Pinnacle Airlines

Pinnacle Airlines (formerly Express Airlines I) is a regional airline based in Memphis, Tennessee that was founded in 1985. Pinnacle operates all of its flights under the name Northwest Airlink for Northwest Airlines. Pinnacle flies 124 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) CRJ-200 from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, and Memphis International Airport to nearby smaller markets.

History

Pinnacle began as Express Airlines I in 1985, with the intent of offering regional airline passenger feed to a code sharing, major airline’s hub. Express I began its first code sharing agreement with Republic Airlines in May 1985. Republic was looking to expand into Memphis, but could not reach out to the smaller cities. Express I was able to accomplish this by beginning service on June 1st, 1985 to 3 cities using British Aerospace Jetstream 3100's. Within six months, Republic was operating in ten markets with nine Jetstream 3100s and two Saab 340s.

On December 15, 1985, a second contract opened operations at a Republic Airline’s home base at Minneapolis-St. Paul. By its first anniversary, Republic Express was operating 20 Jetstream 3100s and seven Saab 340s in 32 markets. In Spring 1986, Northwest Airlines announced its intent to acquire Republic Airlines. Following regulatory approval and ratification by the shareholders of the respective companies, Republic was absorbed into Northwest effective October 1, 1986.

Over the next decade, Express I provided safe, comfortable, and convenient airline service to 56 cities in the Southeast and upper Mid-West. In 1997, Northwest Airlines elected to make changes in the structure of Express I, which, until then, had been privately held. Effective April 1, 1997, Express I became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. In order to consolidate the many Airlink systems operated at that time, Express I transferred flying at Minneapolis-St. Paul, allowing it to concentrate on the Memphis Hub.

In August 1997, Express I moved its corporate headquarters to Memphis, allowing all the various departments to function from its main base of operations. On May 7, 1999, Express I announced a major transition into the jet age as its parent company announced that Express would be the launch operator of the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) at Northwest. This award was for a minimum of 42 CRJs designated to operate as Northwest Jet Airlink. Delivery of the CRJs began in April 2000 and the first Northwest CRJ lifted into the sky on June 1, 2001 bound for Greenville – Spartanburg, SC.

Express I further expanded by the development of three additional Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) facilities related to CRJ operations. The first, located in Knoxville, Tennessee, is a permanent base. It is capable of handling up to four aircraft under cover. The Knoxville facility will serve as the primary CRJ Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul facility. Other CRJ maintenance sites are located at South Bend and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Express Airlines I changed its name to Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. on May 8, 2002. In November, 2003, Pinnacle Airlines became a publically traded company, using the symbol PNCL on the NASDAQ. Pinnacle has been contracted to fly 124 CRJ's on behalf of Northwest Airlines. On July 18, 2004, the 100th CRJ was christened the 'Spirit of Beale Street,' in honor of a WWII bomber that was paid for with funds raised by the African-American community in Memphis.

Destinations

Pinnacle flies out of three hubs, Minneapolis-St. Paul MN, Detroit MI and Memphis TN. Pinnacle currently serves over 110 cities in 39 states and Canadian Provinces. It operates well over 700 flights a day.

Fleet

Future

Pinnacle management is currently in negotiations with its pilots regarding a contract. Management, as well as Northwest Airlines have stated that until a contract is agreed to by the pilots, a new Air Service Agreement with Northwest is not possible. Northwest is seeking other carriers to do Pinnacle's flying, although due to Pinnacle's low operating cost, as well as it's outstanding performance, is unlikely to happen. Also, Northwest has announced that 36 CRJ-900's are going to an unnamed Airlink Partner, as well as 15 CRJ's that Northwest parked in the desert when it was in bankruptcy.

Trivia

• Pinnacle is currently the largest CRJ-200 operator in the United States.

• In late May 2006, Pinnacle had a 1 week stretch in which not one flight was cancelled. This was a string of 6,020 flights that went out until a weather system forced a cancellation.

• Pinnacle's callsign is "Flagship", due to a company that has already claimed the callsign "Pinnacle".

External links

• Official Site
• Pinnacle Airlines at Yahoo Finance

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