Colgan Air, Inc. Releases December Performance Data

Market Wire, January, 2009

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) today released capacity and operational results for its Colgan Air, Inc. subsidiary for December 2008.

                                              December 2008 Performance
                                           ------------------------------
                                             2008       2007      Change
                                           ---------  ---------  --------
Passengers                                   214,816    112,971      90.2 %
Available Seat Miles (000)                    90,825     47,752      90.2 %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)                 52,175     20,896     149.7 %
Departures                                     9,016      8,688       3.8 %
Block Hours                                   11,790     10,338      14.0 %

Load Factor                                     57.4 %     43.8 %  13.6 pts
Fleet
    SAAB 340                                      34         42     (19.0)%
    Beech 1900                                     2          6     (66.7)%
    Q400                                          15          -     100.0 %


                                               Year-To-Date Performance
                                           ------------------------------
                                             2008       2007      Change
                                           ---------  ---------  --------
Passengers                                 2,532,578  1,550,980      63.3 %
Available Seat Miles (000)                 1,060,221    628,421      68.7 %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)                576,147    287,992     100.1 %
Departures                                   121,635    113,254       7.4 %
Block Hours                                  152,890    134,290      13.9 %

Load Factor                                     54.3 %     45.8 %   8.5 pts

The average length of a Colgan flight was 228 statute miles compared to 178 statute miles in December 2007.

About Pinnacle Airlines Corp.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL), an airline holding company, is the parent company of Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. and Colgan Air, Inc. Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. operates a fleet of 142 regional jets in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands as Northwest Airlink and Delta Connection. Colgan Air, Inc. operates a fleet of 51 regional turboprops as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. Pinnacle Airlines Corp. operating units fly over 1,000 daily flights and transport 13 million passengers a year to 144 cities and towns in North America. Visit www.pncl.com for more information.

This press release contains various forward-looking statements 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, including those set forth in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available to investors at our web site or online from the Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove erroneous, actual results may vary materially from results that were anticipated or projected. The Company does not intend to update these forward-looking statements before its next required filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact: Joe Williams 901-346-6162