BANGOR – Big Sky Airlines, a Delta Connection partner that flies from Bangor to Boston, announced early Wednesday evening it would discontinue its East Coast operations Jan. 7.

Despite Big Sky’s departure, Delta announced Wednesday evening that Comair, another Delta Connection carrier that serves Bangor International Airport, would pick up the Bangor-to-Boston route, according to Anthony Black, a Delta spokesman.

Comair presently flies the Delta Connection flights from BIA to Delta markets in Atlanta and Cincinnati.

On Jan. 7, Big Sky will cease operations at 16 airports from Tennessee to New York and from New Jersey to New Brunswick.

Delta Air Lines will refund tickets or reroute customers to other flights if they hold Big Sky tickets booked after Jan. 7. Delta reservation agents will contact customers, including those from Bangor, who have flights scheduled after that date on Big Sky, Black said. Customers can also call Delta directly at 800-221-1212.

Comair will begin service “almost immediately” after the Jan. 7 Big Sky departure, Black said. Comair will fly to Boston twice daily using 50-seat regional jets, replacing Big Sky’s six daily flights that use 19-seat turbo-propelled planes, according to Rebecca Hupp, BIA director. Big Sky had been flying four flights daily from BIA since it began service here in April, but had added two more daily flights on Nov. 4.

“Clearly there is demand for quality service and there is a market between Bangor and Boston,” Hupp said from home Wednesday evening.

Hupp said she expects the change will improve the Bangor-to-Boston route service. The 19-seat planes were not popular with BIA patrons.

“I expect that passengers will welcome the return of the 50-seat jet,” she said.

Big Sky is a Montana-based airline that began contracting in April 2007 with Delta in small and medium-size markets, and operating out of Boston’s Logan International Airport, according to a press release. Big Sky and Delta mutually agreed to cessation in services. Big Sky cited unusually bad weather, disappointing revenues and fuel prices as reasons for its departure. Big Sky will continue to operate in Montana as it works to transition its services to another carrier.

The jobs of approximately 140 Big Sky employees – primarily located in Boston; Watertown, N.Y.; and Covington, Ky. – will be eliminated, according to the airline. The company has engaged a broker to assist in the sale of its East Coast aircraft.

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