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| Founded | 1944 (as Mesaba Aviation)[1] | |||
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| Commenced operations | February 4, 1974[1] | |||
| Hubs | ||||
| Frequent-flyer program | SkyMiles Dividend Miles |
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| Airport lounge | Delta Sky Club | |||
| Alliance | SkyTeam (Delta Air Lines) Star Alliance (U.S. Airways) |
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| Fleet size | 86 | |||
| Destinations | 64 | |||
| Parent company | Pinnacle Airlines Corp. | |||
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee[2] | |||
| Key people | John Spanjers (President) | |||
| Website | http://www.mesaba.com | |||
Mesaba Airlines is an American regional airline based in Memphis, Tennessee[3] The airline operates under Mesaba Aviation, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation. Its flights are operated under the name Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines and US Airways Express for US Airways.
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Mesaba (from the Ojibwe language, misaabe: "Soaring Eagle")[4][5] was founded in 1944 by Gordy Newstrom in the Mesabi Range city of Coleraine, Minnesota and started operations in the same year under the name of Mesaba Aviation. It had one airplane, a Piper Cub purchased for $1,300, and it was used to shuttle employees of the Blandin Paper Mill Company from Grand Rapids, Minnesota to Minneapolis. In 1950 Newstrom moved the company to Grand Rapids.
In 1970, the Halverson family of Duluth, Minnesota bought Mesaba from Newstrom. On 4 February 1973, they started regularly scheduled airline services serving rural Minnesota communities.
The Swenson family of Thief River Falls, Minnesota purchased Mesaba Aviation in 1977. They took the company public in 1982 as the airline began flying to Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota, using a fleet of Beech 99s.
In 1983, Mesaba became a codeshare partner of Republic Airlines, flying turboprop aircraft from small regional communities to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. In 1986, after the merger of Republic Airlines and Northwest Orient Airlines, Mesaba transitioned their codeshare partnership, and began operations as a Northwest Airlink carrier.
Mesaba began feeder service from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to small airports across the east and midwest using Fokker F27 and Fairchild Metro aircraft in 1988. Maintenance bases were established both in Detroit and Wausau, Wisconsin.
In 1991, Mesaba began adding the first of 25 De Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft (leased from Northwest Airlines) to begin replacing the Fokker F-27's.
In 1995, Mesaba and Northwest reached an agreement to provide service with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. By 1996, Mesaba's fleet consisted of 55 aircraft, with projections of 2006 predicting a fleet of 114 aircraft. The company employed 1,540 employees.
At one time Mesaba had its headquarters on the grounds of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and in Fort Snelling, unincorporated Hennepin County, Minnesota.[6][7]
Northwest's Memphis hub was served exclusively by Airlink partner Express Airlines I, now Pinnacle Airlines, until 1997, when Mesaba began jet aircraft service using the Avro RJ-85, the first regional jet to be flown by either Airlink airline. Mesaba was split off at this time into Airways Corporation to address objections from Northwest over their operation of a jet fleet. Mesaba also became the first regional airline to have a first class seating option. Eventually, as Pinnacle transitioned to an all Canadair Regional Jet fleet, Mesaba took over all Northwest Airlink Saab 340 operations.
The year 2000 brought many changes to Mesaba. The company took delivery of its final Avro RJ, along with 11 new Saab 340 aircraft. This made Mesaba the operator of the largest fleet of Avro BAe 146/RJ aircraft (36) in the world, and the second-largest operator of Saab 340's.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mesaba was forced to reduce its workforce by 20% and achieve cost savings. In the fall of 2003, Northwest announced plans to begin retirement of the Avro jet fleet, beginning with five aircraft. The Avro jets, which comprise of about half of Mesaba's revenue, were according to Northwest inefficient and aging. However, Mesaba was able to negotiate a deal with Northwest allowing the Avro fleet to remain in service for the near future. In 2005, it was announced that Mesaba would receive 15 new Canadair Regional Jets that would eventually replace the Avro jets. Two examples were delivered in early September.
