BOISE, Idaho — This article was originally published by Don Day in BoiseDev.
Just two months ago, the Boise Airport touted a new airline and flight. But the planes won’t actually take off.
The parent company of Aha Airlines announced it filed for bankruptcy and immediately stooped all operations.
Aha said it would start flying between Boise and Reno next week. But the Boise Airport confirmed on Facebook that the route wouldn’t go forward as planned.
Currently, travelers can’t fly nonstop from Boise to Reno, despite the closeness of the two destinations. Alaska Airlines previously offered flights on the route, but cut them in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and never brought them back.
“As of August 22, 2022, aha! Airlines, powered by ExpressJet, has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code and ceased all flight operations,” Aha wrote on its website. “We regret that a combination of market and economic conditions lead us to take this action.”
Ahadoesn’t say it will issue refunds – instead, it directs customers to dispute the charge on their credit cards.
ExpressJet launched in the 1980s. It then operated jets for United Express. But in 2020, United Expres ended its contract with ExpressJet. The company then tried to launch the standalone airline – Aha – in late 2021. But the effort didn’t succeed, leading to today’s bankruptcy action.
The Boise Airport has seen a dizzying array of flight additions and cuts. Just last week,Alaska Airlines confirmed it would suspend a route between Boise and Austin, TX– and also cut back flights on several other routes.
