DHL Express has terminated its flying-services agreement with Mesa Airlines one year before the end of its term because of reduced cargo demand, the Phoenix-based regional carrier disclosed in its quarterly earnings report on Monday.
Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ: MESA) said that the partners “mutually agreed to wind down cargo operation as of February” and that pilots from its cargo business are retraining to operate Mesa’s Embraer E-175 passenger jets. DHL will reimburse Mesa for costs associated with the operation’s dissolution.
Mesa’s last flight for DHL was on March 11, according to Flightradar24. Cargo Facts reported in March that Mesa had stopped flight operations for DHL.
It is the third carrier this year that has ceased operating dedicated aircraft in the DHL Express U.S. package network. iAero Airways, which operated dozens of flights per week for DHL with Boeing 737 freighters, went out of business in April. DHL also canceled its contract with Amerijet to fly scheduled service in its package-delivery network and took back the Boeing 767 aircraft it owned.
Mesa Airlines operated three Boeing 737-400 converted freighters for DHL, moving packages from various cities to the national hub at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and other hubs. It began flying for DHL in fall 2020 under a five-year contract. DHL subleased the aircraft to Mesa, which was responsible for the crews, maintenance and insurance.
Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said in December 2021 that the company wanted to eventually operate a cargo fleet of eight to 10 freighters for DHL.
The regional carrier’s fortunes were upset by the COVID crisis, as well as the loss of business as a feeder operation for American Airlines in April 2023. It lost $302 million in the past two years and reported a $57.9 million loss for the first quarter versus a net loss of $9.1 million in the same 2023 period. The company has been selling off spare CRJ-900 aircraft and engines and has reworked its flight agreement with partner United Airlines to reduce debt and improve profitability.
Mesa’s fleet consists of 54 E-175s and 26 CRJ-900s.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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