Chautauqua Airlines d/b/a Midwest Connect

Plane was small but the pilot was great and the flight attendant was outstanding. Thank you Cecelia for making everyone feel like they were in first class.

I read somewhere that Chautauqua Airlines is the largerst airline you’ve never heard of. They’re a code-​share/​subsidiary airline providing regional services for Midwest Airlines and a few others. Unlike some of the other regional carriers like Piedmont, Shuttle America, American Eagle, Mesa, etc, Chautauqua doesn’t even have its own corporate website.
Most of the airlines serving PIT have since handed over their operations to these smaller airlines. My job sent me down to Dallas/​Fort Worth for an advanced training seminar last week. So since the training was at the American Airlines Training Center, naturally the lowest fare was on Midwest Airlines – with a connection via Milwaukee!
We can all agree that air travel pretty much sucks these days, but I gotta admit that my flights on Chautauqua were pretty good. They use those really small regional jets. «Puddle jumpers» my Dad calls ‘em! How small are these jets? We’ll I’m 5’6″ and there was barely enough headroom on the aisle for me! And believe me, these planes are no place for you if you’re claustrophobic.
On the plus side, once you sit down, these planes are very comfortable! They have 2 – 1 seating and since I was by myself, I had one of the single seats. They’re actually roomy seats! Here, check’em out:
and
One thing about these small jets: you really feel it during take off. As for the service itself, the crew were good and both flights were on time. These days that’s an achievement!