Colgan Air, Inc. Releases August Performance Data

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

                        August 2008 Performance
                  2008            2007          Change
                --------       --------        --------
Passengers       275,804        153,107            80.1%
ASMs (000)       111,705         57,934            92.8%
RPMs (000)        63,428         28,300           124.1%
Departures        12,076         10,536            14.6%
Block Hours       15,184         12,345            23.0%

Load Factor         56.8%          48.8%            8.0 pts
Fleet
   SAAB 340           40             42            (4.8)%
   Beech 1900          5             10           (50.0)%
   Q400               15              -           100.0%


                        Year-To-Date Performance
                  2008           2007           Change
                --------       --------        --------
Passengers     1,637,216      1,040,579            57.3%
ASMs (000)       671,339        420,967            59.5%
RPMs (000)       361,127        193,937            86.2%
Departures        82,830         75,748             9.3%
Block Hours      103,981         90,254            15.2%

Load Factor         53.8%          46.1%            7.7 pts

The average length of a Colgan flight was 219 statute miles compared to 176 statute miles in August 2007.

The term "block hours" refers to the elapsed time between an aircraft leaving a gate and arriving at a gate.

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 135 regional jets in the United States and Canada as Northwest Airlink and Delta Connection. Colgan Air, Inc. operates a fleet of 60 regional turboprops as Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. Pinnacle Airlines Corp. operating units fly over 1,000 daily flights and transport more than 10 million passengers a year to 140 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.