<PAGE>



                                                                EXHIBIT 31.2



                    CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                         PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE
                           SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Peter D. Hunt, certify that:

        1.   I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
             ended March 31, 2006 of Pinnacle Airlines Corp.;

        2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
             statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
             necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
             circumstances under which such statements were made, not
             misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

        3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
             financial information included in this report, fairly present in
             all material respects the financial condition, results of
             operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
             periods presented in this report;

        4.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible
             for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
             procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
             15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as
             defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
             registrant and have:

               a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                     caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                     designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                     information relating to the registrant, including its
                     consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                     within those entities, particularly during the period in
                     which this report is being prepared;

               b)    Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or
                     caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
                     designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable
                     assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting
                     and the preparation of financial statements for external
                     purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting
                     principles;

               c)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                     controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                     conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
                     controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
                     covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

               d)    Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                     internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                     during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that
                     has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                     materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
                     financial reporting; and



<PAGE>





        5.   The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
             based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
             financial reporting , to the registrant's auditors and the audit
             committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons
             performing the equivalent functions):

               a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                     design or operation of internal control over financial
                     reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
                     the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
                     report financial information; and

               b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                     management or other employees who have a significant role
                     in the registrant's internal control over financial
                     reporting.



Date:  April 27, 2006                         /s/ Peter D. Hunt
       -------------------                    ----------------------------------
                                              Peter D. Hunt
                                              Vice President and Chief Financial
                                              Officer