Following the development of its Reno hub, the airline established a second hub at San Jose International Airport (SJC) in late 1993 by leasing gate space from American Airlines.[3] According to its December 15, 1993 system route map, the airline operated nonstop flights from San Jose to Burbank, CA (BUR), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Ontario, CA (ONT), Phoenix (PHX), Portland, OR (PDX), Reno (RNO) and Seattle (SEA).[4] In addition to operating jet service from its new San Jose hub, Reno Air also entered into a code sharing agreement with Mid Pacific Air to operate connecting passenger feeder service as Reno Air Express flown with British AerospaceBAe Jetstream 31 commuter turboprops with service to Chico, CA, (CIC), Eureka, CA (ACV), Klamath Falls, OR (LMT), Medford, OR (MFR), Monterey, CA (MRY), Redding, CA (RDD) and Santa Rosa, CA (STS). Meantime, American Airlines had earlier expanded its presence in the San Jose market in northern California with its purchase of AirCal (formerly Air California) several years earlier but was experiencing stiff competition from Southwest Airlines concerning air fares and desired to outsource the SJC operation to a lower cost operator. At the same time, Reno Air joined American's AAdvantage program thus allowing AAdvantage members to earn credit by flying on Reno Air. Reno Air subsequently posted its first annual profit in 1995.
While the airline flew most of its routes on the U.S. West Coast from its three hubs, Reno Air also operated a separate stand alone route system based in Gulfport, Mississippi (GPT). The Mississippi airport on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which serves the local gambling casino industry, was linked with nonstop flights to St. Petersburg via St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) and Orlando via Sanford International Airport (SFB) in Florida, and also to Atlanta, Georgia (ATL). Atlanta was the only city of these four destinations that was linked to the rest of the Reno Air route system and then only briefly in 1997.[5][6] These Reno Air flights were operated as scheduled passenger services between GPT and PIE, SFB and ATL and thus were not charter flights. As can be seen in the above photo of the Reno Air MD-82 jetliner at Orlando Sanford International Airport, the airline's aircraft serving Gulfport had "Gulf Coast Flyer" as part of the livery.
In 1996, Reno Air adopted a new strategy to focus on the Los Angeles (LAX), Las Vegas (LAS), and Seattle (SEA) markets. It opened a Seattle base in 1996 to serve its Alaska flights, as well as reservations center in Las Vegas in 1997, and offered 25 nonstop flights a day via a small hub operation at LAS by 1998.[7]
In February 1999, American Airlines purchased Reno Air. Reno Air and flew its last flight on Aug. 30 of that year. At the time, the purchase was seen as a way to feed American's east–west route network with Reno Air's north–south flights, primarily through San Jose.[8] American initially retained the former Reno Air aircraft and repainted them into a modified version of the American Airlines color scheme (with a white fuselage instead of an unpainted one), but disposed of the entire Reno Air fleet in 2001 as part of capacity reduction efforts following the 9/11 attacks. By the end of 2001 (especially after 9/11) the original Reno Air route system structure had ceased to exist with American Airlines downgrading Reno to a spoke city rather than a connecting hub.
At around 2000-2002 Reno Air was known as “The Little Airline that Could.”
In 2015 American Airlines added to its heritage livery series a Reno Air Boeing 737-800 (although Reno Air never operated 737 aircraft).[9]
Reno Air was one of the few U.S. operators of the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 and MD-90. Following its acquisition of Reno Air, American Airlines initially operated the MD-87 and MD-90 aircraft inherited in the merger but then removed these types from its fleet.
Destinations in May 1999
Shortly after its acquisition by American Airlines, in May 1999 Reno Air was continuing to operate as an independent airline and was serving the following thirteen (13) destinations with McDonnell Douglas MD-80, MD-87 and MD-90 jetliners according to its system route map:[4][10]
Also at this same time, the Reno Air system timetable dated May 1, 1999 listed connecting flights operated by American Eagle with Saab 340 regional propjet aircraft to the following destinations with connections being made at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) which was a focus city for Reno Air at this time:[4]
According to its system route maps over the years, Reno Air operated scheduled passenger jet service to the following destinations at various times during its existence:[4]