In early 1998, in recognition of the successful introduction of two new airliner types to the fleet (the Saab 340 and the Avro RJ-85 regional jet) while maintaining excellent operating performance Mesaba Airlines was presented with the Air Transport World "Regional Airline of the Year for 1997" award. Saab painted two new Saab 340 aircraft in special commemorative liveries celebrating both the award and Mesaba's 25th anniversary of scheduled airline service.
On August 31, 2005 Mesaba Airlines was named the winner of the 2005 Operational Excellence Award by AIG Aviation, a U.S. based underwriter of aviation insurance. The award has been presented only four times since its creation in 1998 and recognizes clients that exhibit a strong commitment to building quality safety and loss prevention programs. Mesaba was the unanimous selection out of an entry pool of more than 650 companies.[8]
On 14 September 2005, Northwest Airlines filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Subsequently, the airline withheld over $25 million in payments from their regional partners Mesaba and Pinnacle. Northwest proceeded to announce plans to ground the entire Avro fleet by Q1 2007, 10 Saab 340B aircraft by 24 January 2006, and to halt the delivery of the 13 remaining Canadair Regional Jets, leaving Mesaba with an awkward and expensive fleet of two aircraft. Facing rising fuel costs, downsizing plans, and lack of income from Northwest, Mesaba Aviation filed for Chapter 11 on 13 October 2005.
In an interview in January 2006, Mesaba President John Spanjers announced that the Mesaba fleet would be cut in half by the end of the year. Twelve Avro jets had already been removed from the fleet, and the balance would be grounded by the end of the year. 10 Saab 340 "B" model aircraft were returned to Pinnacle Airlines (from whom they were leased) during January 2006 while the 3 remaining "A" model Saab 340's and the two Canadair Regional Jets that had been delivered to Mesaba prior to bankruptcy will leave the fleet before mid-year. These changes left Mesaba with a fleet of 49 Saab 340 turboprops.
As of January 2006, the company employed 3,707 people.
On 14 April 2006 the company announced reductions of the RJ85 fleet, at Northwest Airlines' direction. RJ-85's ceased flying out of Memphis on June 8, and on October 31 the last RJ85 disappeared from Minneapolis/St. Paul. The last RJ85 aircraft was retired in Detroit on December 4, 2006.
Separately it was announced that one of the two 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets operated by Mesaba would be taken by Northwest to start the flying operations (expected in late 2006) of newly formed Northwest Airlines subsidiary Compass Airlines.
By the end of October 2006, all three of the major unions representing the pilots,[9] flight attendants,[10] and mechanics[11] reached tentative agreements that still must be approved by the membership. On November 27, 2006, the three unions announced that their membership had ratified the new agreements.
In December 2006, Northwest Airlines said it may purchase Mesaba Airlines from current owner MAIR Holdings and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Tentative agreement to the sale were made; however, the merger could not have been approved without going through bankruptcy board proceedings and approvals of regulators and various interest groups.
On April 24, 2007, Mesaba Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection and was officially acquired by Northwest Airlines.[12]
With the merging of Northwest Airlines into Delta, Mesaba as part of the overall merger and a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc., will be undergoing numerous changes. One of which will be the relocation of a portion of the Saab 340 fleet to Atlanta. Delta has also allocated to Mesaba five more CRJ-900s to be operated out of Salt Lake City.
Mesaba began flying five CRJ-900's for Delta Connection February 12, 2009 with destinations Las Vegas, San Francisco, Denver, Houston, Dallas/Ft Worth, Minneapolis/St.Paul and Phoenix among others.
On March 2, 2009, Mesaba began flights to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Tri-Cities Regional Airport, Tennessee, on Saab 340B+ aircraft based in Atlanta.
