West Coast airline goes kaput less than two weeks after expanding service into Idaho

When Idaho Falls passengers took on flight with Aha! Airlines, they could not have imagined that it would be gone in a week or two. 

But the West Coast airline declared bankruptcy just 12 days after starting flights from Idaho Falls Regional Airport to its hub at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

“As of August 22, 2022, Aha! Airlines, powered by ExpressJet, has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code and ceased all flight operations. We regret that a combination of market and economic conditions lead us to take this action,” the airline’s website note said.

Local officials said they held out hope the break would only be temporary.

“We were notified today of the immediate cessation of flights operated by Aha! in all markets they serve, including Idaho Falls. We are hopeful a successful restructure will mean Aha! is able to offer nonstop service to the IDA region in the future,” the Idaho Falls Regional Airport told EastIdahoNews.com in a statement.

The carrier was scheduled to expand service to the Boise Airport next week, according to the news website.

ExpressJet was formerly affiliated with United Airlines, but the larger carrier shut down their flights in 2020. ExpressJet would resume service in 2021, but United did not resume its regional flight arrangement with ExpressJet. 

United Airlines sold its stake in ExpressJet to ManaAir in June. ExpressJet had been operating on the West Coast under the Aha! Airlines brand until the declaration of bankruptcy, according to CNN Business.

“A combination of conditions led us to this decision,” ExpressJet CEO Subodh Karnik said in a press release. “Despite the valiant efforts of our employees to overcome challenges … we arrived at a point where termination of operations was in the best interest of our stakeholders.”

The company cited the unavailability of new aircraft for its fleet, fuel costs and the lack of hotel tie-in deals as some of the factors that led them to declare bankruptcy.