On this date in 2007, Compass’s first revenue flight took off from Washington-Dulles, bound for Minneapolis. At that time, our fleet and route map looked quite a bit different than they do now. From April through August of 2007, our “fleet” consisted of just one CRJ200 that flew two daily round trips between IAD and MSP.
That lone CRJ200 was our entire fleet, until the E175, the aircraft that would become synonymous with the Compass name, came online in August of 2007.
In a message to employees to mark the 10-year anniversary, President and CEO Rick Leach outlined the remarkable growth that the company has seen in just 10 short years.
“That sole CRJ200 with just two daily round trips has grown into a fleet of 56 Embraer 175s operating over 280 daily departures to over 40 destinations. We’ve transitioned from flying exclusively as Northwest Airlink/Delta Connection to serving two codeshare partners. Our 2015 partnership with American Airlines to operate 20 new Embraer 175s increased our fleet size by 47% in less than a year, and resulted in a 36% increase in passenger traffic between 2015 and 2016. We’re 2,000+ employees strong, and on track to carry over 6.5 million passengers in 2017. Not bad for one of the youngest regionals out there!”
To commemorate the big anniversary, special employee events, including cookouts and luncheons have been held system-wide over the past month. The anniversary events will conclude with a gala event in Minneapolis at the end of May. There are 43 founding members of the Compass family still working with us, and Rick Leach is looking forward to thanking each of them for their contributions to our airline.
Here’s to the next 10 years!
Compass Points 