I think Im one of a small minority who is actually happy about this being a native New Yorker. I wonder what else will be available at JFK and across the river at EWR once SLI is done. But I figure that will take several months to complete if the contract gets approved before the end of this year. The first opportunity I had to bid for Saab capt. I missed because they started parking them. So this time Im definitely not looking back. Should be an interesting year...good luck to us all. Oh and if anyone is displaced from DTW or MSP...commuting to LGA isn't really that difficult; there are plenty of flights.

 

Go ahead and call me a doubter, but I can't find any reference to this on the Pinnacle site. Nor can I find it on the Mesaba or Colgan website. Also, not mentioned on Yahoo Finance, usairways.com, or airportbusiness.com. I call BS until I see it on one of those sources.

Only thing I see that MAY confirm this is, when attempting to book a seat on LGACHO/IAD/MHT for some dates in March, the website doesn't give an operating carrier. Doesn't say Colgan like it previously would have, but shows an SF340 with no operator.

 

That is pretty funny right there.

FO rates grandfathered for GIA would be $16/hr.....that they would pay the company.

 

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.

 

They aren't going to buy horizon, they are going to buy spirit and jet blue instead.

 

JetPhotos.Net Photo » N366PX (CN: 340B-267) Aerolíneas Sosa Saab 340B by Oscar Elvir Vasquez

 

Based upon the total number of Saabs that the "new" Mesaba would have, it would take about 2 1/2 to 3 years to replace them with Q-400's. That's an increase in ASM thus an aniticipation of continued growth.




atp

 

It wouldn't surprise me if Mesaba ends up flying the Q400 for US Airways.

 

A couple of months ago Colgans Minister of Propaganda told us that any additional Saab flying was going to be done by Mesaba with the B+. The only thing that is a suprise about this is that something spewed by our Minister of Propaganda was actually true.

 

Actually...Colgan has had contractual rights to certain markets out of LGA for US Airways for years. They occasionally lease out those routes which are currenty covered by Peidmont. Since the master plan of merging Colgan and Mesaba are slowly coming together, the flying is going to Mesaba since they will have plenty of Saabs available to handle the flying.

Regardless, any money made ends up in the same pockets!