, working out of a hangar at the airport. Many have decades of experience.

“They’ve been around since Continental Airlines started Continental Express,” said Moore. “That’s how the whole thing started.”

The mechanics in Cleveland are known as heavy maintenance mechanics, working on planes that require major overhauls, according to Moore. “ExpressJet mechanics did a phenomenal job – they’re some of the best,” said Moore, whose union also represents mechanics at United, Frontier, Allegiant and other carriers.

Because of the downturn in air travel, Moore said it’s unlikely the mechanics will find similar work, at least in the short term. “We’re preparing our folks to look for other avenues,” he said.

ExpressJet also employs mechanics in Newark, Chicago, Houston and Knoxville, he said. All are expected to lose their jobs.

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