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| Founded | 1944 (1944) (asMesaba Aviation)[1] | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | February 4, 1973 (1973-02-04)[1] | ||||||
| Ceased operations | January 4, 2012 (2012-01-04) (merged withPinnacle Airlines to formEndeavor Air) | ||||||
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| Headquarters | Eagan, Minnesota, U.S.[2] | ||||||
| Key people | John Spanjers (President) | ||||||
Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (operating asMesaba Airlines) was aregional airline in theUnited States that operated from 1944 until it merged withPinnacle Airlines in 2012 to formEndeavor Air. It was based inEagan, Minnesota.[3] From 2010 to 2012, the airline was a wholly owned subsidiary ofPinnacle Airlines Corp. withcode sharing flights operated asDelta Connection forDelta Air Lines andUS Airways Express forUS Airways. Previously, the airline operated code sharing service asNorthwest Airlink and Northwest Jetlink on behalf ofNorthwest Airlines which subsequently merged with Delta. Mesaba also previously operated connecting flight services in association withRepublic 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 thePinnacle Airlines operating certificate. Mesaba's operating certificate was surrendered on July 31, 2012.
Mesaba (from theOjibwe language,misaabe: "Soaring Eagle")[4][5] was founded in 1944 by Gordy Newstrom in theMesabi Range city ofColeraine, Minnesota, and started operations in the same year under the name of Mesaba Aviation. It had one airplane, aPiper Cub purchased for $1,300, and it was used to shuttle employees of the Blandin Paper Mill Company fromGrand Rapids, Minnesota, toMinneapolis. In 1950 Newstrom moved the company to Grand Rapids.[6]
In 1973, the Halverson family ofDuluth, Minnesota, bought Mesaba from Newstrom. Subsequently, they started regularly scheduled airline services servingSpencer, Iowa;Ely, MN;Virginia, MN; and Duluth.[6]
The Swenson family ofThief River Falls, Minnesota, purchased Mesaba Aviation in 1977. They took the company public in 1982[7] as the airline began flying to destinations inMinnesota,North Dakota andSouth Dakota withBeechcraft Model 99 commuter turboprops.[6]
In late 1984, Mesaba became acodeshare partner ofNorthwest Orient Airlines, flying regional and commuterturboprop aircraft asNorthwest Airlink from small regional communities to the hub atMinneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport.[6]
Mesaba began feeder service fromDetroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport to small airports across the east and midwest utilizingFokker F27 andFairchild Metroliner turboprop aircraft in 1988. Maintenance bases were established both in Detroit andWausau, Wisconsin. The same year, Mesaba managed to add an additional 325 employees. It also expanded its network to four new routes includingCleveland,Dayton andAkron in Ohio, andErie, Pennsylvania.[6]
In 1991, Mesaba built two new hangar facilities, in Detroit and Wausau, Wisconsin, and added the first of 25de Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop aircraft, leased from Northwest Airlines.[6]
In 1995, Mesaba and Northwest reached an agreement to provide service withSaab 340 turboprop aircraft.[6] By 1997, Mesaba added additional flights to several new cities includingAspen, Colorado,Bozeman, Montana andMontreal in Canada.[6] In 1999,Forbes placed Mesaba at number 41 on their list of Top 200 Small Companies in America.[6]
The Northwest Airlines hub in Memphis was exclusively served by Airlink partnerExpress Airlines I, which later operated asPinnacle Airlines and is nowEndeavor Air, until 1997 when Mesaba initiated its firstjet aircraft service using theAvro RJ85, the first jetliner type to be flown by either Airlink airline. The Avro RJ85 jetliner, which was a later model version of theBAe 146-200 featuring an improved cabin and more efficient engines, was operated onNorthwest Jetlink flights with the aircraft being configured with 16 first class seats and 53 coach seats. This marked the first time a regional airline had offered first class as well as a coach on a regional jet aircraft. Mesaba was split off at this time into Airways Corporation in order to address objections from mainline pilots flying for Northwest concerning Mesaba's operation of a jet fleet. Mesaba also became the first regional airline to have a first class seating option via theAvro RJ85 jet, with this British-built four-engine aircraft being approximately twice as large as the 50-passenger regional jets manufactured byCanadair andEmbraer. Eventually, as Pinnacle transitioned to anBombardier CRJ regional jet fleet, Mesaba took overNorthwest AirlinkSaab 340 turboprop operations.
