We have a history
Here’s our story
Mesa has had a family thing about it since the beginning. It all started in Farmington, New Mexico, at Four Corners Regional Airport. Our founder, Larry Risley, and his wife Janie saw the potential for regular commercial air service between Farmington and Albuquerque. They mortgaged their home and car to purchase one five-seat single-engine aircraft. In 1982, they began operating flights between the two cities and called their new airline Mesa Air Shuttle.
The airport in Farmington sits upon on actual mesa, which is where our name Mesa originates. Today, Mesa Airlines has a lot more planes and employees, and the family has grown into a tight-knit community, but Air Shuttle is still the callsign pilots use to communicate with air traffic control.
1980s
Getting started
1982
Mesa Air Shuttle began service with a five-seat Piper Saratoga aircraft between Farmington, New Mexico and Albuquerque
1984
Added first twin-engine aircraft, a nine-passenger Piper Chieftan
1987
Renamed Mesa Airlines and went public, expanded the fleet to 11 aircraft
1989
Began codeshare agreement with Midwest Express, operating a large network out of Milwaukee
1990s
Non-stop growth
1990
Acquired Aspen Airways, providing a codeshare agreement with United Airlines to operate as United Express
1991
Acquired Air Midwest and became the launch customer for the Beechcraft 1900D, and began service as Florida Gulf Airlines
1992
Entered long-standing partnership with America West Airlines, which continued with American Airlines, and acquired WestAir Commuter Airlines
1993
Named 1992 Air Transport World Regional Airline of the Year
1994
Acquired Pittsburgh based Crown Airways, further strengthening ties to US Airways
1998
Jonathan Ornstein returned to Mesa and was appointed CEO, and moved headquarters from Farmington to Phoenix
1999
Acquired CCAir along with its US Airways routes and 13 CRJ-200 aircraft, and finalized the purchase of 36 Embraer 145 aircraft
2000s
A changing industry
2000
Expanded codeshare with America West and USAir, signed new codeshare with Midwest Express, and Michael Lotz was appointed president
2001
Became the launch customer for the CRJ-900 and began an agreement with Frontier to operate as Frontier JetExpress out of Denver
2002
Formed Freedom Airlines and recalled employees furloughed during the post-9/11 downturn
2003
Re-established a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, and Freedom Airlines began a codeshare with Delta Airlines to operate as Delta Connection
2004
Mesa founder Larry Risley passed away and was honored by aircraft tail numbers ending in LR. The LR aircraft still fly today
2005
Mesa celebrated its 100th regional jet and was named the Air Transport World Regional Airline of the Year for the second time
2006
Entered inter-island market in Hawaii by launching go! Airlines with five CRJ-200 aircraft
2007
Began a joint venture with Shenzhen Airlines in China, starting Kungpeng Airlines
2010s
Here we grow again
2010
Restructured our fleet, eliminating 50-seat aircraft to become the first regional airline to operate only large regional jets
2013
Extended the term of CRJ-700 fleet flying for United Airlines and added 30 new Embraer E-175 aircraft to operate as United Express
2014
Extended and expanded the CRJ-900 contract with US Airways
2015
Consolidated operations to bases in Phoenix, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C, and announced addition of 18 more Embraer E-175 aircraft
2017
Announced addition of 12 more E-175 aircraft and opened a brand new state-of-the-art training center in Phoenix
2018
After seven years as a private company, Mesa returned to the public market with a successful IPO on Nasdaq
2020s
Full speed ahead
2020
Once again extended United Express contract, adding 20 new E-Jets; announced a partnership with DHL to operate Boeing 737-400F cargo aircraft; entered a new contract with American Airlines to operate CRJ-900s for five years
2021
Announced plans to invest in Archer Aviation and Heart Aerospace, joining the initiative to decarbonize air travel
2022
Mesa Celebrate’s their 40th Anniversary!
2023
Mesa winds down its contract with American Airlines and expands its agreement with United Airlines with a new base in Denver
Mesa through the years
We’ve been at this for a while. Cycle through the photos to see a few memories from the past nearly 40 years.
