Who owns mesaba airlines

That year, Mesaba Airlines also entered into an agreement with Northwest Airlines, which called for Northwest Airlines to lease 25 deHavilland Dash aircraft on behalf of Mesaba Airlines. These passenger aircraft would be delivered from through The new world-class facility offered expanded and improved passenger seating, convenient shuttle trips to the aircraft, and significant reduction in distance the passengers had to walk to the other Northwest concourses.

Four months later, in March , Mesaba announced the purchase commitment of 50 passenger Saab aircraft with the option of purchasing 22 additional aircraft. The order included a mix of new and pre-owned aircraft, including 20 pre-owned Saab A and 30 new Saab Bplus aircraft.

To accommodate the increased passenger traffic and aircraft in use, Mesaba began a major facility upgrade at its Minneapolis hub in May The upgrade included improved passenger seating and the addition of workstations with telephone and modem hookups for business travelers.

Improved lighting and signage was also included in the refurbishment. In the next month, Mesaba began taking delivery of the Saab aircraft at the rate of two per month.

By October , Mesaba executed a separate agreement with Northwest Airlines for the operation of 12 new Avro RJ85 aircraft, which allowed the company to be the first regional airline in the United States to offer its passengers a first-class cabin. Paul International Airport in May The new terminal was modeled after the successful Detroit regional terminal, whose design to support expansion of service proved valuable over time.

This same year, Mesaba announced that it signed an agreement to fly six additional Avro RJ85 regional jets for Northwest Airlines which brought the total number of RJ85s to In addition to this, Mesaba and Northwest announced plans to amend their existing regional jet agreement to increase from 18 to 36 the number of Avro RJ85 aircraft that would be operated by Mesaba on the behalf of Northwest over a ten-year period.

On August 1, , the airline expanded its operation to include services to 14 markets that were previously served by Express Airlines, Inc.

These additions alone broadened the airline's route map over 1, miles. Bozeman and Kalispell, Montana service was also added to the route system, stretching Mesaba's service to western Montana. The company retired the last ten of its older deHavilland Dash 8 aircraft in December By the end of , Mesaba boasted a fleet of 80 state-of-the-art jet and jet-prop aircraft, offering over daily departures to 91 cities in 18 states and three Canadian provinces.

Facilities continued to keep up with the expansion as well. The facility was designed to house up to four Saab aircraft. Mesaba also planned the facility to provide temporary housing for its Rhinelander crew. Paul facilities. Throughout Mesaba celebrated its 25th anniversary of scheduled commercial service.

To mark the occasion, the airline placed in service a new Saab Bplus aircraft with a special commemorative paint scheme. The aircraft was named The Silver City Flyer. This was the first time in five years that a U. As it headed into the next century, Mesaba was a prominent regional airline poised for a bright future. Building on a 46 percent increase in air traffic and reportedly high consumer satisfaction, the company slogan announced: "Mesaba, An Airline To Call Your Own.

James Press, As consumers, we often take for granted all the hard work that goes into building a great company. We see them around but we don't know what goes on behind the scenes.

Finally, we can read about how these great companies came about with Company Histories. Copyright c Company-Histories. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy. Quick search. Company Histories As consumers, we often take for granted all the hard work that goes into building a great company. Share This Story - Share. Mesaba Airlines is an American regional airline based in Eagan, Minnesota. Mesaba from the Ojibwe language , misaabe : "Soaring Eagle" [ 5 ] [ 6 ] was founded in by Gordy Newstrom in the Mesabi Range city of Coleraine, Minnesota and started operations in the same year under the name of Mesaba Aviation.

In Newstrom moved the company to Grand Rapids. On 4 February , they started regularly scheduled airline services serving rural Minnesota communities. They took the company public in as the airline began flying to Iowa , North Dakota and South Dakota , using a fleet of Beech 99s.

In , Mesaba became a codeshare partner of Republic Airlines , flying turboprop aircraft from small regional communities to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. In , 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 Maintenance bases were established both in Detroit and Wausau, Wisconsin. In , Mesaba and Northwest reached an agreement to provide service with Saab turboprop aircraft. By , Mesaba's fleet consisted of 55 aircraft, with projections of predicting a fleet of aircraft.

The company employed 1, employees. At one time Mesaba had its headquarters on the grounds of Minneapolis-St. Northwest's Memphis hub was served exclusively by Airlink partner Express Airlines I , now Pinnacle Airlines , until , when Mesaba began jet aircraft service using the Avro RJ , 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. The year brought many changes to Mesaba. The company took delivery of its final Avro RJ, along with 11 new Saab aircraft. In the fall of , 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 , 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 , in recognition of the successful introduction of two new airliner types to the fleet the Saab and the Avro RJ regional jet while maintaining excellent operating performance Mesaba Airlines was presented with the Air Transport World "Regional Airline of the Year for " award.

Saab painted two new Saab aircraft in special commemorative liveries celebrating both the award and Mesaba's 25th anniversary of scheduled airline service. The award has been presented only four times since its creation in 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 companies. Northwest proceeded to announce plans to ground the entire Avro fleet by Q1 , 10 Saab B aircraft by 24 January , 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 In an interview in January , 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. These changes left Mesaba with a fleet of 49 Saab turboprops. On 14 April the company announced reductions of the RJ85 fleet, at Northwest Airlines' direction. The last RJ85 aircraft was retired in Detroit on December 4, Separately it was announced that one of the two seat Canadair Regional Jets operated by Mesaba would be taken by Northwest to start the flying operations expected in late of newly formed Northwest Airlines subsidiary Compass Airlines.

By the end of October , all three of the major unions representing the pilots , [ 10 ] flight attendants , [ 11 ] and mechanics [ 12 ] reached tentative agreements that still must be approved by the membership. On November 27, , the three unions announced that their membership had ratified the new agreements. 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, , Mesaba Airlines emerged from bankruptcy protection and was officially acquired by Northwest Airlines. One of which will be the relocation of a portion of the Saab fleet to Atlanta.