Mesaba Airlines

Mesaba Airlines
IATA code :	XJ
ICAO code :	MES
Call sign :	MESABA
Founding:	1944 (as Mesaba Aviation)
Operation stopped:	2012
Seat:	Eagan , United States
Turnstile :	Minneapolis-Saint Paul; Detroit; Memphis;
Alliance :	SkyTeam
Frequent Flyer Program :	WorldPerks
Fleet size:	83
Aims:	national and continental
	Mesaba Airlines ceased operations in 2012. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Mesaba Airlines , actually Mesaba Aviation, Inc. , was an American airline based in Eagan , Minnesota . It operated regional and feeder flights for Delta Air Lines (previously Northwest Airlines ) under the Delta Connection brand .

history

Mesaba was founded by Gordon Newstrom in Coleraine , Minnesota in 1944 and began operating under the name Mesaba Aviation that same year . The name means "sleeping giant" in the Ojibwa language . She owned a Piper J-3 Cub and used it for the Blandin Paper Mill Company's shuttle service from Grand Rapids , Minnesota to Minneapolis. In 1950 the headquarters were moved to Grand Rapids.

In 1970 the Halverson family of Duluth, Minnesota bought Newstrom's company. In 1973, Mesaba began liner service between multiple destinations in Minnesota.

In 1977, Mesaba was sold to the Swenson family of Thief River Falls , Minnesota. It changed the corporate form in 1982 to a company and expanded the route network to the states of Iowa , North Dakota and South Dakota . For this she used a fleet of Beechcraft 99 .

In 1983, Mesaba became a codeshare partner of Republic Airline and flew turboprop aircraft from small airports to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. After Republic Airline began working with Northwest Orient in 1986, Measaba ended the codeshare agreement and started operations as Northwest Airlink.

Beginning in 1988, Mesaba began feeder flights from small airports in the east and midwest to the Detroit Metropolitan County Airport. For this purpose, Fokker F-27 and Fairchild Metro machines were used. The main bases were Detroit and Wausau , Wisconsin.

In 1991, Mesaba leased 25 de Havilland Canada DHC-8s from Northwest Airlines to replace the Fokker F-27s.

In 1995, Northwest took over 29.7% of the shares in Mesaba; both made an agreement to use Saab 340 turboprop machines. By 1996 the Mesaba fleet increased to 55 aircraft.

The Memphis hub of Northwest Airlines was served exclusively by Airlink partner Express Airlines (now Pinnacle Airlines ) until 1997 , when Mesaba began using Avro RJ 85 jets as the first regional airline . Mesaba was also the first regional airline to offer a 1st class option. Due to the use of new Canadair regional jets by Pinnacle, Mesaba took over all Northwest Airlink flights in which Saab 340 aircraft were used.

In 2000, Mesaba received its last ordered RJ 85s and 11 new Saab 340s, making Mesaba the world's largest operator of Avro BAe 146 / RJ aircraft and the second largest operator of Saab 340.

After September 11, 2001 , Mesaba reduced operations by 20 percent to save costs. In 2003, Northwest planned to re-deploy the RJ 85 fleet, starting with 5 aircraft. Mesaba signed a contract with Northwest to use their RJ 85 fleet for the next few years. In 2005 it was announced that Mesaba had obtained the exclusive rights to the next 15 Canadair regional jets for use by Airlink, possibly to replace the Avro jets.

On September 14, 2005, Northwest Airlines fell under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. As a result, Northwest withheld over $ 25 million in payments for Mesaba and Pinnacles. As a result, Mesaba also fell under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The fleet was halved. The Avro RJ were supposed to be replaced by Bombardier CRJ anyway and remained on the ground. Of the Saab 340s leased from Pinnacles, 10 were returned. What remained was a fleet of 49 Saab 340s.

In December 2006, Northwest announced the purchase of Mesaba from MAIR Holding. On April 24, 2007, Mesaba left bankruptcy protection and was completely taken over by Northwest Airlines. In July 2010 Mesaba was acquired by Pinnacle Airlines Corporation and finally integrated into it in early 2012.

Destinations

Most recently, Mesaba operated regional routes from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport , Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Memphis International Airport to small and medium-sized airports under the Delta Connection brand for Delta Air Lines .

fleet

As of November 2011, the Mesaba Airlines fleet consisted of 83 aircraft:

19 Bombardier CRJ200 (operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines )
41 Bombardier CRJ900 (operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines)
23 Saab 340B (16 operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines; 7 operated as US Airways Express for US Airways )