Product Code Database
Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (operating as Mesaba Airlines) was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1944 until it merged with Pinnacle Airlines in 2012 to form Endeavor Air. It was based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012, the airline was a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. with code sharing flights operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines and US Airways Express for US Airways. Previously, the airline operated code sharing service as Northwest Airlink and Northwest Jetlink on behalf of Northwest Airlines which subsequently merged with Delta. Mesaba also previously operated connecting flight services in association with Republic Airlines before this air carrier was subsequently merged into Northwest. Mesaba Airlines effectively ceased operations on January 4, 2012, when all aircraft and personnel were transitioned to the Pinnacle Airlines operating certificate. Mesaba's operating certificate was surrendered on July 31, 2012.
In 1973, the Halverson family of Duluth, Minnesota, bought Mesaba from Newstrom. Subsequently, they started regularly scheduled airline services serving Spencer, Iowa, Ely, MN, Virginia, MN, and Duluth.
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 destinations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota with Beechcraft Model 99 commuter turboprops.
In 1983, Mesaba became a codeshare partner of Republic Airlines, flying regional and commuter 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 its codeshare partnership and began operations as a Northwest Airlink carrier on behalf of Northwest Airlines.
Mesaba began feeder service from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to small airports across the east and midwest utilizing Fokker F27 and Fairchild Metroliner turboprop aircraft in 1988. Maintenance bases were established both in Detroit and Wausau, Wisconsin. The same year, Mesaba managed to add an additional 325 employees. It also expanded its network to four new routes including Cleveland, Dayton and Akron in Ohio, and Erie, Pennsylvania.
In 1991, Mesaba built two new hangar facilities, in Detroit and Wausau, Wisconsin, and added the first of 25 de Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop aircraft, leased from Northwest Airlines.
In 1995, Mesaba and Northwest reached an agreement to provide service with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. By 1997, Mesaba added additional flights to several new cities including Aspen, Colorado, Bozeman, Montana and Montreal in Canada. In 1999, Forbes placed Mesaba at number 41 on their list of Top 200 Small Companies in America.
In 2000, the company took delivery of its final Avro RJ85 jet, along with eleven new Saab 340 turboprop aircraft. This made Mesaba the operator of the largest fleet of Avro RJ85 aircraft in the world with 36 of the type, and the second-largest operator of the Saab 340.
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mesaba was forced to reduce its workforce by 400 employees to achieve cost savings. In the fall of 2003, Northwest wanted to retire the Avro jet fleet, which comprised about half of Mesaba's revenue. They were inefficient and aging, according to Northwest. However, Mesaba was able to negotiate a deal with Northwest which enabled the Avro fleet to remain in service. In 2005, Mesaba began receiving fifteen new Canadair CRJ regional jets that would eventually replace the larger Avro jets.
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 RJ85 jets had already been removed from the fleet, and the balance would be grounded by the end of the year. Ten Saab 340 "B" model aircraft were returned to Pinnacle Airlines (from whom they were leased) during January 2006 while the three remaining "A" model Saab 340's and the two Bombardier CRJ regional jets that had been delivered to Mesaba prior to bankruptcy would leave the fleet before mid-year. These changes left Mesaba with a fleet of 49 Saab 340 turboprops.
On April 14, 2006, the company announced reductions of the Avro RJ85 fleet, at Northwest Airlines' direction. The RJ85 jets ceased flying out of Memphis on June 8, Minneapolis/St. Paul on October 31, and Detroit on December 4, 2006. Separately it was announced that one of the two 50-seat CRJ200 regional jets operated by Mesaba would be transferred to Northwest in order to initiate flying operations (expected in late 2006) for newly formed Northwest Airlines subsidiary Compass Airlines.
By the end of October 2006, all three of the major unions representing the aviator, , and Mesaba Aviation Mechanics Agree To Accept Wage Cuts (Detroit Free Press: November 1, 2006) reached tentative agreements that still needed to 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 planned to purchase Mesaba Airlines from owner MAIR Holdings and operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Tentative agreements concerning 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.
With the merging of Northwest Airlines into Delta Air Lines, Mesaba underwent numerous changes as a subsidiary of the new company. A portion of the Saab 340 fleet was relocated to Atlanta. Delta also allocated five more CRJ900 regional jets to Mesaba to be operated out of Delta's Salt Lake City hub. In 2009, several routes were added, utilizing the new CRJ900s and the existing Saab 340 aircraft.
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 , stating that there were no 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).
In 2011, Mesaba Airlines began operating flights out of New York City's LaGuardia Airport for US Airways under the US Airways Express brand. This codeshare service utilized Saab 340 aircraft and replaced the service that was being operated by Colgan Air.
Ultimately Colgan's Bombardier Q400 turboprops were never transferred to Mesaba as they were retired from service by United Express, whom they operated for on a code sharing basis on behalf of United Airlines, before the transition from Colgan to Mesaba took place.
On January 4, 2012, Mesaba was folded into Pinnacle Airlines. Mesaba's operating certificate was surrendered on July 31, 2012. Mesaba Airlines ended operations as one of the world's safest air carriers with no fatalities recorded during its 68 years of operations.
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. Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal: September 1, 2005
Mesaba began operating as US Airways Express on behalf of US Airways in March 2011, replacing Colgan Air service, with seven Saab 340 aircraft to eight destinations served from New York LaGuardia Airport: Charlottesville, VA; Manchester, NH; Ithaca, NY; Syracuse, NY; Providence, RI; and Washington Dulles, as well as Martha's Vineyard, MA and Nantucket, MA with both of these destinations being served on a seasonal basis.
According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest Jetlink Avro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Minneapolis/St. Paul to Green Bay, WI, Kalamazoo, MI, La Crosse, WI, Rochester, MN and Saginaw, MI in addition to the above destinations listed in bold.Oct. 1, 1999 OAG North America Pocket Flight Guide, Minneapolis/St. Paul flight schedules
nowiki/>
According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest Jetlink Avro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Memphis to Grand Rapids, MI and Raleigh/Durham, NC.Oct. 1, 1999 OAG North America Pocket Flight Guide, Memphis flight schedules
According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest Jetlink Avro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Detroit to Flint, MI, Lexington, KY, Saginaw, MI, South Bend, IN and Traverse City, MI in addition to the destinations listed above in bold.Oct. 1, 1999 OAG North America Pocket Flight Guide, Detroit flight schedules
| Bombardier CRJ200 | 19 | — | 0 | 50 | 50 | |
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 64 | 76 |
| Fokker F27 | Scrapped | Dash 8-100 | |
| Beechcraft Model 99 | Fairchild Metroliner | ||
| Bombardier Dash 8-100 | 1998 | Sold to Piedmont Airlines | Saab 340 |
| Fairchild Metroliner III | 1997 | Converted to freighters or operated in the Bahamas | Saab 340 |
| Saab 340 | 2011 | Bombardier CRJ200 | |
| Avro RJ85 | 2006 | Operated as Northwest Jetlink flights on behalf of Northwest Airlines. Aircraft were configured with 16 first class seats and 53 coach seats.OAG Flight Guide Supplement, January–March 2006, Aircraft seating plans, Northwest Airlines ARJ (Avro Regional Jet) seat map Majority transferred to Cityjet (Dublin, Ireland) One previously operated crashed in 2016 | Bombardier CRJ900 |
|
|
