Aircraft

Chautauqua Airlines is to begin culling its Bombardier CRJ200s fleet this year, while fellow US regional carrier SkyWest is to reduce the block hours of its 50-seat jets in the face of high fuel costs.

Chautauqua's 24 CRJs were flown on behalf of Continental Airlines, which is reducing capacity in some markets. Seven aircraft will exit the fleet this year, followed by 10 aircraft in 2009 and the balance in 2010. "We're making an assumption that all CRJs [will be] returned as they come off their leases," says Chautauqua parent Republic Airways Holdings chief executive Bryan Bedford.

Chautauqua says it has no plans to replace the outgoing CRJs.

Previously an all-Embraer ERJ operator, Chautauqua began leasing secondhand CRJs in 2006 on two-to-four year leases to satisfy the terms of its feeder deal with Continental. Chautauqua began operating the CRJs after Continental pulled 69 aircraft from its capacity deal with former wholly owned subsidiary ExpressJet.

Meanwhile, management at SkyWest is refraining from releasing capacity estimates for the second half of the year as its network partners drop daily block hour levels close to contract minimums.

According to chief financial officer Brad Rich, the 50-seat CRJ200s will see the greatest reduction in block hours, primarily the aircraft flown for partner Delta Air Lines.

Rich says the CRJ200s are affected the most by block hour cuts as a result of that particular fleet taking "the biggest hit from fuel".

Rich predicts a possible rebound later in the year, saying that the company "feels optimistic" that during the summer its major airline partners should become more aggressive in their scheduling and "We would expect utilisation to come back up a bit".