Mesa Air Group, Inc.

Originally founded in 1982, Mesa Air Group is an independent regional airline group based in Arizona, USA. The group was established as the holding company of Mesa Air Shuttle, a full-service regional carrier founded by Larry and Janie Risley. To facilitate an expansion in regional operations, the group issued an IPO in 1987 of 865,000 shares on the NASDAQ (MESA). Over the next 10 years, Mesa acquired Air Midwest, Aspen Airways, WestAir Commuter Airlines and Crown Airways and established codeshare arrangements with United Airlines, USAir and America West Airlines. By the end of 1998, Mesa was operating with more than 100 aircraft, including CRJ 200, Dash 8 and Beech1900 D equipment. 

Mesa Air Group established a new regional subsidiary called Freedom Airlines in 2002. In 2006, the airline group also founded go! Airlines with Republic Airways, a Hawaiian-based carrier operating Inter-Island services with CRJ-200 and CRJ-900 aircraft, as well as Kunpeng Airlines (Henan Airlines), a charter JV with Shenzhen Airlines. In 2008, Mesa sold its stake in the Chinese carrier to Shenzhen Airlines and Freedom Airlines ceased operations in Aug-2010 amid a contractual dispute with Delta Air Lines. Mesa filed for chapter 11 in 2010 and was delisted from the NASDAQ. 

Mesa Air Group emerged from bankruptcy in 2011 following a major reorganisation programme. The group re-established service agreements with US Airways and United Airlines, and returned approximately 100 regional aircraft. go! Airlines formally ceased operations in 2014 following a short-lived merger with Mokulele Airlines. Mesa Air Group currently represents as the holding company of Mesa Airlines. It operates an extensive network of regional air services under both its own brand and on behalf of American Airlines (following the merger of US Airways and American Airlines) and United Airlines, using a fleet of regional jet and turboprop aircraft. A privately-held company, Mesa Air Group is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.