ExpressJet regional airline shuts down

The Summer 2020 Midwest route network for ExpressJet. ExpressJet announced its imminent shutdown on 30 Jul 2020. (ExpressJet)

United Express regional airline ExpressJet is shutting down. The metro Atlanta-based airline announced the move in an e-mail notice to staff on 30 July 2020. Most ExpressJet staff have already been laid off, and have now lost their jobs.

CommutAir, another United Express regional airline based in metro Cleveland, will now operate the aircraft and destinations previously used by ExpressJet.

The move affects the United Airlines network at all remaining ExpressJet destinations, including Fargo, Sioux Falls, and Peoria. In October 2019, before the pandemic reduced demand for airline tickets, ExpressJet was serving Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Fargo, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Lincoln, Madison, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, Peoria, Rochester, and Winnipeg.

July 2020 Aviation Safety Roundup

We’re starting an aviation safety roundup; most of these stories will now be here instead of in the regular space and science news roundups. Our next report on this will be in August 2020.

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Minotaur IV launch from Wallops

In a relatively peaceful use for a decommissioned ballistic missile, a Minotaur IV rocket carried the US National Reconnaissance Office L-129 mission from Wallops Island 15 July 2020 1346 UT. The mission included four discrete satellites. The carrier rocket, the four-stage version of Minotaur, is based on an old Peacekeeper missile, a type previously deployed in Wyoming, topped with an Orion solid upper stage similar to the one used for Antares rockets.

GPS flies and Beidou goes global last fortnight

The Long March 3B launch from Xichang on 23 Jun 2020 0143 UT, was covered live on television, unusual for a launch in China. The flight completed the Beidou-3 global satellite navigation constellation. (Xinhua)

Orbital news
23 Jun 2020 0143 UT – Xichang CZ-3B Beidou Navigation

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