Exhibit 99.1
Press Release
Pinnacle Airlines releases November Traffic
Memphis Tenn. (December 6th, 2005) Pinnacle Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), released its passenger and
traffic levels for November 2005 today.
For November, Pinnacle flew 438.1 million Available Seat Miles (ASMs), an
increase of 5.7% over November 2004 levels. Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs)
expanded 22.2% to 329.7 million. Passenger Load Factor was 75.3%. Pinnacle
transported 659,319 Customers during the month, 20% more than the same period
last year.
During November, Pinnacle operated 33,261 block hours and completed 19,295
cycles, increases of 6.4% and 5.5% over November 2004 levels, respectively. The
term "block hour" refers to the elapsed time between an aircraft leaving a gate
and arriving at a gate, and the term "cycle" refers to an aircraft's departure
and corresponding arrival.
November 2005 Traffic
2005 2004 Change
ASMs (000) 438,083 414,651 5.7%
RPMs (000) 329,661 269,838 22.2%
Load Factor 75.3% 65.1% 10.2 pts
Passengers 659,319 549,281 20.0%
Block Hours 33,261 31,263 6.4%
Cycles 19,295 18,291 5.5%
Year-To-Date Traffic
2005 2004 Change
ASMs (000) 5,269,850 3,802,180 38.6%
RPMs (000) 3,783,015 2,626,782 44.0%
Load Factor 71.8% 69.1% 2.7 pts
Passengers 7,405,668 5,789,659 27.9%
Block Hours 396,721 291,329 36.2%
Cycles 228,688 183,243 24.8%
"November is traditionally a busy month and this year was no exception", said
Philip H. Trenary, President & CEO. "I would like to thank all Pinnacle People
for providing such an outstanding and highly reliable operation over the holiday
and for entire month."
Effective October 31, 2005, Northwest Airlines removed 15 aircraft from the
Pinnacle fleet. These aircraft are being returned to the lessor. Pinnacle now
operates fleet of 124 Canadair 44 and 50-seat Regional Jets. Pinnacle operates
under the name Northwest Airlink and provides service to destinations in the
United States and Canada from Northwest hubs at Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis
- - St. Paul, and its two focus cities of Milwaukee and Indianapolis. Pinnacle
maintains its headquarters in Memphis, Tenn., and employs approximately 3,450
People. For further information, please contact Philip Reed, Vice-President,
Marketing at 901-348-4257, or visit our web-site at www.nwairlink.com.
This press release contains various forward-looking statements that are based on
management's 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,
including those set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, which are available to investors at our web-site or on line from the
Commission. Should one of more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or
should underlying assumptions prove erroneous, actual results may vary
materially from results that were anticipated or projected. The Company does not
intend to update these forward-looking statements before its next required
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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