Express In May 1986, People Express was approved to take PBA out of bankruptcy. People Express provided financing to keep PBA operating, and changed PBAs routes to feed into its own. Flights from LaGuardia were shifted over to the People Express hub and headquarters at Newark. In addition to PBA's existing routes to the Cape and Islands, People Express used PBA airplanes to expand to short-haul locations from Newark, including Philadelphia, Allentown PA, and Farmingdale/Republic Airport, Long Island. People Express also downgraded some of its Boeing 737 flights to PBA's YS-11s on routes from Newark to Providence, Albany. The Miami hub was closed, but flights continued from Jacksonville and the Tampa Bay area, but now from the People Express location at St. Petersburg airport rather than Tampa. People Express had also purchased Frontier Airlines of Denver and Britt Airways of Terre Haute, Indiana. People Express itself started having financial difficulties from its own expansion and difficulty competing with established major airlines. On September 15, 1986, People Express agreed to a merger with Continental Airlines. Continental Airlines (Now United Airlines) On February 1, 1987, People Express completed the merger with Continental Airlines, and PBA's fate again came into question. Continental enjoyed having the PBA feeder flights at Newark, operating the flights now with the Continental Express name. Additional service was added as Continental Express with PBA's EMB-110s from Newark to Binghamton, NY, New Haven, CT and Baltimore, MD. Texas Air also owned Eastern Airlines in addition to Continental, and Eastern had a codeshare relationship with Bar Harbor Airlines in Florida and New England. Continental also owned Britt Airways from the People Express merger, and Rocky Mountain Airways of Denver. While Bar Harbor's New England routes did not overlap PBA's, the Florida routes were in direct competition, and Continental was investing in Bar Harbor through airplane purchases. In April 1988, Continental acquired majority interest in Bar Harbor Airlines and began consolidating Bar Harbor with PBA. PBA flight crews started operating the new Bar Harbor Airlines ATR-42 turboprops from Hyannis to LaGuardia Airport and Newark. PBA's Cessna 402 airplanes started appearing on some Bar Harbor Airlines routes, such as Hartford/Bradley to New York/La Guardia. Because of the larger presence of Eastern Airlines in Boston and LaGuardia, PBA's flights to/from Boston and LaGuardia were rebranded as Eastern Express in 1988. (Texas Air Corporation controlled both Continental Airlines and Eastern Airlines.) Most of the classic