Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. Releases April, May Performance Data

2009-06-16 23:41:03 -

MEMPHIS, TN -- (Marketwire) -- 06/16/09 -- Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) today released capacity and operational results for its Pinnacle Airlines, Inc.
subsidiary for April and May 2009.

                                             April Performance
                                       2009        2008       Change
                                    ----------  ----------  ---------
Passengers                             870,586     877,566       (0.8)%
Available Seat Miles (000)             509,914     533,424       (4.4)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)          380,279     412,916       (7.9)%
Load Factor                               74.6%       77.4%      (2.8) pts
Block Hours                             35,270      37,100       (4.9)%
Departures                              22,739      22,463       1.2  %
Fleet
    CRJ-200                                124         130       (4.6)%
    CRJ-900                                 17           8      112.5 %

                                              May Performance
                                       2009        2008       Change
                                    ----------  ----------  ---------
Passengers                             920,788     928,623       (0.8)%
Available Seat Miles (000)             511,398     555,719       (8.0)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)          399,875     442,010       (9.5)%
Load Factor                               78.2%       79.5%      (1.3) pts
Block Hours                             35,156      37,983       (7.4)%
Departures                              22,821      23,040       (1.0)%
Fleet
    CRJ-200                                124         129       (3.9)%
    CRJ-900                                 17           9       88.9 %

                                          Year-To-Date Performance
                                       2009        2008       Change
                                    ----------  ----------  ---------
Passengers                           4,176,470   4,231,149       (1.3)%
Available Seat Miles (000)           2,601,824   2,583,004        0.7 %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)        1,870,509   1,954,206       (4.3)%
Load Factor                               71.9%       75.7%      (3.8) pts
Block Hours                            179,666     187,144       (4.0)%
Departures                             112,190     111,482        0.6 %

Pinnacle reports its total Passengers, Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs), and Load Factor each month, even though fluctuations do not affect revenues received under capacity purchase agreements with Delta Air Lines, its mainline partner.

The average length of a Pinnacle flight was 426 statute miles compared to 466 statute miles in April 2008, and 425 statute miles compared to 471 statute miles in May 2008.

About Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), an airline holding company, is the parent company of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. and Colgan Air, Inc. Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. operates a fleet of 141 regional jets in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands under Delta brands. Colgan Air, Inc. operates a fleet of 48 regional turboprops as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. Pinnacle Airlines Corp. operating units fly over 1,000 daily flights and transport 13 million passengers annually to 144 cities and towns in North America. Visit www.pncl.com :

for more information.

This press release contains various forward-looking statements based on management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable; it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available to investors at our web site or online from the Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove erroneous, actual results may vary materially from results that were anticipated or projected. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements before its next required filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:
Joe Williams
901-346-6162