Aha!, ExpressJet's New Reno-Tahoe Based Airline

This is not the first time United has caused the birth of a low-cost airline operated by a former regional partner. Atlantic Coast Airlines lost its contract with United around 2003, then relaunched as Independence Air with a base at IAD. I'll never forget flying one of their RJs from JFK to IAD because the safety announcement was prerecorded by a comedian who slipped in a weird joke about crashing. That airline didn't make it for long.

AHA!!!!
The expression you say when you thought you avoided CRJ-200 for the last decade just to find out they are flying ERJ145.

Interesting that googling the name leads me only to the American Hotel Association. Further searching takes me to various airlines. One needs to know they are looking for aha! to actually make a booking apparently.

Did they decide on hub + destinations based on the highest meth and opiate-addicted populations on the West Coast?

RNO is definitely an interesting choice. Granted, I know quite a few people who have decamped from San Francisco to Tahoe during the pandemic - so maybe slight increase in demand. However, the choice of SoCal airports served from RNO is puzzling. Pretty much every major carrier already serves LAX. Southwest also flies to BUR, which is only 90 mins from BFL. I can't imagine that there are huge numbers of people who want to fly to BFL and ONT from RNO. Looking at fares on Southwest, they are super cheap connecting from ONT to RNO. I imagine if this route was viable, Southwest would be all over it. I thought maybe they were trying to connect passengers from North to South over RNO (like RenoAir of the past), but their website does not seem to sell connections. Good luck, Aha!

So a company out of Atlanta GA is gonna run an E145 op out of RNO? Sounds like a waste of money, but hey, good luck!

No kidding.

Maybe their research revealed that meth-heads prefer Reno!

Keep in mind that United Airlines owns 49.9% of Expressjet and owns or leases its entire fleet, so this probably isn't the end of the story.

@Evan. Independence Air was also the first thing I thought of reading this post. Regional airlines don't seem to be able survive for very long on their own. Not I bet this one

I'm amused by the name Reno Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is about 50 miles from RNO so it's not in the immediate area.
There is a commercial airport (TVL) at South Lake Tahoe which used to be served by several mainline airlines.

As someone based at PSC, I'm happy to see another option. Not because I'm itching to go to RNO anytime soon, but because I hope more leisure competition here (we are also one of Avelo's routes, too) will prod AS and DL to add a route or two.

I live in Reno, and Incline Village Tahoe is about a 40 minute drive from RNO. As you pointed out, there are no more commercial flights to South Lake Tahoe, and the only other airport in the vicinity with commercial service is SMF, which is a 2+ hour drive from RNO or anywhere in Lake Tahoe. Hence, RNO is known as Reno-Tahoe Airport.

I'm happy to see any airline add service to RNO, it's a growing area and RNO will need more service in the future.

More like 30 miles, but distance is irrelevant when your MARKETING!

They should come to Idaho

Back in the early 90's a small airline started up in Reno called Reno Air. It was an airline that I miss very much and was a good alternative to Southwest. Hope Aha! does well and is as good or better than Reno Air.

The last carrier to hub at Reno was Reno Air. They flew under the radar for awhile until they started flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Northwest, an airline that had the word "BULLY" tattooed on its wings and who was headquartered in the Twin Cities, wasn't about to take that sitting down and quickly established a hub of their own in Reno.

Reno Air didn't last long after that and eventually became part of American. As for the Northwest hub at Reno, that didn't last too long either. With Reno Air out of the way, NWA packed its bags and went home.

Unless there's a whole lot of people in Medford, Pasco, and the rest just dying to repeatedly go to Reno, this little adventure won't last long either.

I guess you've never flown Ryanair before. Under their naming concept PHL can be New York City.

Go figure.

It was a shame that Reno Air didn't last long. It was a great little airline. Besides RNO, SJC became a base for them as well. Flew them a lot up and down the California coast.

Any word on their codeshare flights with Baltia and Family Airlines?

Reno is a well kept secret, free from the arrogance of Vegas as well as most of the bogus fees. Atlantis, Peppermill, Grand Sierra, Eldorado, and Silver Legacy are all first class properties with excellent restaurants and easily accessible (5 minutes) from the airport. Lake Tahoe's many world class ski areas are 30 to 45 minutes away. Aha! is flying from cities that are likely to have many people who avoid Vegas like the plague but want to enjoy a fun getaway with sun and affordable quality eateries. If they explore the River Walk or the newly renovated South Virginia St. Midtown area they are in for a real treat.

The tail logo of Aha! looks similar to what AF’s Hop! used to have on their tails.

Hope they didn't pay their consultant more the one dollar for that lame name for their new airline.

I was expecting to see SJC route - which was dropped by Alaska.

how many skies can fit in ERJ-140 cargo hold?

