By the beginning of next year, Comair will be back in all the cities it served before the recent pilots strike and should have the planes to do it.

        The company says it expects to have 108 aircraft in its fleet by Jan. 2. That's when it will reach the 97 cities — including its hubs at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and in Orlando, Fla. — that it had served. It will offer 766 daily flights (it had 811 before the strike).

        Cities will be added Aug. 1, Aug. 16, Sept. 1, Nov. 1 and Nov. 15. This month, Comair is adding cities every five days, resuming service to 81 cities by July 31.

        “Everyone has come back very energized, and the airline is operating very well, so we're hoping to use that positive momentum to implement our other waves of service,” said Comair spokesman Nick Miller, who added that the resumption schedule is tentative.

        During the 89-day strike, Erlanger-based Comair had said it was shedding 28 planes, including all nine of its turboprops based in Orlando, leaving it with 80 planes when it resumed flying July 2.

        Those planes were to be remarketed by Montreal-based Bombardier, which manufactures the Canadair Regional Jets used by Comair. Seven regional jets did wind up at Atlantic Southeast and SkyWest, fellow members of the Delta Connection feeder network.

        Mr. Miller and Bombardier spokesman Colin Fisher said their two companies had not reached an official agreement on returning the remaining planes and that negotiations were continuing.

        However, the company expects to begin using six turboprops when the Orlando hub goes online July 22. It used nine before the strike.

        The return of the turboprops was a key factor in settling the pilots' walkout, since it meant all pilots would keep their jobs.

Comair to again reach 97 cities
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