CommuteAir (C5, Cleveland Hopkins) CEO Rick Hoefling told Cleveland.com, a local online news website, that the company is evaluating launching its own scheduled flights, targeting second- and third-tier cities in the United States that have lost direct connectivity in recent years marked by industry consolidation.
"The demand isn’t going away," he said. “We think there’s opportunity in that space."
Short of disclosing any specific routes, Hoefling said that Cleveland Hopkins could become one of the focus cities for the airline's scheduled network. Despite having its origins and corporate headquarters in Ohio, the airline does not currently base any of its aircraft in Cleveland.
Hoefling said there were no specific plans to comment on yet when asked by ch-aviation.
The regional capacity provider currently flies nearly exclusively on behalf of United Airlines, which owns a 40% stake in CommuteAir. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, the airline was deploying fifty-nine E145s under the United Express capacity purchase agreement, primarily out of Washington Dulles and Houston Intercontinental.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows that all up, including currently inactive aircraft, CommuteAir operates seventy-four E145s. All of those regional jets operated by CommuteAir are owned by United. Hoefling said that the deal was recently extended by two more years to 2028. CommuteAir is the only remaining E145 operator for United.
The airline also owns and operates a single E170 available for charters and was planning to grow this fleet last year.
