Delta’s Mesaba Airlines to cut 100 pilot jobs

Delta Air Lines’ Mesaba subsidiary, a Delta Connection regional carrier, is cutting 100 to 110 pilot jobs through furloughs. Eagan, Minn.-based Mesaba Airlines has a total of about 1,120 pilots.

The job cuts come along with the removal of 10 Saab 340 aircraft from Mesaba’s fleet of 109 planes, as Atlanta-based Delta cuts 10 percent of its flight capacity this year. Mesaba will first offer pilots voluntary furloughs that start in August and continue into the fall. In another move triggered by fleet cuts, fellow Delta regional subsidiary Comair is closing a maintenance facility in Orlando in September, affecting 81 employees. The mechanics at the facility were offered relocations, early retirement or early separation packages.