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Organization and Operations | 3 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Organization and Operations |
1. | Organization and Operations
About Mesa Air Group, Inc. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Mesa Air Group, Inc. ("Mesa" or the "Company") is a holding company whose principal subsidiary, Mesa Airlines, Inc. ("Mesa Airlines"), operates as a regional air carrier providing scheduled flight service to 144 cities in 41 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. As of December 31, 2019, Mesa operated a fleet of 145 aircraft with approximately 742 daily departures and 3,600 employees. Mesa operates all of its flights as either American Eagle or United Express flights pursuant to the terms of the capacity purchase agreements entered into with American Airlines, Inc. (“American”) and United Airlines, Inc. (“United”). The financial arrangements between the Company and its major airline partners involve a revenue-guarantee arrangement (i.e. a "capacity purchase agreement") whereby the major airline pays a monthly guaranteed amount for each aircraft under contract, a fixed fee for each block hour (the number of hours during which the aircraft is in revenue service, measured from the time of gate departure before take-off until the time of gate arrival at the destination) and flight flown and reimbursement of certain direct operating expenses in exchange for providing regional flying. The major airline partners also pay certain expenses directly to suppliers, such as fuel, ground operations and landing fees. Under the terms of these capacity purchase agreements, the major airline controls route selection, pricing and seat inventories, thereby reducing the Company's exposure to fluctuations in passenger traffic, fare levels, and fuel prices. American Capacity Purchase Agreement As of December 31, 2019, the Company operated 60 CRJ-900 aircraft for American under our American Capacity Purchase Agreement. In exchange for providing flight services under our American Capacity Purchase Agreement, we receive a fixed monthly minimum amount per aircraft under contract plus certain additional amounts based upon the number of flights and block hours flown during each month. In addition, we may also receive incentives or incur penalties based upon our operational performance, including controllable on-time departures and controllable completion percentages. American also reimburses us for certain costs on an actual basis, including passenger liability and hull insurance and aircraft property taxes, all as set forth in our American Capacity Purchase Agreement. Other expenses, including fuel and certain landing fees, are directly paid to suppliers by American. In addition, American also provides, at no cost to us, certain ground handling and customer service functions, as well as airport-related facilities and gates at American hubs and cities where we operate. Our American Capacity Purchase Agreement establishes minimum levels of flight operations. In prior periods, the FAA Qualification Standards (as defined below) have negatively impacted our ability to hire pilots at a rate sufficient to support required utilization levels, and, as a result, we have issued credits to American pursuant to the terms of our American Capacity Purchase Agreement. Our American Capacity Purchase Agreement will terminate with respect to different tranches of aircraft between 2021 and 2025, unless otherwise extended or amended. As of the date of this filing, we remain in discussions with American regarding the terms of extending the 32 aircraft that are due to expire in 2021 and the 20 aircraft that are due to expire in 2022 and the 7 that expire in 2025. Our American Capacity Purchase Agreement is subject to termination prior to that date, subject to our right to cure, in various circumstances including:
| ▪ | If either American or we become insolvent, file for bankruptcy or fail to pay our debts as they become due, the non-defaulting party may terminate the agreement;
| ▪ | Failure by us or American to perform the covenants, conditions or provisions of our American Capacity Purchase Agreement, subject to 15 days' notice and cure rights;
| ▪ | If we are required by the FAA or the DOT to suspend operations and we have not resumed operations within three business days, except as a result of an emergency airworthiness directive from the FAA affecting all similarly equipped aircraft, American may terminate the agreement;
| ▪ | If our controllable flight completion factor falls below certain levels for a specified period of time, subject to our right to cure; or
| ▪ | Upon a change in our ownership or control without the written approval of American.
