This is a clip from an article in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal this morning (8/4/05). It answered some things I was curious about regarding Pinnacle and Mesaba, so I thought I'd share in case some of the rest of you were also wondering.
In Memphis, Pinnacle Airlines, a Northwest Airlink carrier, "plans to operate fully," said Phil Reed, director of marketing. "Our mechanics are not unionized, and Northwest mechanics don't have any contact with Pinnacle aircraft."
While the 270 mechanics and maintenance controllers at Northwest Airlink Mesaba Airlines are members of AMFA, "their contract does not permit them to honor another airline's strike," said Mesaba spokesman Dave Jackson.
Both Pinnacle and Mesaba are flying at full capacity, the companies say. However, because Northwest controls their flight schedules, there is room for variation in the number of flights.
Northwest will not say if it plans to divert passengers to Airlink operations.
NWA's contract with its pilots limits the amount of flying Pinnacle and Mesaba can do using 50-seat and 69-seat jets. But it does not limit flying on the 44-seat Canadair Regional Jets that make up the majority of the Pinnacle fleet.
The company has 139 jets; 89 are 44-seat planes.