Mesa to Arm Pilots With Tasers
PHOENIX, Oct. 18 -- Mesa Air Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MESA), today announced that it would begin
training its pilots to carry non-lethal taser weapons in the cockpit in coordination with the Federal
Aviation Administration. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Mesa's pilots, recently
called for the arming of pilots.
A taser is a stun gun that fires a high voltage shock at a range of up to 15 feet. After the shock, an
attacker is immobilized for up to 15 minutes, with no long-term permanent damage. It leaves the
attacker in a dazed mental state.
"Traffic across the industry has dropped significantly since the attack of September 11th. We need to
do everything we can to regain the confidence of our passengers in order to insure the future of
commercial aviation. We believe that enhancing on board security will go a long way toward
reaching that goal," said Jonathan Ornstein, Mesa's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
Mesa recently conducted a poll in which 85 percent of respondents said they would choose an airline
that provided inflight security over one that doesn't. "We look forward to working with all parties
involved, including the FAA, the airports we serve and our pilots to develop the necessary
safeguards and training to insure the safe use of these defensive weapons. We hope that Mesa will
set a positive example of cooperation and it is our hope that other airlines join us in developing this
program."
The company began placing trained security personnel on its Mesa Airlines operation out of its
Albuquerque, N.M., hub on October 17, 2001.
Mesa currently operates 116 aircraft with 832 daily system departures to 153 cities, 38 states,
Canada and Mexico. It operates in the west and mid-west as America West Express, the midwest
and east as US Airways Express, in partnership with Midwest Express out of Kansas City and in
New Mexico under the independent Mesa Airlines. It will also begin codesharing with Frontier
Airlines out of Denver in the first quarter of 2002. The Company, which was founded in New Mexico
in 1982, has approximately 3,000 employees. Mesa is a member of Regional Aviation Partners.
This press release contains various forward-looking statements that are 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. Should one or more of
these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual
results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, projected or expected.