PRESS RELEASE: Mesa Air Group Exits Chapter 11 as a Strong, Competitive Airline
PRESS RELEASE: Mesa Air Group Exits Chapter 11 as a Strong, Competitive Airline
Mesa Air Group Exits Chapter 11 as a Strong, Competitive Airline
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 01, 2011--
Mesa Air Group´s Plan of Reorganization became effective today, allowing the company to emerge from its reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Mesa and its related subsidiaries entered bankruptcy protection on January 5, 2010 and Mesa´s exit from bankruptcy protection in 13 months places it among the fastest reorganizations in aviation history. Mesa is well positioned to compete aggressively in the regional aviation industry, having shed inefficient aircraft, significant debt and extended our partnership with US Airways.
In celebrating the company´s emergence, Mesa Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Jonathan Ornstein said: "Today marks a new beginning
for Mesa, one that allows the company to build on its almost 30-year
history and reestablish ourselves as one of the world´s leading regional
airlines. We are deeply appreciative of the support we have received
during our reorganization from our creditors, airline partners and
employees, and we will work hard to repay this trust by building a
successful Mesa Air Group."
The Company´s restructuring accomplishments included:
-- Elimination of 100 excess aircraft and associated leases and debt which
contributed to the deleveraging of Mesa´s balance sheet in the
approximate amount of $700 million in capitalized leases and $50 million
in debt;
-- Restructuring of aircraft leases and financings for Mesa´s remaining CRJ
200 and Dash 8 fleets resulting in flexibility, no long term lease
exposure and lower costs on the CRJ 200 50-seat regional jet aircraft;
-- Emerging as a private company that will issue four new series of notes,
shares of common stock, and/or warrants to purchase shares of its common
stock to its creditors in exchange for their claims in the Chapter 11
proceedings;
-- Extending the term of the code-share agreement with US Airways through
September 2015.
"Upon our exit from bankruptcy, we will take the intensity and effort of
the past 13 months and transfer it from the triage of the bankruptcy
process to focus on opportunities that exist in our rapidly changing
industry," continued Ornstein. "Throughout our bankruptcy the Company´s
operations remained at the highest level of reliability and safety. Our
people did a fantastic job and nothing reflects their competitive spirit
better than the fact that during our bankruptcy Mesa consistently
delivered operational performance which continues to lead the regional
airline industry in nearly every category monitored by the U.S. Dept. of
Transportation.
"This strong operational performance came during a time when many of our
employees contributed to our financial savings by taking additional
unpaid days off. This level of dedication and the resulting operational
performance has provided a solid foundation upon which to return our
airline to sustained profitability and future growth. In addition,
through the restructuring process Mesa is among the first regional
airlines to address the risks associated with fifty-seat regional jet
aircraft which have increasingly fallen out of favor with mainline
carriers. We believe the elimination of exposure related to this fleet
provides Mesa with a significant competitive advantage," noted Ornstein.
"We would like to welcome the new members of Mesa´s Board of Directors
who will be joining us today including: Daniel J. Altobello, retired
Chairman of LSG/Sky Chefs Onex Food Services, Inc.; Ellen N. Artist, ENA
Advisors, LLC; Mitchell I. Gordon, President, Morpheus Capital Advisors;
Dana J. Lockhart, DJL Advisors, LLC; Grant Lyon, President, Odyssey
Capital Group; Harvey W. Schiller, Vice Chairman and President of the
Sports, Media, and Entertainment Practice of Diversified Search Odgers
Berndtson; Mark J. Schulte, Managing Director and head of transportation
investment banking at Dahlman Rose & Co.; Don Skiados, President,
Leadership Communications and Training, LLC. We look forward to working
with all of our new Board members and are honored to have such
distinguished individuals serving the Company," said Ornstein.
"In addition, we would also like to thank our retiring Board members for
their service, dedication and friendship over the years including:
Richard R. Thayer; Carlos E. Bonilla; Joseph L. Manson; Maurice A.
Parker; Peter F. Nostrand; Robert Beleson," added Ornstein.
"Finally, we would like to thank all of the stakeholders who worked with
the Company during our restructuring as well as our restructuring
advisors Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, our corporate counsel DLA
Piper, LLP (US), and our financial advisors Imperial Capital, and the
others that have helped make this possible, including the support of our
airline partners, customers and the communities we serve," concluded
Ornstein.
Mesa currently operates 76 aircraft with approximately 450 daily system
departures to 94 cities, 38 states, the District of Columbia, and
Mexico. Mesa operates as US Airways Express and United Express under
contractual agreements with US Airways and United Airlines, respectively,
and independently as go! Mokulele. This operation links Honolulu to the
neighbor island airports of Hilo, Kahului, Kona and Lihue. The Company
was founded by Larry and Janie Risley in New Mexico in 1982.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including
statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions,
projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking
statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and
strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.
Investors and other interested parties can obtain information about
Mesa´s Chapter 11 filing on the Internet at Mesa-air.com. Court filings,
claims information and our Plan of Reorganization are available at:
www.dm.epiq11.com/mesa. Caution should be taken not to place undue
reliance on Mesa´s forward-looking statements, which represent Mesa´s
views only as of January 20, 2011, and which Mesa has no current
intention to update.
CONTACT: Mesa Air Group
Chris Pappaioanou, 602-685-4052
SOURCE: Mesa Air Group
Copyright Business Wire 2011
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