calcapt

Mesa Air to be first U.S. carrier in China
Updated 12/21/2006 10:16 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | Subscribe to stories like this Subscribe to stories like this
By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY

Phoenix-based regional airline Mesa Air Group is set to become the first U.S. carrier to operate an airline within China, the world's fastest-growing air market.

Mesa and Chinese officials are announcing in China on Friday that Mesa is forming a new Beijing-based regional airline in a joint venture with Shenzhen Airlines, China's biggest private airline. Mesa will have a minority stake.

The yet-to-be-named venture could launch by late 2007 and operate 20, 50-seat regional jets by the time Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympics, Mesa Chairman Jonathan Ornstein said.

Mesa flies small jets for major U.S. airlines under brands such as Delta Connection and United Express. Regional jets are used by U.S. carriers to feed passengers from smaller cities to hub airports. The new venture comes as regional jet growth has peaked in the USA.

Ornstein has been eyeing the China market for two years, anticipating Chinese carriers would need regional jets to grow. He expects Mesa initially will help locate aircraft and provide maintenance, training and start-up expertise. Plans call for the new airline to fly 100 regional jets within five years. China now has about 70 regional jets flying for seven airlines.

American, Continental, Northwest and United airlines fly to China from major U.S. cities with wide-body jets. But they don't carry passengers within China, the world's most populous country. A large regional airline could help shape China's young aviation system and make in-country travel easier, said Washington-based aviation consultant Mo Garfinkle of GCW Consulting, which wrote the new airline's business plan. China "is the next natural market for RJs," Garfinkle said. "They're a game-changer."

Shenzhen Airlines President Li Kun called the joint venture "an important milestone." The new airline plans to link Beijing and a number of distant, large cities, some of which have millions of residents but no daily air service now.

CactusCrew

Are fortune cookies cheaper than pretzels ?

J Lorenzo Ornstein never ceases to amaze me ...

hatetobreakit2u

there not gonna pay relocation expenses either!

tyrael37

Sounds like an interesting gig. But I think that perhaps a partnership with a major carrier to establish a regional there might have been a much more preferred way to go. I don't know much, but that's what I would have figured. China is the next largest market! They also pay really well, but of course, this might start changing things there too!

POPA

Introducing Tso! airlines...

MikeB525

Is this dumbass venture going to be flown by American or Chinese pilots????

BYUFlyr

The following excerpt from the WSJ leads one to believe it will be flown by Chinese pilots and experienced expatriate pilots:

"The new airline will have to cope with some of the same operational hurdles that other carriers in China face in their domestic operations. These include the government's fixed prices for jet fuel and landing rights, and the state-run monopoly on ticket distribution. Another issue: China's pressing shortage of experienced pilots, which has led some carriers to recruit foreign cockpit crew members. Analysts predict competition could be tough, especially from the nation's three big state-owned airlines. And the new venture probably will be limited at first to flying from a single hub city unless it gets special approval from the national aviation regulators."

G-Dog

That is it, bring the quality of Mesa to China. Destroy communism from within.

JetJocF14

What would Hop-Sing say to Hoss Cartright. You lika pork don't you? Now gear down, Fwap down full, pass me an egg roll please. I do laundry when we get down. Now chop chop big boy.

C152driver

There was a long thread on Jetcarreers recently about some school in California that was hiring a bunch of CFI's to train Chinese pilots. It seems like the airline business is growing by leaps and bounds over there.