Pinnacle to fly exclusively for Delta upon leaving bankruptcy
Photo Credit: Delta Air Lines Airbus A319 and a small Pinnacle Airlines Bombardier flying for Delta at Memphis International Airport. Flickr
Skift Take
The Pinnacle-Delta deal is another sign of U.S. airline consolidation in which it is no longer economically viable for regional carriers to run small jets for multiple airlines.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. won approval Wednesday to leave bankruptcy and Memphis behind.
Judge Robert E. Gerber of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved a Chapter 11 reorganization plan that will allow Pinnacle to emerge from bankruptcy as a wholly owned Delta Air Lines subsidiary.
Pinnacle filed bankruptcy April 1, 2012, saying its survival was threatened by escalating costs of labor and fuel and an increasingly anemic flow of revenue from major airline partners.
Under court supervision, the company extracted wage cuts from pilots and other unionized employees and negotiated a deal to go forward with a smaller fleet of larger regional jets flying exclusively for Delta.
Court approval freed Pi
