Colgan Air, Inc. Releases January, February Performance Data

Market Wire, March, 2009

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. (NASDAQ: PNCL) today released capacity and operational results for its Colgan Air, Inc. subsidiary for January and February 2009.

                                             January 2009 Performance
                                        ----------------------------------
                                           2009        2008       Change
                                        ----------  ----------  ---------
Passengers                                 179,662     106,052      69.4  %
Available Seat Miles (000)                  89,685      49,387      81.6  %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)               41,718      19,523     113.7  %
Departures                                   9,250       8,648       7.0  %
Block Hours                                 11,681      10,358      12.8  %

Load Factor                                   46.5%       39.5%   7.0 pts
Fleet
   SAAB 340                                     34          42      (19.0)%
   Beech 1900                                    2           6      (66.7)%
   Q400                                         15           -      100.0 %


                                            February 2009 Performance
                                        ----------------------------------
                                           2009        2008       Change
                                        ----------  ----------  ---------
Passengers                                 172,242     137,841      25.0  %
Available Seat Miles (000)                  79,450      56,370      40.9  %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)               38,604      27,058      42.7  %
Departures                                   8,460       8,371       1.1  %
Block Hours                                 10,479      10,390       0.9  %

Load Factor                                   48.6%       48.0%   0.6 pts
Fleet
   SAAB 340                                     34          42      (19.0)%
   Beech 1900                                    -           5     (100.0)%
   Q400                                         14           4      250.0 %



                                             Year-To-Date Performance
                                        ----------------------------------
                                           2009        2008       Change
                                        ----------  ----------  ----------
Passengers                                 351,904     243,893       44.3 %
Available Seat Miles (000)                 169,135     105,757       59.9 %
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)               80,323      46,581       72.4 %
Departures                                  17,710      17,019        4.1 %
Block Hours                                 22,160      20,748        6.8 %

Load Factor                                   47.5%       44.0%    3.5 pts

The average length of a Colgan flight was 214 statute miles compared to 196 statute miles in February 2008.

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 141 regional jets in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands under Delta brands. Colgan Air, Inc. operates a fleet of 48 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