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 theSeptember 11 terrorist attacks, Mesaba was forced to reduce its workforce by 400 employees to achieve cost savings.[8] 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 newCanadair CRJ regional jets that would eventually replace the larger Avro jets.[citation needed]
On September 14, 2005,Northwest Airlines filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.[9] Subsequently, the airline withheld overUS$25 million in payments from their regional partners, Mesaba andPinnacle. Northwest proceeded to announce plans to ground the entire Avro jet fleet by Q1 2007, ten Saab 340B aircraft by January 2006, and also halt the delivery of the 13 remaining CRJs, leaving Mesaba with an awkward and expensive fleet of two aircraft types. Facing rising fuel costs, downsizing plans, and lack of income from Northwest, Mesaba filed forChapter 11 Bankruptcy on October 13, 2005.[10]
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. TwelveAvro RJ85 jets had already been removed from the fleet, and the balance would be grounded by the end of the year. TenSaab 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 twoBombardier 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.[citation needed]
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-seatCRJ200 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 subsidiaryCompass Airlines.
By the end of October 2006, all three of the major unions representing thepilots,[11]flight attendants,[12] andmechanics[13] 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 ownerMAIR 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.[14]
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 moreCRJ900 regional jets to Mesaba to be operated out of Delta'sSalt Lake City hub. In 2009, several routes were added, utilizing the new CRJ900s and the existing Saab 340 aircraft.
On November 24, 2009, Mesaba was one of three airlines, includingContinental Airlines andExpressJet,fined by theUS Department of Transportation (DOT) for delaying passengers from deplaning for over six hours overnight inRochester, MN on August 8, 2009. Mesaba's civil penalty wasUS$75,000, 50% more than the fine for Continental and ExpressJet.[15] 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 inMinneapolis, Mesaba personnel in the Rochester terminal agreed in advance to help deplane the passengers. However, when the plane landed, Mesaba personnelreneged, stating that there were noTSA 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.[15]
Since the incident, the ramp personnel in Rochester along with other ground stations handled by Mesaba,Comair, and Compass, have since been merged and renamedRegional Elite Airline Services (REAS).
On July 1, 2010,Delta Air Lines sold Mesaba toPinnacle Airlines Corporation for $62 million.[16] The same day, Pinnacle Airlines Corporation announced that they intended to have Mesaba Airlines operate an all-turboprop fleet, whereas sister company,Pinnacle Airlines, would remain an all-jet operator. It was also announced that Pinnacle's other subsidiary,Colgan Air, would cease to exist, and Mesaba would inherit the Colgan fleet ofSaab 340s andBombardier Q400s. In time, all aircraft and personnel were transferred to Pinnacle Airlines.[2][17]
In 2011, Mesaba Airlines began operating flights out ofNew York City'sLaGuardia Airport forUS Airways under theUS Airways Express brand. This codeshare service utilizedSaab 340 aircraft and replaced the service that was being operated byColgan Air.
Ultimately Colgan'sBombardier Q400 turboprops were never transferred to Mesaba as they were retired from service byUnited Express, whom they operated for on acode sharing basis on behalf ofUnited 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.
In early 1998, in recognition of the successful introduction of two new airliner types to the fleet (theSaab 340 and theAvro RJ85) while maintaining excellent operating performance, Mesaba Airlines was presented with theAir Transport World (ATW) "Regional Airline of the Year for 1997" award.Saab AB painted two newSaab 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 byAIG 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.[18]
Over the years, Mesaba grew to operate a fleet ofturboprop andturbofan powered airliners fromMinneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport,Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport,Memphis International Airport,John F. Kennedy International Airport,Salt Lake City International Airport andHartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport oncode sharing flights primarily to small-to-medium-sized cities on behalf of its major airline partners.
