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The story
The airline was established in 1993 by Mike Brady of Express Airlines I in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline started operations in August 1993. Its route structure in many ways mimiced an unrelated defunct predecessor named Chicago Air which also operated from Chicago Midway's airport less than a decade before. On June 1, 1999, Chicago Express became a wholly owned subsidiary of Amtran, later known as ATA Holdings and now Global Aero Logistics, and operated as ATA Connection, a regional code sharing affiliate of the now defunct ATA Airlines (formerly known as American Trans Air). Chicago Express' principal base of operations was Chicago Midway International Airport, where the company maintained its headquarters. For several months before its liquidation, the company also operated a hub in Indianapolis, part of ATA's failed plan for intrastate flights throughout Indiana. However, following ATA Holdings' decision to codeshare flights with Southwest Airlines, a decision was made to terminate Chicago Express effective March 28, 2005, in favor of a strictly mainline operation. CSC Investment Group, Inc., headed by CEO Edward S. Halley, purchased the airline in 2005 for $3.2 million. Sold off purchased assets of (2) Saab 340B aircraft, Aircraft Spare Parts, Ground Handling and Office Equipment to Colgan Air. Relaunched Chicago Express Airlines as an international Cargo Airline.
From Wikipedia’s article on Chicago Express Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4