In this article, we review the history of the United Express Bombardier Q400, which is also known as the United Express De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprop. An overview of Continental’s and United Airlines’ history with the aircraft is covered along with the names for the airplane. After those sections, information on the routes the turboprop was operated on, and the seat maps for the Q400 are listed.

The history of the United Express Bombardier Q400 has changed significantly over the years. Before the merger of United Airlines and Continental Airlines in 2010, Continental was an indirect operator of the Q400 under its Continental Connection brand. The Continental Connection Bombardier Q400s were operated by Colgan Air, a regional airline, for Continental. With the merger of Continental and United, those planes became part of the United family and were re-branded with the United Express name and logo. Colgan Air went on to operate the aircraft for United Airlines until the end of 2012 when United announced that Republic Airways would be taking over Q400 flying from Colgan Air. The move was in response to the bankruptcy and shut down of Colgan Air in 2012.

The End of Bombardier Q400 / United Express De Havilland Dash 8-400

In 2014, United Airlines announced that it would end Bombardier Q400 operations in 2015. The airline ended up holding on to the turboprop until 2016 when service officially ended.

United De Havilland Dash 8-400

In 2019, the Bombardier Q400 officially became the De Havilland Dash 8-400 when Bombardier finalized its deal to transfer all Q400 assets to Longview Aviation Capital Corp. Longview Aviation Capital formed De Havilland Aircraft of Canada as a new subsidiary to house the Q400 operations. As a result, the company brought back the old Dash 8-400 name and removed all references to the Bombardier Q400 name. The De Havilland Dash 8-400 name was the original name of the aircraft as it was built under Bombardier’s De Havilland division. Bombardier created the Q400 name as a marketing name for the turboprop and only used the Dash 8-400 name as the industry or regulatory name for the aircraft.

United De Havilland DHC-8-400/401/402

If you look at the type certificate for the aircraft, the turboprop is officially called the De Havilland Canada DHC-8-400, 401, or 402. The 402 end is the most common as it represents the newest version of the aircraft. DHC stands for De Havilland Canada.

As a result, the United Express turboprop can also be called the United Express De Havilland DHC-8-400.

United Airlines Bombardier Q400 Historical Routes & Aircraft Configuration

• United Express Bombardier Q400s were operated for United by Republic Airways and Colgan Air.
• United De Havilland Dash 8-400s operated out of Newark, NJ (EWR), Washington Dulles (IAD), Houston Intercontinental (IAH), Cleveland-Hopkins, OH (CLE) and Chicago O'Hare, IL (ORD) when they were flying with the airline.
• All Q400s were Bombardier Q400 Nextgen turboprops.

Historical United Express Bombardier Q400 Seat Map, Seating Plan, and Seating Configuration

Initially, the United Express Q400 turboprops had 74 seats in a one class configuration. As the Dash 8-400 progressed, United Airlines changed to a two-class configuration with 65 seats. As a result, the aircraft had a first class section near the end of its service with the airline. United had maintained the seat maps for the 74 seat, economy class configuration and the 65 seat two-class configuration.

Below are the two United De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 seat maps featuring both seating configurations.

Bombardier Q400 United Airlines Seat Map - First Class Configuration

Above is the First Class 65 seat configuration seat map for the United Express Q400 / De Havilland Dash 8-400

Above is the all Economy Class 74 seats, seat map for the United Express Bombardier Q400 / De Havilland Dash 8-400.

To learn more about the different seating configurations of the Bombardier Q400 at other airlines visit our Bombardier Q400 Seating Plan page or our Bombardier Q400 Seat Map - Seating Chart page.

To learn more about the Bombardier Q400 / De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 Turboprop aircraft visit our other Q400 pages.

Above United Express Bombardier Q400 / De Havilland Dash 8-400 Photo by redlegsfan21 on Flickr. Photo (only) released under a Creative Commons License.

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