In the event that American has the right to terminate our American Capacity Purchase Agreement, American may, in lieu of termination, withdraw up to an aggregate of 14 aircraft from service under our American Capacity Purchase Agreement. Upon any such withdrawal, American's payments to us would be correspondingly reduced by the number of withdrawn aircraft. On January 31, 2019, the Company entered into an amendment to the American Capacity Purchase Agreement, the terms of which provide for new and revised operational performance metrics, the Company's right to earn additional incentive compensation based on the achievement of such metrics, and the right of American to permanently withdraw up to six (6) aircraft in the event the Company fails to meet such new/revised performance metrics. Under the terms of such amendment the Company agreed, effective April 2, 2019, to convert two (2) aircraft to be utilized by the Company as operational spares in the Company's sole discretion throughout its system. In July 2019, American exercised its right to permanently withdraw two (2) aircraft from the American Capacity Purchase Agreement due to the Company's failure to meet certain performance metrics. The aircraft were removed on November 2, 2019. On November 25, 2019, the Company amended its agreement with American Airlines. The Company did not meet certain performance metrics during the most recent measurement period, which allows American to remove two additional aircraft from the capacity purchase agreement. American has agreed to defer the right to remove these two aircraft but has elected to remove one of two previously deferred aircraft, effective January 2, 2020. As of January 2, 2020 American has removed three (3) of the six (6) aircraft under this amendment and retains the right to permanently withdraw the remaining three (3) aircraft at any time. United Capacity Purchase Agreement As of December 31, 2019, the Company operated 20 CRJ-700 and 60 E-175 aircraft for United under our United Capacity Purchase Agreement. In exchange for providing the flight services under our United Capacity Purchase Agreement, we receive a fixed monthly minimum amount per aircraft under contract plus certain additional amounts based upon the number of flights and block hours flown and the results of passenger satisfaction surveys. United also reimburses us for certain costs on an actual basis, including property tax per aircraft and passenger liability insurance. Other expenses, including fuel and certain landing fees, are directly paid to suppliers by United. We also receive a minimum profit margin based upon our operational performance. Under our United Capacity Purchase Agreement, United owns 42 of the 60 E-175 aircraft and leases them to us at nominal amounts. United reimburses us on a pass-through basis for all costs related to heavy airframe and engine maintenance, landing gear, auxiliary power units ("APUs") and component maintenance for the 42 E-175 aircraft owned by United. Our United Capacity Purchase Agreement permits United, subject to certain conditions, including the payment of certain costs tied to aircraft type, to terminate the agreement in its discretion, or remove aircraft from service, by giving us notice of 90 days or more. If United elects to terminate our United Capacity Purchase Agreement in its entirety or permanently remove select aircraft from service, we are permitted to return any of the affected E-175 aircraft leased from United at no cost to us. In addition, if United removes any of our 18 owned E-175 aircraft from service at its direction, United would remain obligated to assume the aircraft ownership and associated debt with respect to such aircraft through the end of the term of the agreement. On November 26, 2019, we amended and restated our United Capacity Purchase Agreement to, among other things, incorporate the terms of the 11 prior amendments to that Agreement and to extend the term thereof through the addition of twenty (20) new Embraer E175LL aircraft to the scope of such Agreement. These new aircraft will be financed and owned by us and operated for a period of twelve (12) years from the in-service date. Deliveries of the new E175LL aircraft are scheduled to begin in May 2020 and be completed by December 31, 2020. Commencing five (5) years after the actual in-service date, United has the right to remove the E175LL aircraft from service by giving us notice of 90 days or more, subject to certain conditions, including the payment of certain wind-down expenses plus, if removed prior to the ten (10) year anniversary of the in-service date, certain accelerated margin payments. In addition to adding the 20 new E175LL aircraft to the amended and restated United Capacity Purchase Agreement, we extended the term of our 42 E-175 aircraft leased from United for an additional five (5) years, which now expire between 2024 and 2028. As part of the amended and restated United Capacity Purchase Agreement, we agreed to lease our twenty (20) CRJ-700 aircraft to another United Express service provider for a term of seven (7) years. We will continue to operate such aircraft until they are transitioned over the period between May 2020 and December 2020. United has a right to purchase the CRJ 700 aircraft at the then fair market value. In addition, we own 18 E-175 aircraft that expire in 2028. Our United Capacity Purchase Agreement is subject to early termination under various circumstances noted above and including:
| ▪ | By United if certain operational performance factors fall below a specified percentage for a specified time, subject to notice under certain circumstances;
| ▪ | By United if we fail to perform the material covenants, agreements, terms or conditions of our United Capacity Purchase Agreement or similar agreements with United, subject to thirty (30) days' notice and cure rights;
| ▪ | If either United or we become insolvent, file bankruptcy or fail to pay debts when due, the non-defaulting party may terminate the agreement; or
| ▪ | By United if we merge with, or if control of us is acquired by another air carrier or a corporation directly or indirectly owning or controlling another air carrier.

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