GP Express Airlines was a regional airline with its headquarters in Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island, Nebraska

Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 48,520 at the 2010 census.Grand Island is home to the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center which is the sole agency responsible for training law enforcement officers throughout the state,...

 The parent corporation of the airline began on-demand air charter operations in December 1975. In December 1985 the Department of Transportation

Department of Transportation

The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel. All U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and many local agencies also have...

 notified GP AIR (the parent corporation) that its bid to provide Essential Air Service

Essential Air Service

Essential Air Service is a U.S. government program enacted to guarantee that small communities in the United States, which, prior to deregulation, were served by certificated airlines, maintained commercial service. Its aim is to maintain a minimal level of scheduled air service to these...

 (EAS) service in the Midwest had been accepted, GP AIR subsequently created GP Express to conduct these operations under 14 CFR Part 135. By 1992, the airline had expanded to provide air service, many flights under EAS contracts, to Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

; service to the Southern

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 states began on June 6, 1992. By 1993 the airline operated Cessna 402

Cessna 402

The Cessna 401 and 402 are series of 6 to 10 place, light twin, piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner...

, eight Beechcraft Model 99

Beechcraft Model 99

|-See also:-External links:*...

 airplanes (added to fleet in 1987) and five Beechcraft 1900

Beechcraft 1900

The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company . It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner...

 airplanes introduced in 1990.

GP Express operated as a Continental Connection

Continental Connection

Continental Connection is a brand name under which several commuter airline carriers and their holding companies operate services marketed exclusively by Continental Airlines...

 connection carrier in association with Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...

 during the 1990s.

The airline filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and ceased operations.

Accidents

GP Express Airlines was noted for an unusually high fatal accident rate for its fleet size and received additional FAA oversight as a result.

• On December 22, 1987 a GP Express Cessna 402 crashed on approach to Chadron, Nebraska
  Chadron, Nebraska
  Chadron is a city in Dawes County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,851 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dawes County. Chadron is the home of Chadron State College....
  
  . The crash resulted in fatal injuries to the two person flight crew and serious injuries to the only passenger.
• GP Express Flight 861
  GP Express Flight 861
  GP Express Airlines Flight 861, from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia to Anniston Metropolitan Airport in Anniston, Alabama, crashed while attempting to land at approximately 8:04 a.m. CDT on June 8, 1992. The Beechcraft Model 99 had four passengers and a crew of two on...
  
   crashed near Anniston, Alabama
  Anniston, Alabama
  Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
  
   on June 9, 1992, only two days after operations began in the GP Express Southern Region.
• On April 28, 1993, a GP Express Airlines Beechcraft Model 99
  Beechcraft Model 99
  |-See also:-External links:*...
  
   crashed near Shelton, Nebraska
  Shelton, Nebraska
  Shelton is a village in Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,140 at the 2000 census. It is located west of Grand Island along both the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S...
  
  during execution of an aerobatic maneuver during a non-revenue check ride. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries.