Pinnacle Airlines CEO Phil Trenary told a gathering of journalists at the RAA convention in Dallas in late May that he fully expects his airline to, in his words, “take a beating” once bankrupt major partner Northwest Airlines decides to seek revenue-sharing concessions. “Our time is very near,” said Trenary. “Will we take a beating? Yes. How much of one? We don’t know.”
Anxious to lift the cloud of uncertainty Pinnacle has toiled under for the past year, Trenary expressed a desire to enter talks as soon as possible. “As soon as we secure a deal with Northwest, we will want to diversify [into other partnerships],” he insisted. The Pinnacle boss also said he fully expected to compete for a chance to fly 70-seat jets under the Northwest Airlink banner, despite the existence of new wholly owned subsidiary Compass Airlines.