Mesa Airlines 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 Airlines’ Chief Operating Officer John Selvaggio. “Combining the two, Mesa Airlines 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.