Endeavor Air

Endeavor Air

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Airline
Predecessor	Express Airlines I, Pinnacle Airlines
Founded	February 1985 (1985-02)
Founder	Michael J. Brady
Headquarters	Minneapolis, Minnesota , United States
Area served	United States (regional)
Products	Regional air transport services (Delta Connection)
Owner	Delta Air Lines
Parent	Delta Air Lines
Website	www.endeavorair.com

Endeavor Air operates as a regional airline based in the United States, with its headquarters situated at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Functioning as a fully owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, it provides crew and aircraft support for Delta Connection services, which are marketed and sold by Delta.

Originally established in 1985 under the name Express Airlines I, the company underwent a rebranding to Pinnacle Airlines in 2002. Following its parent company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2012, it reemerged as a Delta subsidiary and adopted the name Endeavor Air on August 1, 2013.

The corporate offices of Endeavor Air are located within Delta Air Lines Building C at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Its operational hubs include Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York’s LaGuardia and JFK, as well as Raleigh/Durham. Before undergoing restructuring, the airline also maintained a hub in Memphis.

Express Airlines I

Founded in February 1985 as Express Airlines I, the airline initially offered regional flight services to major carriers. Michael J. Brady, the founder, intended to develop multiple regional airlines under Phoenix Airline Services, Inc., which was reflected by the "I" designation. A separate entity named Express Airlines II ("Express II") was created to operate at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport but contracted Express I for crew management and operational oversight before eventually merging back into Express I.

In May 1985, Express I initiated its first code-share agreement with Republic Airlines to extend service to smaller markets while Republic concentrated on longer-haul routes. Operating under the Republic Express brand with BAe Jetstream 31 and Saab 340 aircraft, the airline expanded rapidly to serve 32 destinations within its first year. Following Northwest Airlines’ acquisition of Republic in 1986, Republic Express was integrated into Northwest Airlink.

Throughout the subsequent decade, Express I operated as Northwest Airlink, servicing 56 cities across the Southeast and Midwest regions. Northwest Airlines fully acquired Express I in 1997, making it a wholly owned subsidiary and streamlining operations by centering activities on the Memphis hub while discontinuing flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

In August 1997, headquarters were moved to Memphis to consolidate operations. On May 7, 2000, Express I became Northwest’s launch operator for the Bombardier CRJ series. The company enhanced its Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities with a primary CRJ facility located in Knoxville, Tennessee, supplemented by two additional sites in South Bend and Fort Wayne, Indiana; these latter locations were closed following bankruptcy proceedings.

Pinnacle Airlines

On May 8, 2002, Express Airlines rebranded as Pinnacle Airlines under the newly established holding entity Pinnacle Airlines Corporation. Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. was transferred from Northwest Airlines, Inc. to this parent company, which later expanded through acquisitions including Colgan Air and Mesaba Airlines.

In 2006, Northwest entered into an Air Service Agreement (ASA) that contracted Pinnacle to operate 124 CRJ aircraft until 2017. This agreement contained a provision permitting Northwest to reclaim up to 17 CRJs if Pinnacle and its pilots’ union failed to finalize a contract by March 31, 2007. Since no agreement was reached by that deadline, Northwest began retrieving these planes starting September 2008 and reassigned them to Mesaba Airlines, which Pinnacle’s parent company acquired in 2010.

Pinnacle also sought contracts outside of Northwest’s network. On April 30, 2007, it secured a decade-long contract with Delta Air Lines as a Delta Connection carrier and received sixteen CRJ900 jets between November 2007 and May 2009. Despite initial setbacks and Delta’s announcement in July 2008 regarding withdrawal plans, an arrangement allowed Pinnacle to fulfill the original contract with all CRJ900s operational by mid-2009.

The FAA imposed fines exceeding $1 million on Pinnacle during 2009–2010 due to regulatory breaches involving Canadair Regional Jets. Violations included unauthorized maintenance activities conducted by flight crews and inadequate oversight of turbine components.

On January 4, 2012, Pinnacle expanded its fleet and workforce by absorbing assets from Mesaba Airlines after that carrier ceased operations. It also incorporated personnel from Colgan Air following Colgan’s shutdown on September 5, 2012.

