Aug. 04--COLONIE -- Colgan Air is ending service from Albany on Sept. 5, but United Airlines apparently has found a replacement.
ExpressJet Airlines will take over Colgan's United Express flights between Albany International Airport and Newark International Airport, according to United Airlines' website.
Colgan is shutting down as part of the bankruptcy reorganization of its parent, Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp.
The shutdown is expected to cost 53 workers their jobs at Colgan's Albany maintenance base.
United, which serves Albany with a mix of mainline and regional aircraft, said last month that it intends to maintain service as Colgan departs.
United is replacing the 74-seat turboprops Colgan flew with 50-seat regional jets.
Meanwhile, the Albany County Airport Authority continues to pursue additional flights under its Air Service Incentive Program. Airport officials this week were mum on whether the effort is making progress.
The program relies on a mix of airport, federal and private funds raised through local chambers of commerce and the Albany-based Center for Economic Growth.
While airport officials have been seeking more service, airlines have been trimming routes.
Air travelers lost their connections to Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia in New York City. Only the Newark link remains.
Jean Gagnon, manager of Plaza Travel in Latham, said Europe-bound passengers who fly out of Albany now connect at Philadelphia or Washington Dulles, with a few flying through Chicago O'Hare.
But many others choose to drive to Kennedy airport in New York City.
In July, Albany had 13 fewer daily flights on the schedule than it did a year ago, as half a dozen daily flights to Boston, three to Watertown, and the New York City flights were dropped.
Passenger boardings have fallen through the past decade even as the region's population has increased. Boardings were down 13 percent from 2000 through 2010, the Albany County Airport Authority reported.
F. Michael Tucker, president and CEO of the Center for Economic Growth, said this week that a survey conducted for the airport as part of the incentive program collected information from air travelers that will be "very, very useful in those discussions with the airlines."
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Copyright 2012 - Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
