Mesa Announces Action to Balance Pilot Supply

Mesa Air Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MESA) (“Mesa” or the “Company”) today announced the furlough of 12 pilots and training deferrals for 41 pilot trainees, effective July 12, 2024. These actions are the result of significantly reduced attrition among Mesa’s active pilot workforce. The Company currently anticipates this will save approximately $750,000 per month in operating expenses.

“Over the last two years, attrition at Mesa often exceeded 25 pilots per month due to the pilot shortage created by the FAA’s implementation of the ‘1,500-hour rule’,” said Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa Chairman and CEO. “As a result, we undertook significant efforts to increase our pilot hiring, including our Mesa Pilot Development (MPD) program. However, attrition has fallen more precipitously than expected at Mesa in the past few months, in part due to the slowdown or cessation of hiring across most airlines. In addition, we believe the industry-wide pipeline will continue to improve as pilots previously denied the opportunity to fly commercially due to the lack of 1,500 hours finally achieve requisite flight time.

“While we deeply regret these actions, we expect reduced attrition and a more stable pilot force will enable us to increase our Embraer-175 block hours with United,” continued Ornstein. “Based on our current outlook, we anticipate starting to recall pilots by the end of the year. Additionally, once our pilot pipeline has recalibrated, we will resume hiring pilot trainees based on anticipated attrition levels.”