Pinnacle Airlines, the parent company of Colgan Air, which operated Continental Connection Flight 3407, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Colgan unit would cease to exist under Pinnacle's planned restructuring, along with its planes and flights. Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence in 2009, killing 50 people. Pilot error was cited as the cause of the disaster.
According to The Buffalo News, Memphis-based Pinnacle recently told its employees it would run out money this month unless it filed for bankruptcy. Based on its reset plan announced Sunday, Colgan would no longer operate regional flights for United Airlines, including at the Buffalo airport. United merged with Continental last year.
Pinnacle is retiring the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 airplane that crashed that fateful night and plans call for Colgan to cease operations by the end of the year.
Pinnacle operates regional flights as Delta Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. The company says it will focus on restructuring its operating agreements with Delta, winding down its operations with United, cutting labor costs and looking for other ways to cut costs.
Information from Associated Press was used in this article.