The state has a long history of scheduled service with propeller-driven aircraft.
Air Choice One Cessna 208s (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Most major airlines in the United States have retired turboprop aircraft, with the most recent being Alaska’s Horizon Air subsidiary and its Q400s in January of 2023. The remaining operators of these types are typically small commuter airlines.
A Horizon Air Bombardier Dash 8 Q400. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)
In the past, since propeller-driven aircraft were usually smaller in size, airlines commonly used them to operate many frequencies between cities. Except for Florida-based Silver Airways and its ATRs, most turboprop aircraft in the U.S. only operate to small communities, and especially the Essential Air Service communities around the country.
There are still a handful of commuter airlines in the U.S. that operate small 8-9 seat prop aircraft on commercial passenger flights to small communities. However, even these EAS communities have slowly been seeing the disappearance of turboprop aircraft with passengers preferring comfort and speed over frequency. Airlines like Advanced Air, Contour, and Denver Air Connection which operate small 30-seat jet aircraft have been thriving in the past few years.
There are many EAS airports around the country, with some states having one or two and some having a lot more like Alaska, which due to its remote nature, has over 60 of them. In the lower 48 states, Michigan has the most with nine of the state’s airports being in the federally-subsidized program.
Over the years the state has slowly lost its commercial airline turboprop service. Back when Northwest was still around, Mesaba used the Saab 340 and operated from most of the airports in the state.
Houghton and Muskegon were the first two Michigan EAS cities to lose propeller service. Both in 2009, Mesaba lost the EAS contract in both communities to SkyWest under the United Express brand with 50-seat CRJ-200s to Chicago O’Hare. Muskegon later went back to propeller service for a brief time.
United Airlines CRJ-200 operated by SkyWest at Muskegon-County Airport (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Iron Mountain, Escanaba, Pellston, Sault Ste. Marie and Alpena were the next to lose prop service, and all at the same time, in December 2011 when Delta retired the Saab 340 from its regional fleet. Delta only gained the Saab due to its merger with Northwest, and all of these aircraft were operated by Mesaba at the time of their retirement.
Mesaba was folded into Pinnacle Airlines not even a month after the Saab 340’s retirement, in January 2012. Service in all of these communities was onboard the SkyWest CRJ-200 until the retirement of the type in late 2023, and are now all on the CRJ-700, CRJ-900, and soon the CRJ-550.
Ironwood is an interesting story; it had Frontier Express service up until March 8, 2012, although it is unclear whether that service was on propeller aircraft or regional jets. Either way, another prop operator started service to the town on March 17, 2012, Great Lakes Airlines with its Beechcraft 1900s, and it continued the flights until Jan. 31, 2014.
Air Choice One was later awarded the EAS contract on board its Cessna 208s or single Beech 1900C, and began service on July 7, 2014, which continued for six years until July 31, 2020.
Boutique Air then started flying to Ironwood on Aug. 1, 2020 using Pilatus PC12s. It was supposed to be the carrier for two years, but the airport board had some safety concerns after a wheel fell off an airplane during flight and a cargo door opened during takeoff, Boutique then requested to terminate the contract on its own. The airport finally lost prop service when Denver Air Connection was chosen as the airline for the EAS contract and began serving the community on October 1, 2021, with a 30-seat Dornier328Jet and 50-seat Embraer E145s.
The next city in Michigan to lose prop service was Manistee which had flights onboard NorthCountry Sky on a mix of Dornier328Jets and Beech 1900Cs. Cape Air began service on Oct. 1, 2020, and AirlineGeeks had the opportunity to go on the inaugural flight.
Cape Air served the community with 8-seat Tecnam P2012s, or Cessna402s when the Tecnam had maintenance issues. The carrier’s last day with propeller aircraft was almost exactly four years later, on Sept. 30, 2024, Cape Air lost the EAS contract in Manistee, and Contour Air began flights on Oct. 1, 2024, with 30-seat Embraer E135s or 50-seat CRJ-200s and E145s.
The last airport in the state of Michigan to have commercial airline flights on a propeller aircraft: Muskegon. As mentioned previously, the airport did lose prop service in 2009 when SkyWest won the contract, but in the summer of 2022, the airline requested to terminate 29 EAS contracts due to a pilot shortage and Muskegon did end up getting cut.
On Oct. 1, 2022, Southern Airways Express began serving the community. Service to Muskegon with the carrier was on its 8-seat Cessna 208s, flying to the community for just over two years, but due to some reliability issues in the community, they decided to recommend a new operator. Denver Air Connection was awarded the contract for Muskegon and is contracted to operate the 50-seat Embraer E145 to the community.
Finally, the last domino fell on Oct. 31, 2024, and the final commercial flight on a propeller-driven aircraft left Michigan. It’s a little unclear when the last flight actually was, but if flight trackers are correct, it looks like Southern Airways Express’ last flight out of Muskegon was cancelled, and the true final flight was later that day.
DAC’s first flight out of Muskegon (Photo: Variable Visuals | MKG Airport Facebook page)
Denver Air Connection’s inaugural departure from Muskegon on Nov. 1 was accompanied by a water cannon salute as it left, and it marks an event in history that not many in Muskegon realized. This was not only a significant event for the community, but the entire state of Michigan as well. The time when prop aircraft ruled the skies over the United States is gone, and jets are slowly taking over.
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