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CommuteAir announced it will be closing its maintenance facility at Lincoln Airport in Lincoln, Nebraska. The carrier first opened the facility two years ago, when it started operating flights to United Airlines' Denver hub. But now, the regional airline is closing the facility, resulting in 100 jobs being cut from the company.
United Airlines IATA/ICAO Code UA/UAL Airline Type Full Service Carrier Hub(s) Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Guam International Airport, Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport Year Founded 1931 Alliance Star Alliance CEO Scott Kirby
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CommuteAir continues to experience success with its mainline partner United Airlines, but has begun to reorganize to best address business needs. The closure won't impact Lincoln Airport's commercial schedule, though it will see the loss of jobs for maintenance workers. Luckily, another regional airline is prepared to take CommuteAir's place in Lincoln.
CommuteAir Closes Its Lincoln Maintenance Facility
According to Nebraska Public Media, Commuteair will be closing its maintenance base at Lincoln Airport by July 18, 2025. The regional carrier cited "operational challenges and business needs" as the reasoning behind the closure. As a result of the cut, 100 jobs will be lost, though the airline intends to prioritize them if they reapply at the company.
The closure is rather unusual, as CommuteAir opened the maintenance base less than two years ago in the summer of 2023. The airline invested in the facility after it started flying regional routes to Denver under the United Express brand. The airline even expanded its workforce by 50% one year ago, when it turned Lincoln into an MRO base for heavier maintenance. CommuteAir showed no indications that the base was only a short-term operation.
Managing Director of Communications for CommuteAir Jason Kadah stated:
Due to operational challenges and business needs, CommuteAir has made the difficult decision to close our maintenance base in Lincoln, Nebraska. This change will affect approximately 100 employees, who remain our top priority. All impacted employees will be given the opportunity to continue working with us for the next 60 days and will be offered priority consideration for open positions at our other bases.
The base will officially close on July 18, at which time the hangar lease will be terminated and the facility turned back over to the Lincoln Airport.
We are incredibly grateful to the Lincoln community and the Lincoln Airport for their long-standing support and partnership. This decision was not made lightly, and we deeply appreciate everything the Lincoln team and community have contributed to CommuteAir.
CommuteAir Works Closely With United
CommuteAir is a regional airline, and it does not operate its own scheduled flights (though the airline does operate one Embraer E170 as a charter aircraft). Instead, CommuteAir flies on behalf of United underneath the United Express brand, connecting smaller destinations with United's major hubs. These services are an important part of United's domestic network.
Unlike other regional carriers that partner with several major airlines, CommuteAir's only partner is United. United seems to be happy with CommuteAir's performance, as it just extended its contract for several more years with its regional partner. Additionally, CommuteAir just opened a new headquarters building in Ohio, marking another milestone for the airline.
Even with this good news, its Lincoln maintenance base must not have been supporting the airline efficiently enough. By mid-July, the hangar CommuteAir used will be returned to Lincoln Airport. Luckily, a different regional airline is prepared to open a maintenance base of its own in Nebraska's capital city.
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Though the loss of CommuteAir will set Lincoln Airport back temporarily, SkyWest will be opening a maintenance facility of its own in Lincoln. The project is expected to bring 25 to 35 employees back to the airport, potentially helping to offset some of the adverse impacts of CommuteAir's closure.
Lincoln Airport has made significant investments in its facility as it tries to attract more air service. The airport hosted an experimental, low-cost service called Red Way in 2023, which failed very quickly. Despite the setback, United's passenger traffic into Lincoln is up 9%, an encouraging sign for the small airport.