Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. Releases September Performance Data

MEMPHIS, TN, Oct 05 (MARKET WIRE) --
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) today released capacity and
operational results for its Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. subsidiary for
September 2009.

September Performance
2009 2008 Change
----------- ----------- ----------
Passengers 893,648 808,354 10.6 %
Available Seat Miles (000) 464,563 506,450 (8.3)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 358,292 373,209 (4.0)%
Load Factor 77.1% 73.7% 3.4 pts.
Block Hours 33,045 34,237 (3.5)%
Departures 22,038 21,556 2.2 %
Fleet
CRJ-200 124 124 0.0 %
CRJ-900 16 11 45.5 %

Year-To-Date Performance
2009 2008 Change
----------- ----------- ----------
Passengers 8,116,168 7,769,986 4.5 %
Available Seat Miles (000) 4,638,257 4,715,054 (1.6)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 3,504,903 3,622,776 (3.3)%
Load Factor 75.6% 76.8% (1.2) pts.
Block Hours 322,517 331,744 (2.8)%
Departures 206,458 200,568 2.9 %

Pinnacle reports its total Passengers, Revenue Passenger Miles
(RPMs), and Load Factor each month, even though fluctuations do not
affect revenues received under capacity purchase agreements with Delta
Air Lines, its mainline partner.

The average length of a Pinnacle flight was 401 statute miles compared to
456 statute miles in September 2008.

About Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), an airline holding company, is the
parent company of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. and Colgan Air, Inc. Pinnacle
Airlines, Inc. operates a fleet of 140 regional jets under Delta brands in
the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and
Turks and Caicos Islands. Colgan Air, Inc. operates a fleet of 48 regional
turboprops as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways
Express. Pinnacle Airlines Corp. operating units fly more than 1,280 daily
flights and transport 13 million passengers a year to 152 cities and towns
in North America. The corporate headquarters is located in Memphis, Tenn.
Airport hub operations are located in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Newark,
Washington Dulles, Houston, LaGuardia, Memphis and Minneapolis. Visit
www.pncl.com for more information.

This press release contains various forward-looking statements based on
management's beliefs, as well as assumptions made by and information
currently available to management. Although the Company believes that the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable;
it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been
correct. Such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, including those set forth in our filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, which are available to investors at our web site
or online from the Commission. Should one or more of these risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove
erroneous, actual results September vary materially from results that were
anticipated or projected. The Company does not intend to update these
forward-looking statements before its next required filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact:
Joe Williams
901-346-6162

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