Mesa Air hopes to exceed pre-pandemic capacity for partner American by September

Mesa Air Group executives are almost ready to start popping the champagne. The summer is shaping up to be almost at pre-pandemic levels for the regional that operates flights for both United and American Airlines. In fact, CEO Jonathan Ornstein said it will fly 100 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity for American by June. And, by September, the regional will fly more than its pre-pandemic capacity for the Fort Worth, Texas-based mainline carrier. Part of this is fueled by the addition of five Bombardier CRJ900s to the fleet Mesa operates for American. The story is similar for United regional flights. Mesa expects to operate between 75-80 percent of its pre-pandemic capacity for United in June, rising to 85-90 percent by September. Between November of last year and this June, Mesa will add 18 Embraer E175s to its United operation. The regional also announced it is part of United’s Aviate pilot-pipeline program, with pilots trained at Mesa guaranteed a position in United’s mainline roster after completing the program. Interest among aspiring pilots to fly for Mesa is strong, Ornstein said. <br/>