Not to be confused with British Airways’ South African franchise Comair, which ceased operations in the summer of 2022, the Comair we are going to talk about today started life in Cincinnati, Ohio, in March 1977 and grew to become the world’s largest regional airline.
Comair commenced operations with two seven-passenger Piper PA-31 Navajo planes, which it used to ferry people between Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) and Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio, and Evansville Regional Airport (EVV) in Indiana.
After going public as Comair Holdings in the summer of 1981, Comair added a twin-engine 18-passenger Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante to its fleet the following year. Comair’s big break came in 1984 when the airline became a Delta Connection carrier with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.
From its hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG), Comair operated its first international flight the same year, flying between CVG and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in Canada.

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Delta started to acquire Comair stock
Founded |
March 1977 |
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Commenced operations |
April 1, 1977 |
Ceased operations |
September 29, 2012 |
Hubs |
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Focus cities |
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In 1986, Delta Air Lines acquired 20% of Comair’s stock and got the airline to open a second hub at Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida. During the next few years, Delta continued to acquire Comair stock and managed to make Comair the launch customer for the Canadair Regional Jet CRJ100.
After just 22 years of being in business, by 1999, Comair had grown to become the largest regional airline in the United States, with 101 aircraft in its fleet. Comair’s massive fleet served six million passengers annually to 83 destinations.

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The same year, besides its short regional flights, Comair began offering non-stop flights from Cincinnati to the following airports:
- Lynden Pindling International Airport (NAS) in Nassau, Bahamas
- Colorado Springs Airport (COS) in Colorado Springs, Colorado
From Logan International Airport (BOS) in Boston, Massachusetts, Comair offered non-stop flights to:
- Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) in Myrtle Beach. South Carolina
- Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL) in Montréal, Canada
From Tulsa International Airport (TUL) in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Comair flew to what is now Harry Reid Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Delta became the owner of Comair
Frequent-flyer program |
SkyMiles |
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Alliance |
SkyTeam (affiliate; 2000–2012) |
Destinations |
83 |
Parent company |
Delta Air Lines |
Headquarters |
Boone County, Kentucky, U.S. |
Key people |
Ryan Gumm (former President) |
Founders |
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On the 22nd of October 1999, Delta Air Lines attained full ownership of the airline after paying two billion dollars.
Comair became the talk of the nation in 2004 after canceling all of its flights on December 25 and 26, stranding 30,000 people. For the prior two days, Cincinnati was hit by a massive snowstorm, and Comair ran out of deicing fluid.
With all the surrounding roads closed because of the blizzard, they could not get fresh supplies delivered. To make matters worse, the computer system that managed crew assignments crashed after Comair tried to update the software.

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Comair ceases operations after more than three decades
On September 14, 2005, Comair’s owner Delta Air Lines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection forcing Comair to reduce flights and lay off employees. Delta eventually emerged from Bankruptcy, but all was not well, and in 2010 Comair said that it was going to reduce the size of its fleet and workforce to cut costs.
This proved not to be enough, and in July 2012, Delta announced that it was shutting down what was once the world’s largest regional carrier. Comair’s last flight took place on September 29, 2012, when a Comair jet flew from Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) in Florida to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) in Minnesota.
During its life between 1977 and 2012, Comair operated a fleet of the following aircraft:
- 2 x Piper PA-31 Navajos
- 1 x EMB-110 Bandeirante
- 6 x Saab 340As
- 33 x EMB-120RTs
- 2 x EMB-120ERs
- 2 x CRJ900LRs
- 2 x CRJ900ERs
- 9 x CRJ900s
- 24 x CRJ700 Srs 701ERs
- 69 x CRJ100ERs
- 19 x CRJ100LRs
- 55 x CRJ200ER
- 16 x CRJ200LRs
- 2 x CRJ200XR
- 3 x CRJ550ERes

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The Bombardier CRJ100, CRJ200, CRJ440 (as was), CRJ550, CRJ700, CRJ900, and CRJ1000; all used on scheduled passenger flights.
In the current month, the CRJ’s average flight anywhere globally—regardless of model—is 353 nautical miles (654 km) on a Great Circle basis. On September 23, I wrote about how RwandAir will end the world’s longest CRJ900 service, a one-stop link from Kigali to Cape Town via Harare. It is 2,126 nautical miles (3,938 km) each way.
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