PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mesa Airlines, Inc. today announced plans to expand its partnership with United Airlines with the addition of 12 new Embraer 175 aircraft. These aircraft will bring Mesa’s E175 fleet count to 60 and the Company’s total number of large regional jets to 145. Mesa's United Express fleet will now total 80 aircraft, including 20 CRJ700s.
“We are delighted, once again, to extend and expand our partnership with United Airlines with the addition of 12 new Embraer 175 aircraft,” said Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “We appreciate United’s confidence and will continue our focus on providing the highest levels of customer service and reliability in the industry.”
Since United’s E175 program launched in June 2014, Mesa added 48 E-Jets to its United Express hub in Houston, with every aircraft in service on time or ahead of schedule.
“We have grown our E-Jet fleet from 0 to 60 in record time and understand the importance of both top-notch performance and low cost operations,” said Mesa’s Chief Operating Officer John Selvaggio. “Combining the two, Mesa has become the fastest growing U.S. air carrier and the airline of choice for growth in the regional industry.”
Mesa has created more than 2,000 jobs over the past three years, and believes there are significant opportunities to continue this growth and provide thousands of additional careers for some of our country’s most promising pilots, flight attendants and mechanics. Unfortunately, regional airlines face new, burdensome federal regulations threatening both the industry itself and small U.S. cities and towns, most of which have seen reduced service levels or have lost air service altogether. Mesa is hopeful changes will soon be made to this counter-productive government intervention in a vital U.S. industry.
Despite these restrictive policies, Mesa’s steady growth, building on the Company’s partnerships with both United and American Airlines, has helped Mesa create and provide opportunities for advancement and job security for its employees in hubs across the United States.
The delivery of the 12 additional aircraft is scheduled to begin in May 2017 and will create more than 500 new commercial aviation career opportunities. For more information and to apply, go to www.mesa-air.com.
About Mesa Airlines
A multiple-time recipient of Air Transport World’s Regional Airline of the Year Award, Phoenix-based Mesa Airlines operates as American Eagle from hubs in Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth and as United Express from Washington Dulles and Houston. Founded on a mesa in New Mexico in 1982 by Larry and Janie Risley, Mesa currently operates 133 aircraft, with more than 600 daily system departures to 124 cities, 38 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. The company has approximately 2,800 employees and plans to hire an additional 1,000 in the next two years. For more information, go to www.mesa-air.com or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mesaairlines.
