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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 28, 2008
MESA AIR GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Nevada
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
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000-15495
(Commission
File Number) |
85-0302351
(IRS Employer
Identification No.) |
410 North 44th Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, Arizona, 85008
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
(Zip Code)
Registrants telephone number, including area code: (602) 685-4000
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the
filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction
A.2. below):
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Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
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Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Item 1.02 |
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Termination of a Material Definitive Agreement |
On April 1, 2008, Mesa Air Group, Inc. (the Company or Mesa) issued a press release announcing
that on March 28, 2008, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) notified the Company of its intent to
terminate the Delta Connection Agreement among Delta, the Company, and Mesas wholly-owned
subsidiary, Freedom Airlines, Inc. (Freedom), dated as of May 3, 2005 (as thereafter amended, the
Connection Agreement). The notice states that Delta is terminating the Connection Agreement as a
result of Freedoms alleged failure to maintain a specified completion rate with respect to its
ERJ-145 Delta Connection flights during three months of the six-month period September 2007 through
February 2008. The notice issued by Delta is accompanied by a proposed temporary agreement
pursuant to which Freedom would continue to provide Delta Connection services while the parties
discuss the terms of a transition agreement. This termination does not affect Freedoms CRJ-900
Delta Connection flying. Mesa vehemently denies there is any basis for terminating the Connection
Agreement and intends to vigorously defend its rights thereunder.
The alleged failure to maintain the specified completion rate in the contract is due to Deltas own
request of Mesa to remove flights to benefit Deltas overall operation and/or to accommodate Delta
mainline flights. These flights, among others, have always been taken out of Freedoms performance
calculations in the past and Delta acted consistent with this practice and has paid Mesa both its
base margin and its incentive margin after crediting Mesa for the Delta mandated schedule changes
and/or cancellations.
As of
April 1, 2008, the Company operated 34 ERJ-145 aircraft for Delta pursuant to the
Connection Agreement. Under the terms of the Connection Agreement, in exchange for performing the
flight services and our other obligations under such agreement, the Company receives from Delta
monthly compensation made up of a fixed monthly amount, plus certain additional amounts based upon
number of block hours flown and departures during the month. Additionally, certain costs incurred
by Freedom are pass-through costs, whereby Delta agrees to reimburse us for the actual amounts
incurred for these items: landing fees, hull insurance, passenger liability costs, fuel costs,
catering costs and property taxes. Aircraft rent/ownership expenses are also considered a
pass-through cost, but are limited to a specified amount for each type of aircraft. The Company is
eligible to receive additional compensation based upon its completion rate and on-time arrival rate
each month. Further, for each semi-annual period during the term of the agreement, the Company is
eligible to receive additional compensation from Delta based upon performance. The fixed rates
payable to the Company by Delta under the Connection Agreement have been determined through the
term of such agreement and are subject to annual revision.
The full text of the Companys press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.
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Item 9.01 |
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Financial Statements and Exhibits |
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Exhibit No. |
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Description |
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99.1 |
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Press release regarding termination notice, dated April 1, 2008 |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly
caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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MESA AIR GROUP, INC.
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Date: April 2, 2008 |
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/s/ BRIAN S. GILLMAN
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Name: |
BRIAN S. GILLMAN |
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Title: |
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary |
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exv99w1
Exhibit 99.1
Mesa Air Group Challenges Deltas Efforts to Terminate Contract
PHOENIX: April 1, Mesa Air Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:MESA) (the Company) today announced that on
March 28, 2008, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Delta) notified the Company of its intent to terminate the
Delta Connection Agreement among Delta, the Company, and Mesas wholly-owned subsidiary, Freedom
Airlines, Inc. (Freedom), dated as of May 3, 2005 (as thereafter amended, the Connection
Agreement). Delta seeks to terminate the Connection Agreement as a result of Freedoms alleged
failure to maintain a specified completion rate with respect to its ERJ-145 Delta Connection
flights during three months of the six-month period September 2007 through February 2008. The
notice issued by Delta is accompanied by a proposed temporary agreement pursuant to which Freedom
would continue to provide Delta Connection services while the parties discuss the terms of a
transition agreement. This termination does not affect Freedoms CRJ-900 Delta Connection flying.
Mesa vehemently denies there is any basis for terminating the Connection Agreement and intends to
vigorously defend its rights thereunder.
The alleged failure to maintain the specified completion rate in the contract is due to Deltas own
request of Mesa to remove flights to benefit Deltas overall operation and/or to accommodate Delta
mainline flights. These flights, among others, have always been taken out of Freedoms performance
calculations in the past and Delta acted consistent with this practice and has paid Mesa both its
base margin and its incentive margin after crediting Mesa for the Delta mandated schedule changes
and /or cancellations.
We appreciate Deltas desire to reduce capacity as they publicly announced on March 18, 2008
but to do so unilaterally and in patent violation of their contract is not acceptable. There was no
indication at any time from anyone at Delta that there was a potential issue and the notice comes
as a total surprise to Mesa.
We are confident that Deltas actions are not supported by the terms of the Connection Agreement,
that we have complied with all of our obligations under that agreement, and that Deltas effort to
terminate the agreement will not be upheld in a court of law. said Mesa Air Group Chairman and
CEO, Jonathan Ornstein.
Mesa currently operates 182 aircraft with over 1,000 daily system departures to 157 cities, 42
states, the District of Columbia, Canada, the Bahamas and Mexico. Mesa operates as Delta
Connection, US Airways Express and United Express under contractual agreements with Delta Air
Lines, US Airways and United Airlines, respectively, and independently as Mesa Airlines and go!. In
June 2006 Mesa launched inter-island Hawaiian service as go!. This operation links Honolulu to the
neighbor island airports of Hilo, Kahului, Kona, Lihue, MolokaI and LanaI. The Company, founded
by Larry and Janie Risley in New Mexico in 1982, has approximately 5,000 employees. Mesa is a
member of the Regional Airline Association and Regional Aviation Partners.
This press release contains various forward-looking statements that are based on managements
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. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual
results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected or expected. The Company
does not intend to update these forward-looking statements prior to its next filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
For Further Information Please Contact:
Brian Gillman General Counsel
Tel. 602 685 4051