operated by Resort Air, photographed in 1985 The company began operations as
Resort Air in 1982. As an independent commuter air carrier, Resort Air operated
Swearingen Metro propjets from a small hub located in
St. Louis (STL) with service to
Carbondale, Illinois;
Columbia, Missouri;
Fort Leonard Wood, MO;
Joplin, MO;
Lake of the Ozarks, MO;
Springfield, IL; and
Springfield, MO. In 1985, the company entered into an agreement with
Trans World Airlines (
TWA) to operate as
Trans World Express serving six cities in Missouri and Illinois. In 1989 Resort Air changed its name to Trans States Airlines. Many new aircraft were added to replace the Swearingen Metro planes including the
BAe Jetstream model 31 and model 41 as well as much larger
ATR 42s and
ATR 72s. New service was added to many more cities from St. Louis and in 1999,
Embraer ERJ 145 regional jets were added for the Trans World Express system expanding service to several cities much further distant from St. Louis. In 1993 TSA began operations on the West Coast as
USAir Express at
Los Angeles (LAX) with service to
Fresno,
Monterey,
Ontario, CA,
Orange County,
Palm Springs,
San Diego, and
Santa Barbara nonstop from LAX with
BAe Jetstream 31 propjets. The operation continued until the year 2000. On the east coast, in 1995, TSA began operations as a
code share feeder airline into
New York City JFK Airport for both
Trans World Express and
United Express. Flights under the
USAirways Express banner were also performed at Pittsburgh. In December 2001, TWA merged into
American Airlines. All Trans States flights operating as Trans World Express then began flying and
American Connection. American later dismantled the St. Louis hub operation created by TWA, and the American Connection flights ended in 2009. In 2015 American merged with
US Airways and the
US Airways Express flights operated by Trans States then began flying as
American Eagle. These flights then ended in 2018. In 2006 Trans States briefly operated a small hub at San Antonio, Texas flying
Embraer ERJ 145s. The service was performed under the
United Express banner with flights from San Antonio to Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Kansas City, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Omaha, and Tulsa. In February 2020, Trans States announced their intent to gradually cease operations through 2020 and transfer their fleet of ERJ-145's to
ExpressJet Airlines per an agreement with
United Airlines. However, on March 17, 2020, CEO Rick Leach sent a memo to employees stating that due to the
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation, the airline would cease operations on April 1, 2020, much earlier than originally expected.
Compass Airlines, another regional airline owned by Trans States Holdings, also announced a cessation of operations effective April 7, 2020, leaving
GoJet Airlines as the only operating airline owned by Trans States Holdings. The ERJ 145s that were transferred to ExpressJet were then transferred to
CommutAir later in 2020 as ExpressJet was subsequently shut down. CommutAir is also a United Express operator. The final Trans States Airlines flight was
United Express Flight 4695 from
Springfield, Missouri to
Denver, Colorado on April 1, 2020. == St. Louis TWA Express Hub Operations in 1990 ==