Meet Rick Leach, President and CEO of GoJet Airlines

A long-time aviation industry veteran, Rick has worked in the industry for 44 years in numerous airline leadership roles as well as being a board member of the Regional Airline Association (RAA.org). His airline career began after college with Air Illinois and shortly thereafter, he was recruited by Jet America Airlines, to start as a customer service trainer at their new St. Louis operation.

During his tenure at Jet America, he also held the positions of city manager of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area operation and city manager of the St. Louis operation. Choosing not to relocate his family back to the West Coast, Rick joined the privately held Resort Air as their director of stations in 1988. In this role, he was one of the principals who helped lead this small airline through a significant growth and certification process, assisting with the conversion from Part 135 to Part 121 operations, as well as the certification of its new ATR fleet. In 1989, the airline changed its name to Trans States Airlines, and Rick was promoted to vice president. In 1998, he was promoted into the role of executive vice president and COO, and in 2003, he was promoted to president and CEO of Trans States Airlines, as well as president of Trans States Holdings, Inc., the airline's parent company.

In 2005, Rick founded GoJet Airlines, which became the second airline owned by Trans States Holdings. The Trans States Holdings family of airlines grew to three in 2010 when he negotiated the purchase of Compass Airlines from Delta and became president and CEO of these two airlines as well. In 2019, GoJet was selected by United to operate the CRJ-550, an innovative new product within Bombardier's successful CRJ family of aircraft.

From Rick’s arrival, Trans States Holdings grew from a carrier with twelve 19-seat Metroliners to one of the largest and most innovative regional airline holding companies in the market.

Interview by - Kelly Murphy, WAI Director of Communications

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