December 20, 2010
Fellow Mesaba employees:
When we announced Mesaba’s acquisition by Pinnacle Airlines Corp. in July, one of the
benefits we intended to realize was the return of Saab aircraft to our company’s
operation. Last year, Delta Air Lines made the decision to move to an all-jet fleet;
however, the leadership teams at both Mesaba and Pinnacle were confident there are
other markets in which we could continue to successfully operate the Saab.
Today, I am pleased to announce that Mesaba plans to enter into an agreement with US
Airways to begin Saab 340 B+ operated flights from New York’s LaGuardia Airport,
beginning in March of 2011. We will initially operate three lines of flying with one spare
aircraft, and add three additional lines in April. Currently, we are scheduled to provide
service from LGA to Ithaca and Syracuse, New York; Providence, Rhode Island;
Charlottesville, Virginia; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Washington-Dulles.
This plan allows us to begin recruiting additional maintenance personnel and flight
attendants immediately. We will also establish a crew domicile at LGA for flight crews as
well as a Mesaba maintenance station at that location.
Beginning in January, we will begin taking delivery of seven aircraft that Mesaba
previously operated – numbers 402, 407, 412, 413, 414, 416, and 418. When we receive
the aircraft, they will be painted in US Airways livery and will feature the same interior we
recently installed as part of our refurbishment program. Our Technical Operations
department will begin the process of readying the aircraft for service – performing
inspections and checks, and installing necessary manuals and emergency equipment.
Today’s announcement is excellent news as we are able to welcome new employees,
expand our service offerings to a new carrier, and enter a new period of growth at our
airline. As we have stated, this is another example of Mesaba’s newly gained ability to
explore opportunities and to secure our own future. In the meantime, we have much work
to do, and will provide more information about this announcement as we get closer to
initializing service.