Bankrupt Northwest Might Acquire Bankrupt Mesaba

Timothy Hannan at the MSP Update blog wrote on Wednesday that "Northwest announced it is in talks to acquire its regional partner Mesaba Airlines," though I can't find any info on the Northwest media site--maybe they announced it to him! Hannan mentions the unusual move of funds from Mesaba to parent MAIR just before the bankruptcy filing; in any case it sounds like he thinks the acquisition is being welcomed at Mesaba. ATW Online confirmed the action today. At left is a route map that provides a sense of Mesaba's reach as a Northwest Airlink partner, though it's somewhat dated since Mesaba recently stopped flying its RJ-85s (click to enlarge).

Route map source: Excerpt from MAIR Holdings 2006 Annual Report (pdf)