But Load Factor Drops Noticeably

On Tuesday, Mesa Air Group's interisland subsidiary go! reported preliminary passenger traffic figures for November 2008, and noted it achieved 55,591 passenger enplanements, a 1.27% increase over the 54,895 passengers carried in the prior November.

Last month, go! generated 12.74 million available seat miles and 8.14 million revenue passenger miles, versus 11.25 million available seat miles and 7.93 million revenue passenger miles in November 2007.

However, the news wasn't so rosy on a per-seat basis. go!'s load factor for November 2008 was 63.86%... compared to 70.43% for the same period in 2007, meaning more planes were flying with fewer seats filled.The airline also recorded an on-time performance rate of 81.93% -- an admirable figure, but off-pace for on-time performance among other Hawaiian carriers, given the relative lack of inclement weather conditions.

"We are encouraged by the increase in passengers we experienced year over year in spite of the current economic downturn. We are very appreciative of the support of our passengers through these difficult times," said Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. "Advance bookings remain above last year's numbers and our recent settlement of our lawsuit with Aloha has given us another reason to be optimistic."

As ANN reported, Mesa recently reach a settlement with the former controlling shareholder of Aloha Airlines, concerning a lawsuit stemming from Mesa's alleged wrongdoing over pricing. That settlement -- reached with Yucaipa Companies, the controlling shareholder in now-defunct Aloha -- included provisions to allow Mesa to rebrand go! as Aloha.

That controversial stipulation has since been temporarily halted by a federal bankruptcy court judge, however... who said both sides need to examine the wisdom and sensitivity of such a move, given the role go! had in driving the 61-year-old carrier out of business.

On Tuesday, Ornstein and go! VP Paul Skellon each pleaded his case to allow the name change to go forward.

"As part of the agreement to license the Aloha name, Mesa will offer significant travel benefits to the former employees of Aloha Airlines," Ornstein said. "Each former Aloha employee will receive six space available roundtrip passes per year. At today's ticket prices this benefit is worth approximately $2 million a year and $20 million over the life of the licensing agreement. In addition we have recently signed a new ground handling contract worth approximately $6 million a year with Pacific Air Cargo, new owner of Aloha Contract Services, formerly a division of Aloha Airlines."

"The word 'Aloha' uniquely represents Hawaii throughout the world and by promoting it internationally we will add valuable support for inbound tourism, the economic lifeblood of Hawaii," added Skellon. "Aloha is a name dear to all of us and we at go! would love to see it as a symbol of great service, the lowest fares and affordable inter-island travel for everyone."

FMI: www.iflygo.com