Mesaba began operating asUS Airways Express on behalf ofUS Airways in March 2011, replacingColgan Air service, with sevenSaab 340 aircraft to eight destinations served from New YorkLaGuardia Airport:Charlottesville, VA;Manchester, NH;Ithaca, NY;Syracuse, NY;Providence, RI; andWashington Dulles, as well asMartha's Vineyard, MA andNantucket, MA with both of these destinations being served on a seasonal basis.
Mesaba was a small independent commuter air carrier at this time in June 1981 operatingBeechcraft 99 turboprop aircraft on just one linear route:Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN -Brainerd, MN -Grand Rapids, MN.[19]
Mesaba was operatingNorthwest Airlinkcode sharing flights in June 1986 forNorthwest Airlines (which was operating as Northwest Orient at this time) with 19-passengerFairchild Swearingen Metroliner ("Metro III" model) and 48-passengerFokker F27 turboprops serving the following destinations:[20]
Those destinations noted inbold were served in May 1999 by Mesaba with aAvro RJ85 jet aircraft operating as Northwest Jetlinkcode sharing flights from the Northwest hub located at theMinneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) with Northwest Airlink code share service from MSP to other destinations being operated by Mesaba withSaab 340 turboprop aircraft at this time:[21]
According to theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest JetlinkAvro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Minneapolis/St. Paul toGreen Bay, WI,Kalamazoo, MI,La Crosse, WI,Rochester, MN andSaginaw, MI in addition to the above destinations listed in bold.[22]
In May 1999, Mesaba was operating all of its Northwest Airlinescode sharing flights from the Northwest hub located at theMemphis International Airport (MEM) withAvro RJ85 jet aircraft with these Northwest Jetlink destinations noted inbold:[21]
Another regional air carrier,Express Airlines I, was also operating code sharing flights at this time from Memphis for Northwest utilizing turboprop aircraft for its Northwest Airlink service.[23]
According to theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest JetlinkAvro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Memphis toGrand Rapids, MI andRaleigh/Durham, NC.[24]
Those destinations noted inbold were served in May 1999 by Mesaba withAvro RJ85 jet aircraft operating as Northwest Jetlinkcode sharing flights from the Northwest hub located at theDetroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) with Northwest Airlink code share service from DTW to other destinations being operated by Mesaba withSaab 340 turboprop aircraft as this time:[21]
According to theOfficial Airline Guide (OAG), by October 1999 Mesaba had extended its Northwest JetlinkAvro RJ85 service from the Northwest hub in Detroit toFlint, MI,Lexington, KY,Saginaw, MI,South Bend, IN andTraverse City, MI in addition to the destinations listed above in bold.[25]
The Mesaba Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft (as of September 7, 2011):[26]
| Aircraft | Total | Options | Passengers | Notes | ||
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| F | Y | Total | ||||
| Bombardier CRJ200 | 19 | — | 0 | 50 | 50 | |
| Bombardier CRJ900 | 41 | 29 | 12 | 64 | 76 | |
| Aircraft | Year retired | Notes | Replacement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fokker F27 | Scrapped | Dash 8-100 | |
| Beechcraft Model 99 | Fairchild Metroliner | ||
| Bombardier Dash 8-100 | 1998 | Sold toPiedmont Airlines | Saab 340 |
| Fairchild Metroliner III | 1997 | Converted to freighters or operated in the Bahamas | Saab 340 |
| Saab 340 | 2011[citation needed] | Bombardier CRJ200 | |
| Avro RJ85 | 2006 | Operated asNorthwest Jetlink flights on behalf ofNorthwest Airlines. Aircraft were configured with 16 first class seats and 53 coach seats.[27] Majority transferred toCityjet (Dublin,Ireland) One previously operatedcrashed in 2016 | Bombardier CRJ900 |
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