page_title: Mesaba Airlines
section_title: Growth into jet operations
hierarchical_section_title: Mesaba Airlines / History / Growth into jet operations
caption_attribution_description: English: A Mesaba Airlines Saab 340B/Plus shortly ofter takeoff from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on February 28, 2009. N422XJ (cn 340B-422)
context_page_description: Mesaba Aviation, Inc. was an American regional airline based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012 the airline was a wholly owned subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corporation. Its flights operated as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines and US Airways Express for US Airways. Previously, the airline operated as Northwest Airlink and Northwest Jetlink on behalf of Northwest Airlines which subsequently merged with Delta. Mesaba Airlines effectively ceased operations on January 4, 2012, when all aircraft and personnel were transitioned to the Pinnacle Airlines operating certificate. Mesaba's operating certificate was surrendered on July 31, 2012.
context_section_description: The Northwest Airlines hub in Memphis was exclusively served by Airlink partner Express Airlines I, which later operated as Pinnacle Airlines and now Endeavor Air, until 1997, when Mesaba initiated its first jet aircraft service using the Avro RJ85, the first jetliner type to be flown by either Airlink airline. The Avro RJ85 jetliner, which was a later model version of the British Aerospace BAe 146-200 featuring an improved cabin and more efficient engines, were operated as Northwest 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 the Avro RJ85 jets, with this British-built four-engine aircraft being approximately twice as large as the 50-passenger regional jets manufactured by Canadair and Embraer.  Eventually, as Pinnacle transitioned to an all Canadair CRJ regional jet fleet, Mesaba took overall Northwest Airlink Saab 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 the September 11 terrorist attacks, Mesaba was forced to reduce its workforce by 400 employees to achieve cost savings. 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 new Canadair CRJ regional jets that would eventually replace the larger Avro jets.
caption: A Mesaba Airlines Saab 340B/Plus in NWA Airlink livery shortly after takeoff from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on February 28, 2009.
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