December 21, 2005

To All Mesaba Airlines Stakeholders:

On October 13th, Mesaba voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This does not mean that Mesaba is going out of business. Instead, the bankruptcy process enables us to restructure our obligations and operations to better compete in an era of airline consolidation and change.

The action will not impact our day-to-day business operations. We remain committed to serving our passengers: we will honor all tickets, flying our full schedule safely and reliably and maintain the levels of service and attention you have come to expect from Mesaba Airlines.

The decision to file for bankruptcy protection was not an easy one, but we believe it was a necessary one.  The changes imposed on us by Northwest since its own bankruptcy filing, along with the turmoil in our industry over the last few years, have dramatically reduced our revenues but left us with a cost structure that is unsustainable.  The need to remedy this situation is urgent and best done through the courts.

Thank you for your continued support of Mesaba Airlines. For more information about this development, please use this site as a reference point for news and filings.  Materials filed with the court are posted under the "Court Filed Documents" link in the "Legal Information" section of this web site.

Sincerely,

John Spanjers
President & Chief Operating Officer
Mesaba Airlines