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DALLAS - The Mesa Air Group, one of the leading carriers in the United States, has published the fiscal results of the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, with a net loss of US$35m.
The airline, which operates regional flights for airline brands such as American Eagle (AA) or United Express (UA), blamed the results on the ongoing transition of its Bombardier CRJ-900 fleet from American to United. Since the start of the year, eight total units of the type have abandoned the American Eagle's fleet, and flights for United Express began in March.
Jonathan Ornstein, Chairman and CEO of Mesa, said, "While our financial results reflect the ongoing transition of CRJ flying to United, we believe these actions will prove to be the right long-term strategic decision for the company. We began operating CRJ-900 flights for United Airlines in March, representing the culmination of months of diligent preparation and coordination between Mesa and United teams."
He continued: "We have already started to realize significantly improved pilot retention and attraction as a result of our expanded agreement with United. While we were ultimately more conservative in the timing of our transition than we had projected through the second-quarter end, we have now transitioned 24 CRJ-900s."
Overall Results at Mesa
Despite being unable to achieve profitability during Q2, the Mesa Air Group has complimented other significant goals towards the company's successful development. Among them, the group has reduced its debt by US$80m thanks to asset sales, and its overall expenses have decreased by 11.5% compared to last year.
Apart from the main contract signed with United, followed by an almost exclusive operation of the passenger fleet of Mesa on UA flights, Mesa is also introducing itself into the cargo market. It has begun operating four Boeing 737-400/800 cargo aircraft for DHL, currently representing 4% of the company's revenue share.
Finally, the Mesa Air Group ended the quarter with unrestricted cash and equivalents of US$51.4m. This has been secured primarily through the sale of aircraft spare parts and engines and the sale of four CRJ-900s to a third party and eight CRJ-550s to United.
About the Mesa Air Group
The Mesa Air Group is the holding entity and parent company of Mesa Airlines (YV), one of the largest regional aviation carriers that base their operations on flying short-haul airplanes for other companies such as United Express. By doing this, the customer airline can benefit from lower costs giving Mesa the ability to control the finance and operation of those flights fully.
Despite boarding a United-branded CRJ-900, the flight is operated by a Mesa Airlines airplane and piloted and served by Mesa Airlines crew. This is a standard methodology especially present in the US, with other big carriers also playing in the regional market, such as SkyWest Airlines, Endeavor Air, or Envoy Air.
At the moment of writing, the Mesa Air Group owns and operates a fleet of almost 150 aircraft distributed along Boeing 737, CRJ-900, and Embraer E-175 aircraft and acts as well as the parent company for other subsidiaries such as Air Midwest (ZV) and Freedom Airlines (F8).
https://airwaysmag.com/american-mesa-airlines-to-cut-ties/
Featured image: Luke Ayers/Airways.
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