Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based CommutAir has leased 16 Bombardier (BBD) Q200s from Horizon Airlines to feed Continental's (CAL) Cleveland hub. CEO John Sullivan anticipates they will enter service in late February. The acquisition is part of the airline's new capacity purchase agreement (CPA) with Continental struck last spring. The deal includes an expansion of CommutAir's Cleveland operation, Sullivan told Regional Aviation News last week.

He indicated the Q200s will replace the Beech 1900Ds now serving the Cleveland market and enable the airline to add additional points for a total of 15 or 16 spokes out of the Continental hub. Naming the exact points is expected sometime in December.

The airline will end up with a fleet of 16 Q200s and 14 Beech 1900Ds as the result of its upcoming expansion and Beech 1900 replacements at Cleveland. Twelve Beech 1900s will either be sold or used on missions flying in the Northeast where CommutAir is a Continental Connection. The airline has been reducing its Beech fleet over the last year. Sullivan is currently negotiating additional capacity purchase agreements but would not indicate with whom.

"The [Continental] CPA we negotiated last spring included a Q200 rate," said Sullivan, adding the airline has been identifying the right aircraft for the operation as well as working on the lease agreement with Horizon. "We had a lot of help from Bombardier which identified the Horizon aircraft. It helps them move a lot of aircraft and, for us, it is one-stop shopping."

The airline is subleasing the aircraft from Horizon and has rights of first refusal on an additional 12 if Horizon chooses to spin them out of its network. Sullivan indicated work on the flight manuals was 95 percent complete and would soon be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration. The deal includes maintenance and training support as well as spares. Deliveries begin in January.

In addition, once the 16 aircraft are integrated into the CommutAir fleet, the airline will begin looking for Q300s. "Once the Q series is on our certificate, we think the Q300 will be the most useful aircraft for our major partners," said Sullivan.