Austin Express

Austin Express Inc. was a commuter airline headquartered in Austin, Texas, United States.^[1][2][3] The airline incorporated on August 13, 1997. It was originally managed by ten former Conquest Airlines executives.^[4] All of the owners and key personnel of Austin Express were formerly employed by Conquest which had also been based in Austin.^[5] Bradfield Martino, Austin was the first ad agency to advertise the airline and a New York Times article stated that the resulting ad account billings were estimated at over one million dollars.^[6] Its operations began on January 5, 1998, with a small fleet of Fairchild Swearingen Metro III propjets.^[1]

The airline operated out of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport before moving all operations to Austin Bergstrom International Airport following the closure of Mueller.^[7][8] The cover of the March 18, 2000 Austin Express system timetable stated the airline was offering daily flights between the Texas cities of Austin (AUS), Beaumont/Port Arthur (BPT) and Tyler (TYR).^[9] In July 2000, Austin Express launched four nonstop flights a day between Austin and Corpus Christi, a 55-minute flight operated with Metro III aircraft, while continuing its existing Austin–Tyler service. ^[10] By the time scheduled service ended on December 31, 2000, its remaining commuter routes were those to Tyler and Corpus Christi. ^[11] The airline ended scheduled passenger flights on Sunday, December 31, 2000, and then became a charter air carrier.^[12]