On April 1, 2009, Mesaba Airlines began operating non-stop service from Tallahassee to Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Lauderdale using its Saab 340B+ aircraft.
On November 24, 2009, Mesaba was one of three airlines, including Continental and ExpressJet, fined by the US Department of Transportation for delaying passengers from deplaning for over 6 hours overnight in Rochester, MN on August 8, 2009. Mesaba's civil penalty was $75,000, 50% more than the fine for Continental and ExpressJet. It was the first fine ever from the DOT for misconduct related to passengers' being held in planes on the tarmac for an extended time.
When the ExpressJet flight was diverted to Rochester due to bad weather in Minneapolis, Mesaba personnel in the Rochester terminal agreed in advance to help deplane the passengers. However, when the plane landed, Mesaba personnel reneged, stating that there were no Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel in the terminal. The DOT stated that the rules for such circumstances allow passengers to be deplaned and kept in a secure area, even when there are no TSA personnel available. The DOT ruled that the actions by Mesaba personnel constituted an "unfair and deceptive practice" because they had agreed to deplane the passengers. Continental and ExpressJet were fined because they did not follow their own internal procedures and passenger commitments, and were ultimately responsible for the passengers' welfare.
Since the incident, the ramp personnel in Rochester along with other ground stations handled by Mesaba, Comair, and Compass, have since been merged and renamed Regional Elite Airline Services. REAS, as it is called, operates as a standalone company and provides ground services to Delta, Delta Connection, United Express, and Continental Express aircraft at outstations and the main hubs.
On July 1, 2010, Delta Air Lines announced that Mesaba had been sold to Memphis, TN-based Pinnacle Airlines Corp. for $62 million. The same day, Pinnacle Airlines Corp. said in a press release that they intend to make Mesaba Airlines an all-turboprop fleet, whereas Pinnacle Airlines will remain an all-regional jet fleet. Pinnacle's other subsidiary, Colgan Air, will be retired, and Mesaba is expected to inherit their fleet of Saab 340s and Bombardier Q400s. Mesaba Airlines announced that its headquarters in Eagan, MN will close on December 26, 2011; Pinnacle announced that it will keep the Mesaba corporate name but the headquarters will be located in Memphis, TN.[13][14]
In 2011, Mesaba Airlines began operating flights out of New York's LaGuardia Airport for US Airways under the US Airways Express brand, the service utilizes Saab 340 aircraft and replace the current service being operated by Colgan Air.
Mesaba operates a fleet of turboprop and turbofan powered regional airliners from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Memphis International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on regional flights primarily to small-to-medium sized cities.
Mesaba began operating as US Airways Express in March 2011, replacing Colgan Air, with 7 Saab 340 aircraft to 8 destinations from New York LaGuardia Airport:
The destinations are Charlottesville, VA; Manchester, NH; Ithaca, NY; Syracuse, NY; Providence, RI; and Washington, DC (Dulles) as well as Martha's Vineyard, MA; and Nantucket, MA (Seasonally)
The Mesaba Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of September 7, 2011) [15]:
| Aircraft | Total | Options | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | Y | Total | ||||
| Bombardier CRJ-200ER/LR | 19 | — | 0 | 50 | 50 | |
| Bombardier CRJ-900ER | 41 | 29 | 12 | 64 | 76 | largest operator for CRJ-900 |
| Saab 340B+ | 22 | — | 0 | 34 | 34 | Operated as US Airways Express |
| Aircraft | Year Retired | Replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avro RJ-85 | 2006 | Bombardier CRJ-900 | Majority transferred to Cityjet (Dublin, Ireland) |
| Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner | 1997 | Saab 340 | Converted to freighters, or in the Bahamas |
| De Havilland Canada Dash 8 | 1998 | Saab 340 | Sold to Piedmont |
| Fokker F27 | Dash 8 | Scrapped | |
| Beechcraft Model 99 | Metroliner | ||
| Saab 340A | 2006 | Saab 340B+ |
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