Endeavor Air

On April 1, 2012, Pinnacle's parent company along with its subsidiaries initiated Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. By November of the same year, the airline had discontinued its Saab 340 and Bombardier Q400 turboprop operations. Pinnacle Airlines Corporation emerged from Chapter 11 on May 1, 2013, becoming a fully owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. After restructuring, the company was rebranded as Endeavor Air, moved its headquarters to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and finalized contracts with Delta to operate regional jets seating 50 and 76 passengers.

Endeavor Air switched to the ICAO code EDV and the callsign "Endeavor" on October 27, 2016, replacing its former identifiers.

In March 2017, the airline announced it would reopen a crew and maintenance base in Atlanta dedicated to CRJ200 aircraft operations. By mid-2017, Endeavor maintained five crew bases and ten maintenance facilities. Later that year, CRJ900 aircraft were introduced in Atlanta following transfers from ExpressJet, with CRJ700 jets added in 2018.

The airline further expanded in 2019 by incorporating planes from GoJet Airlines and acquiring new CRJ-900 jets configured for 70 seats, thereby strengthening its regional fleet and presence within Delta’s system.

Destinations and bases

Endeavor Air maintains various crew and maintenance bases as follows:

Crew bases

• Atlanta
• Cincinnati
• Detroit
• Minneapolis/St. Paul
• New York–JFK
• New York–LaGuardia
• Raleigh/Durham

Maintenance bases

• Atlanta
• Cincinnati
• Detroit
• Des Moines, Iowa
• Indianapolis
• Knoxville
• Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Mosinee, Wisconsin
• New York–JFK
• New York–LaGuardia
• Raleigh/Durham

Fleet

As of , Endeavor Air's fleet includes the following aircraft:

Aircraft	Number in Service	Passenger Configuration				Remarks
		F	Y+	Y	Total Capacity
Bombardier CRJ700	12	9	16	44	69	Eight additional CRJ700s are being transferred from GoJet and SkyWest Airlines.
Bombardier CRJ900	16	12	20	38	70	Modified to comply with scope clause restrictions.
	106	12	20	44	76
Total	134

Accidents and incidents

• Northwest Airlink Flight 5719 (December 1, 1993): A Jetstream 31 crashed during its approach to Hibbing, Minnesota, resulting in the loss of all passengers and crew onboard. The investigation attributed the accident to a breakdown in cockpit communication linked to the captain’s aggressive conduct.
• Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 (October 14, 2004): A Bombardier CRJ200LR went down near Jefferson City, Missouri, following engine failure caused by surpassing operational limits during a repositioning flight; both pilots were fatally injured.
• Pinnacle Airlines Ground Incident (January 24, 2012): A CRJ200ER was deemed a total loss after a fire involving ground support equipment damaged its electrical components at Providence Airport.
• Delta Connection Flight 3413 (May 1, 2018): At JFK Airport, a CRJ900LR suffered extensive damage when its tail was struck by a taxiing Delta Boeing 767.
• Delta Connection Flight 4994 (January 2, 2023): While taxiing at JFK, a CRJ900LR incurred damage when the wing of an ITA Airways Airbus A330 collided with its tail.
• Delta Connection Flight 5526 (September 10, 2024): At Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a CRJ900LR lost its tail after colliding with the wing of a Delta Airbus A350 during taxi operations.
• Delta Connection Flight 4819 (February 17, 2025): A CRJ900LR overturned and crashed upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport after arriving from Minneapolis, causing injuries to at least 21 passengers.

Employee relations

On February 14, 2024, flight attendants employed by Endeavor staged protests at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Delta’s corporate offices to draw attention to the "Delta Disparity Difference," highlighting a 45% wage discrepancy between mainline Delta flight attendants and those working for regional carriers. Protesters emphasized that many face financial hardship despite Delta awarding $1.4 billion in profit-sharing bonuses to mainline staff. In May 2024, more than 1,000 Endeavor flight attendants collectively addressed a letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastian demanding increased compensation, citing widespread reliance on public assistance and feelings of undervaluation within the company.

See also

• Air transportation in the United States