Mesaba Aviation, which relies on ties to Northwest Airlines for its planes, passengers and revenue, can thank the relationship for something else: a trip to bankruptcy court.
Eagan, Minn.-based Mesaba filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, saying it was forced into the hard landing by Northwest, which sought bankruptcy about a month ago.
Bankruptcy is a frequent destination for ailing airlines these days, as they look to stem losses that have topped $20 billionindustrywide over the past four years.
Delta filed for bankruptcy on the same day Northwest did. US Airways only recently emerged from bankruptcy. And United is in its third year of its reorganizing in court.
For each, the story is similar: workers lose jobs, shareholders get pennies on the dollar and creditors lose millions.
Since it filed for bankruptcy, Northwest has withheld about $30 million in payments due Mesaba and outlined plans to ground dozens of planes and delay delivery of others. Nineteen planes are gone for sure from Mesaba's fleet, Northwest has indicated.
"Mesaba has experienced a dramatic change in its revenue and schedule while our costs have remained the same," said Mesaba Airlines president John Spanjers. "We have to restructure this organization to match the revenue we will have as a result of the reduction in flying."
Mesaba flies exclusively for Northwest. For the most part, it ferries passengers between about 100 small cities and Northwest hub airports.
Duluth relies on Northwest Airlines and its Northwest Airlink affiliates -- Mesaba and Pinnacle Airlines -- for most of its commercial air service. Mesaba provides three daily flights between Duluth and the Twin Cities.
Brian Ryks, executive director of the Duluth Airport Authority, recently expressed optimism that, like Northwest, Mesaba will continue to operate and deliver reliable service in bankruptcy.
Mesaba owes the airport about $20,000, or about three months' worth of payments, Ryks said. He'd like the airline to pay up, but he acknowledged it has little ability to force the issue.
"Right now, it's most important that we maintain the level of service that we have so we can continue to serve passengers flying into and out of Duluth."
Pinnacle recently announced that at the end of this month, it plans to eliminate one of the daily flights it offers between Duluth and Detroit.
Following that cut, the number of daily flights through Duluth will slip from nine to eight. As of November, Duluth travelers will have access to one Detroit route and seven Twin Cities flights, four of them on Northwest Airlines' own planes.
With Northwest severely curtailing the flying Mesaba does for it, the regional carrier's revenue will plunge.
Layoffs are coming for some of about 3,800 employees at the airline, including about 1,500 in Minnesota. The airline will lay off 70 workers by Nov. 1. Another 150 probably will be gone by Jan. 4.
And the cuts will go "deeper," the airline said.
Mesaba insisted it will continue to do whatever flying Northwest assigns to it, though.
Mesaba is free to seek flying contracts with other carriers, Spanjers said. But he said Mesaba will do its best to "right-size" itself to adjust to Northwest's trimming of Mesaba's fleet. And, he added, Mesaba will position itself to do more flying for Northwest when that carrier, hopefully, emerges from bankruptcy.
Asked about Mesaba's relationship with Northwest, Spanjers said he doesn't think it's "terminal."
"Overall, the relationship is good," he said. "We knew when Northwest went into bankruptcy that we would be faced with significant challenges, that as they solved their problems, it would create problems for us."
Mesaba employees on Thursday were concerned about their future with the airline.
Jason Ostrowski, 32, a flight attendant with Mesaba, believes his seniority will protect him against possible layoffs. But he expects the company to come to all workers for wage concessions.
"And they've been forewarning us that furloughs... could be a possibility, depending on if they file for bankruptcy," he said.
Mesaba's pilots nearly struck in 2004 over wages. The five-year contract they won brought about 950 Mesaba pilots in line with their peers at other regional airlines. Its pilots are paid $21,200 to $85,000.
"We fought hard for this contract," said Tom Wychor, chairman of the Mesaba unit of the Air Line Pilots Association. "We will do everything we can to defend it." But grounded planes will certainly mean some furloughs, Wychor said, beyond 13 new Mesaba pilots who were laid off last week.
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