Release #06.MAG
March 2, 2006

Mesa Air Group Pilot Union Leaders Elect Union Officers

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Leaders of the Mesa Air Group [NASDAQ: MESA] unit of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA), recently elected pilot officers to serve two-year terms beginning March 13, 2006. After a vote of the Master Executive Council (MEC), the union’s governing body, Captain James Ackerman was elected chairman, Captain Brian Richardson was elected vice chairman, and Captain Todd Boyle was elected secretary-treasurer.

Captain James Ackerman most recently served as MEC communications committee chairman. Based in Phoenix, Captain Ackerman joined Air Midwest in 2001 and flies the Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ). Captain Ackerman also has a background representing emergency medical services personnel and has been a paramedic since 1988.

Captain Brian Richardson joined Air Midwest in 1998 and is an Embraer Regional Jet (ERJ) pilot based in Charlotte, N.C. From 1999 to 2001, he served as Air Midwest’s manager of flight standards. He also currently serves as a status representative for Council 88, which encompasses pilots based in Athens, Ga., Charleston, S.C., Charlotte, Nashville, Tenn. and Orlando, Fla.

Captain Todd Boyle is a CRJ pilot based in Phoenix. He joined Air Midwest in 1999. From 2003 to 2004, he served as the west coast regional chief pilot. Captain Boyle also has a background in finance.

The officer elections took place as part of the MEC’s normal election cycle during its spring meeting in Phoenix this week. 

The Air Line Pilots Association is the bargaining agent for the nearly 1,800 pilots at Mesa Air Group, which includes Mesa, Air Midwest and Freedom Airlines. Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing 62,000 pilots at 39 airlines in the United States and Canada. Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.

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ALPA Contact: Lydia Jakub (602) 306-1208