Memphis-based Southern Airways has acquired the airline currently operating flights from the Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport at Robert H. Jackson Field.

On Thursday, Southern Airways announced the acquisition of the Ft. Lauderdale-based Sun Air Express, which will result in little change for Jamestown area customers. According to a news release, Southern Airways will consolidate and relocate most corporate functions from Fort Lauderdale to Memphis, although the airline will retain certain operational functions in Florida, in addition to its secondary operations base in Chicago.

”Our passengers in the mid-Atlantic region will see only positive change from this merger,” said Stan Little, Southern Airways chairman and chief executive officer. ”All tickets issued will be honored. The schedule will be honored. The pilots and airport staff will remain in place. But our communities, and thus our passengers, will soon see upgraded aircrafts, more destinations and better schedules. We believe we have acquired a company with a strong foundation on which to build a bigger and better regional airline product based on our trademark southern service.”

Tickets for Sun Air flights will continue to be sold at flysunairexpress.com or by calling 844-8-SUN-AIR.

Sun Air developed a connecting hub model at the Pittsburgh International Airport for those flying from Jamestown. In Pittsburgh, passengers can connect to more than 50 cities around the United States and the world.

”Passengers from across Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York State are able to connect to both legacy and low-cost carriers through the world-class terminal at Pittsburgh. We look forward to expanding those connections and adding additional cities in the near future,” Little said.

Regional identity and personal service are a cornerstone of the combined airlines’ mission, Little said.

”We have always striven to be a part of the communities that we serve, and that spirit will continue as we adopt our new markets in the mid-Atlantic,” he said. ”Our co-founder, Keith Sisson, is relocating from Memphis to Pittsburgh to ensure that we provide the same first-rate customer service on a system-wide basis.”

There will eventually be a change in the planes used for flights at Robert H. Jackson Field. Sun Air Express operates a fleet of Piper Chieftain aircraft, most of which will be retired during the next year in favor of Southern’s flagship Caravan 208 planes, which it has operated from the Memphis hub for the past three years.

”There’s no question that Sun’s passengers are going to love the upgrade to the Caravan aircraft,” said Phil LeFevre, chief operating officer for Sun, who will be taking on the same role at Southern. ”It’s safe, it’s roomy, it’s comfortable and its reliability rate is over 98 percent for on-time departures. Moving from piston to turbine engines will improve the overall flight experience for our passengers.”

Founded in 2013, Southern Airways Express, Southern Airways Charter, Sun Airways Express and Executive Express Aviation are wholly owned subsidiaries of Southern Airways Corporation. For more information, visit iflysouthern.com.