Didn't ExpressJet try operating out of Ontario 10 to 15 years ago and ceased those operations within a year? They continued their UAL Express flying out of Houston though.

Knowing me Reno, Nevada.
Knowing you West Coast cities.
Aha

This also isn't the first time ExpressJet has tried to go it alone in a self-branded operation...

TVL hasn't had commercial service in nearly 20 years. It no longer has an ATC tower and the passenger facilities were converted into South Lake Tahoe city hall. Incline Village, NV 30 miles from RNO. If Tahoe is your destination, RNO is the most logical airport to fly into so it makes perfect sense for the airport to market this. SMF if 2 hours away and in the winter, subject to chain-control and/or road closures on Hwy 50 and I-80.

Reno is a low rent dump.

The cities that aha! flies to are backwater opioid/meth zones.

Checks out!

I think AHA is going to become an Ah O! in a few months.

" Atlantic Coast Airlines lost its contract with United around 2003, then relaunched as Independence Air with a base at IAD."

I still have a "flyI" bag tag on my old backpack, probably with my DC area address circa 2004.

Naming themselves after an eighties band? Will we also see Depeche Mode, Bananarama and Dire Straits next?

Local zoning laws prohibit large aircraft operations at TVL

I doubt they will get a chance to take on me.

United has not consolidated all 50 seat operations to CommutAir, as they have scores of CRJ-200s with skywest

Well played.

Only way this base and those routes makes sense is if they've got a guarantee from some of the hotels/casinos.

Also: Eugene/Springfield, CA (EUG)? You mean OR?

RNO-STS would be awesome, I think they would pack them in. More trans Sierra flights please.

Many years ago there was round trip airline service from Stockton CA to Reno. Planes were always full. Would be nice to see flights return.

Can't say anything about the "backwater opiod/meth zones" you speak of, however, Reno is definitely not a "low rent dump". First of all, there are no low rents here anymore. 🙂 Second, the influx of high paying jobs for Tesla, Panasonic, the major shipping companies like FedEx, etc. has continued a trend of new neighborhoods with brand new homes as well as revitalization of older areas into chic places to live, eat and shop (such as Midtown). If all you do is go downtown, admittedly like all cities of any size there are some areas we don't want to take visitors. Those areas are smaller than they used to be. Back in the 80's and 90's I wouldn't have wanted to live here. But now everyone who comes to visit us is impressed by what they see. Feel free to delude yourself into thinking it's a dump though. Go to Vegas instead. Then we get the benefit of the tax influx for Nevada without all the crowds here in Reno. 🙂

I agree. STS is a natural fit as lots of people would use it for skiing in the winter. Traffic is awful coming from Santa Rosa to Reno, especially on Friday's. Plus STS is natural for those of us who live in Reno to go down to wine country, again without the horrible traffic going through Sacramento, Fairfield and Vacaville.

I have family in Boise. Too bad this airline will not be going there!!

I would have to have a "direct flight" to Boise because of my age.

Crazy airports that no one flies to but then they are underserved. Express Jet closed down due to high overhead and it’s a way to get rid of higher wages. Many won’t go back to .

WHAT is this guy's problem(s) and why do you give him a venue in which to spread his nonsense??? I doubt that he's even been to half of the cities he maligns (not even sure what qualifies as a "backwater opioid/meth zone") and I bet his Mom doesn't know he's posting nonsense on the internet again. Come on folks-a little screening of postings wouldn't hurt!!

Never In Doubt Guest
September 30, 2021, 11:11 am
Reno is a low rent dump. The cities that aha! flies to are backwater opioid/meth zones. Checks out!

Does your Mom know you are posting on the internet again??? I thought she sent you to your room???

I agree. Boise and Idaho Falls. Both great cities, as are Medford, Eugene, and Spokane.

Thank you. Very well said.Reno has been a place for some very special events. The best in entertainment, if you don't need the Vegas glitz.

Downtown Reno is going through a change and not the best part of Reno.
However, I live in South Reno it is newer, nice and clean. I moved from South San Francisco to Reno 13 years ago, and would never move back to Ca.
I feel the negative comments are from people you only went downtown and have no clue of how nice the community real is. The people are real friendly here as well.
So they are ignorant people commenting on something the don't know.

This comment is seriously underated!

That said, I do wonder if they'll get the rights to play it as their boarding music or something. If not, they should!

Kind of makes one wonder, why they just did not stick with the more widely known EXPRESSJET brand than the weird Aha!

Will we get there? Maybe, Aha. At least EXPRESSJET had some kind of track history even if it wasn’t the most original branding name.

Guess we won’t be seeing these two

Re-Braniffed,
Re-Easterned,
Re-Frontiered,
Re-Nationeled,
Re-PAN AM-ed, or
Re-Worlded!