Compass Airlines, LLC was an American regional airline headquartered in Delta Air Lines Building C at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport in Fort Snelling, Hennepin County, Minnesota; prior to December 16, 2009, it was headquartered in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, east of the Chantilly CDP. The airline launched inaugural service with a single Bombardier CRJ-200 aircraft under the Northwest Airlink brand between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington, D.C. on May 2, 2007. On August 21, 2007, it began flying two Embraer E175 76-passenger aircraft, and expanded to 36 aircraft by December 2008. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines and later Delta Air Lines, in July 2010, the company was sold to Trans States Holdings. At the time, Compass was the only remaining airline of the former Northwest Airlines Group. During its 14-year history, Compass Airlines operated over 1.5 million flights. In 2016, at its peak, Compass operated 62 aircraft and employed just over 2,000 employees. Compass ceased operations on April 5, 2020, citing reduced travel demand stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with their ownership's failed attempts to secure additional flying. The airline ceased operations within a week after their sister-company, Trans States Airlines, leaving GoJet Airlines as the sole airline operated by Trans States Holdings. History Compass Airlines was a regional airline formed as a result of a contract dispute between Northwest Airlines and its pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). The Northwest Airlines pilot group was asked to give relief on a section of their collective bargaining agreement governing "scope", which protects pilot jobs by ensuring that an airline's customers are flown by the employees of that airline. The pilots eventually agreed to a concession on the scope of their contract allowing a limited number of 76-seat aircraft to be flown by outsourced pilots working for a subcontractor regional airline. In exchange for their concession the Northwest Airlines pilots demanded in return that the pilots of these new aircraft would eventually "flow-up" into mainline pilot jobs at Northwest Airlines and that Northwest Airlines pilots would retain the ability to "flow-down" into the newly subcontracted pilot jobs in the event that Northwest Airlines were to furlough the mainline pilots. In order to adapt to the agreement, and fulfill a need to serve the regional markets with smaller, more efficient aircraft and a dramatically reduced wage labor force, Northwest bought the operating certificate of bankrupt Independence