Mesaba Airlines files for bankruptcy

By wire services
Published October 14, 2005

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MINNEAPOLIS - Regional carrier Mesaba Airlines followed Northwest Airlines Corp. into bankruptcy Thursday, a victim of Northwest's cuts as the big airline shrinks to try to fix its financial problems.

Mesaba parent MAIR Holdings Inc. said the bankruptcy was prompted by "cash shortages and significant fleet changes and uncertainties imposed on it by Northwest Airlines," which is Mesaba's only customer.

The company said it expects to keep flying while in bankruptcy.

Mesaba's schedule, passengers and planes come from Northwest, and its financial problems did, too. Flying under the Northwest Airlink name, Mesaba ferries passengers between Northwest hubs and outposts around the upper Midwest, where it is often the only air carrier.

Northwest entered bankruptcy court Sept. 14 and is cutting its domestic schedule to avoid unprofitable routes.

Also . . .

ATA STOPS PLANS TO SERVE SARASOTA: ATA Airlines, a discount carrier seeking to trim costs and exit bankruptcy, will cut 100 jobs as it reduces flights in Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis and Newark, New Jersey. The unit of ATA Holdings Corp. said it will suspend plans to start new service in Sarasota, Chicago and Miami, which was scheduled to start Oct. 29.

COMAIR CUTTING 650 JOBS: Regional airline Comair said Thursday that it will cut as many as 650 more jobs, wages and its fleet to save as much as $70-million a year as parent Delta Air Lines Inc. tries to reshape itself for survival while operating under bankruptcy protection. Combined with job cuts announced earlier, the number of jobs Comair is eliminating will be as many as 1,000, or about 14 percent of its work force.

AMERICAN EAGLE CANCELS 558 FLIGHTS: AMR Corp.'s regional affiliate, American Eagle, has canceled 558 scheduled flights this month because of rising jet fuel costs. The canceled flights, about 22 per day, represent just more than 1 percent of American Eagle's schedule of 1,700 daily flights.