Pinnacle Airlines, Inc. Releases October Performance Data

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

                                              October Performance
                                           2009      2008     Change
                                         --------  --------  -------
Passengers                                934,740   922,234      1.4%
Available Seat Miles (000)                485,872   543,094    (10.5)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)             386,913   425,322     (9.0)%
Load Factor                                  79.6%     78.3%     1.3 pts
Block Hours                                34,831    36,652     (5.0)%
Departures                                 22,519    23,027     (2.2)%
Fleet
   CRJ-200                                    126       124      1.6%
   CRJ-900                                     16        14     14.3%


                                             Year-To-Date Performance
                                           2009       2008      Change
                                         ---------  ---------  --------
Passengers                               9,050,908  8,692,220       4.1%
Available Seat Miles (000)               5,124,129  5,258,148      (2.5)%
Revenue Passenger Miles (000)            3,891,816  4,048,098      (3.9)%
Load Factor                                   76.0%      77.0%     (1.0)pts
Block Hours                                357,347    368,396      (3.0)%
Departures                                 228,977    223,595       2.4%

Pinnacle reports its total Passengers, Revenue Passenger Miles (RPMs), and Load Factor each month, even though fluctuations do not affect revenues received under capacity purchase agreements with Delta Air Lines, its mainline partner.

The average length of a Pinnacle flight was 410 statute miles compared to 452 statute miles in October 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 142 regional jets under Delta brands in the United States, Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands. 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 more than 1,280 daily flights and transport 13 million passengers a year to 152 cities and towns in North America. The corporate headquarters is located in Memphis, Tenn. Airport hub operations are located in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Newark, Washington Dulles, Houston, LaGuardia, Memphis and Minneapolis. 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 September 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.