Back in 1994 Express Air Coach owner Paul Davis left Purdue University with his
degree in Aviation Administration and headed out to Chicago to work for United
Airlines. Much of that time was spent working at O’Hare, and after 10 years in
the airline business it didn’t take long for Paul to see a good opportunity to get
back to the campus and community he loved. His vision was to fill a need for
safe, reliable, and affordable transportation to the airport he had grown to love;
the “big airport” Chicago O’Hare.
With his knowledge of O’Hare, the airline business, scheduling, and landside
operations, Paul bought a van, enlisted the help of family members and
convinced his father to come out of retirement to launch the venture.
In October of 2004, Express Air Coach started round trip service from Purdue
to O’Hare with one van, and Paul and his father Jim Davis driving and taking
reservations.
In July of 2007, Express Air Coach launched an impressive web based
automated reservation and dispatch system which allows customers to book and
pay for their reservation anytime from anywhere in the world with internet access.
Express Air Coach was positioned to handle the ever growing demand for quality
airport shuttle transportation to the premier International gateway airport in the
Midwest, Chicago O’Hare. Express Air Coach connects one of the great airports
in the world to one of the great universities in the world, Purdue.
Paul believes this service is the perfect fit for the Greater Lafayette community.
“In only three hours you can be at the gates of O’Hare and go anywhere in the
world or just hop a cab or the blue line to the loop and be in the greatest city in
the world.”
Jim and Paul decided it was time to expand the concept to new markets
so in September 2009 a new service at Ohio University in Athens Ohio
to Port Columbus International airport in Columbus Ohio was launched.
A few short months later, In February 2010, the company added additional
equipment to meet growing demand including a larger motor coach to the
fleet. With the new equipment, Express Air Coach was now able to offer longer
distance charter options for it’s customers in a luxurious motor coach.
“We now can offer a range of services to our customer base in both the Purdue/
Lafayette/O’Hare and Ohio University/Athens/Port Columbus market, including
scheduled airport shuttles, private rides, and charters. This is an exciting time of
growth for us”
Since those simple and humble beginnings, the company and operation has
grown to nine scheduled trips daily in two markets and operating in three states.
Express Air Coach now has vans on the road 19 hours a day and 24 hour a day
reservations either via phone or through online bookings.
Paul knows the people are what make the business fun. “We’ve carried tens of
thousands of customers from all different walks of life and they are the lifeline
and pulse of what we do. In this line of work, we have met some of the most
unique and interesting people and had the opportunity to share part of their travel
experience with them.” |