PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mesa Airlines, Inc. today announced an agreement with United Airlines to add 15 Embraer 175 aircraft to Mesa’s United Express fleet. Mesa currently operates 30 Embraer aircraft for United Airlines. In addition to the E175s, Mesa operates 20 Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft under the United Express brand.
“We are very pleased to expand our relationship with United with the addition of these 15 new Embraer E175 jets,” said Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “Mesa has proven itself as a quality operator of this aircraft type in terms of customer satisfaction and is competitive in terms of cost efficiency. The combination of these two attributes has made Mesa the fastest growing airline in the world over the last three years and will continue to fuel our growth into the future.”
Paul Foley, Executive Vice President and COO, added, “Besides the obvious benefit of expansion to Mesa, the addition of new aircraft greatly enhances advancement opportunities for our people, our pilots and other operational employees in particular. The addition of these aircraft will create a minimum of 75 new captain upgrade positions that significantly increase pay, 150 newly hired first officers, 150 new flight attendant positions and over 100 additional mechanics, supervisors, dispatchers, planning and support staff.”
The E175’s 76-seat dual-class configuration features 12 First-Class, 16 Premium Economy and 48 Coach seats. The aircraft has Inflight Wi-Fi connectivity, leather seating and electric outlets in First Class.
About Mesa Airlines
A multiple-time recipient of Air Transport World’s Regional Airline of the Year Award and ranked No. 1 Regional Airline three consecutive years by the DOT Air Travel Consumer Report, Phoenix-based Mesa Airlines operates as American Eagle and US Airways Express 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 115 aircraft, with more than 560 daily system departures to 97 cities, 34 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico. 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 on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mesaairlines.
