Mesa wins injunction against Delta but risks delisting

Mesa Air Group yesterday won a preliminary injunction in US District Court when a judge blocked Delta Air Lines from terminating its contract with Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines, which operates 34 ERJ-145s for Delta Connection.

Delta notified Mesa in late March that it would end the service agreement, claiming that Freedom had failed to maintain an acceptable completion rate.

"We are pleased with the Court's ruling. We wish to reaffirm our commitment to provide the very best service to Delta Air Lines, our passengers and our people," MAG Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said. "We are hopeful this issue can be fully resolved soon."

Meanwhile, Mesa, which had said the DL cancellation would force it into bankruptcy, said it received notification from NASDAQ warning that it is "subject to delisting" because it has not filed its first-quarter Form 10-Q with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Mesa has requested a hearing before a NASDAQ panel in an effort to continue its listing and said it will file the necessary paperwork on or about June 2 prior to the hearing.