Mesaba Aviation, Inc. Reports Capacity and Traffic for October

Business Wire, Nov 4, 2004

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Mesaba Aviation, Inc., a subsidiary company of MAIR Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:MAIR), today reported capacity and traffic for October. Mesaba Aviation flew 269.7 million available seat miles (ASMs) in October, which was up 1.5% year over year. Mesaba Aviation carried 489,574 passengers in the month, which was down 4.4% year over year generating 176.8 million revenue passenger miles (RPMs). Passenger load factor, representing capacity filled, increased 7.1 points year over year to 65.6%.

Separately, Mesaba Aviation announced its operating performance for the month of October:

October
-------
                                         2004       2003      Change
                                         ----       ----      ------
Completion Factor                        97.9%      99.0%   (1.1 pts.)
Arrivals within 14 minutes               79.6%      89.5%   (9.9 pts.)


Following are capacity and traffic results:

October
-------
                                         2004       2003      Change
                                         ----       ----      ------
ASMs (000)                              269,655    265,543     1.5%
RPMs (000)                              176,820    155,275    13.9%
Load Factor                              65.6%      58.5%    7.1 pts.
Passengers                              489,574    512,003    (4.4%)

Fiscal Year to Date (7 Months)
------------------------------
                                       FY 2005    FY 2004     Change
                                       -------    -------     ------
ASMs (000)                            1,783,872  1,756,456     1.6%
RPMs (000)                            1,193,779  1,088,542     9.7%
Load Factor                              66.9%      62.0%    4.9 pts.
Passengers                            3,366,829  3,500,305    (3.8%)

Calendar Year to Date (10 Months)
---------------------------------
                                       CY 2004    CY 2003     Change
                                       -------    -------     ------
ASMs (000)                            2,436,679  2,444,243    (0.3%)
RPMs (000)                            1,568,899  1,463,065     7.2%
Load Factor                              64.4%      59.9%    4.5 pts.
Passengers                            4,505,644  4,739,787    (4.9%)

Mesaba Aviation, Inc., d/b/a Mesaba Airlines, operates as a Northwest Jet Airlink and Northwest Airlink partner under service agreements with Northwest Airlines. Currently, Mesaba Aviation serves 111 cities in 32 states and Canada from Northwest's and Mesaba Aviation's three major hubs: Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Memphis. Mesaba Aviation operates an advanced fleet of 99 regional jet and jet-prop aircraft, consisting of the 69-passenger Avro RJ85 and the 30- 34-passenger Saab SF340.

MAIR Holdings, Inc. is traded under the symbol MAIR on the NASDAQ National Market.

More information about Mesaba Airlines is available on the Internet at: http://www.mesaba.com