Pinnacle Airlines

Pinnacle Airlines (formerly Express Airlines I) is an American regional airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, operating Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. Its main base is Memphis International Airport, with hubs at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The airline was established in February 1985 as Express Airlines I with the intent of offe... more

Pinnacle Airlines (formerly Express Airlines I) is an American regional airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, operating Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. Its main base is Memphis International Airport, with hubs at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The airline was established in February 1985 as Express Airlines I with the intent of offering regional airline passenger feed to a code sharing, major airline’s hub. Express I began its first code sharing agreement with Republic Airlines in May 1985. Republic was the dominant carrier in Memphis, but in keeping with the Hub-and-Spoke concept wanted to add more smaller cities and free up its larger DC-9 jets to serve longer stage-length routes. Express I was able to accomplish this by beginning service on June 1, 1985 to 3 cities using BAe Jetstream 31 aircraft. Within six months, Express Airlines I was operating in ten markets with... less