Mesaba Negotiations update for December 9, 2005

The AMFA negotiating team met with Mesaba management on Tuesday and received Mesaba's Business Plan overview and proposal term sheet. We will outline the term sheet in this email. This term sheet included a new pay scale with a 10 year top out. The new pay scale includes an 18% pay cut for our topped out AMTs and a 1% pay raise for a new hire. The new reduced pay scale includes a 1% pay increase each year for the term of this 6 year agreement. Again Mesaba would like reduce the RII premium to $0.25, reduce the Lead and Inspector premium to $0.95 and a complete deletion of all shift
premiums. The term sheet also looks to eliminate all overtime pay in excess of time and a half and would like to exclude holiday, vacation and sick pay from the calculation of overtime. Mesaba still seeks to eliminate the Maintenance Controller, Maintenance Instructor, GSE, and Maintenance Support classifications from our contract. The term sheet also included a proposal to replace the current furlough process with a single bid that eliminates trickledown. As far as benefits are concerned, Mesaba would like to make significant changes to the LTD and STD benefits, pay sick leave at 75%, increase the employee contribution to the medical premiums from 30% to 50% and completely delete the reference in the collective bargaining agreement to health plan 1, the plan most favored by Mesaba employees. Mesaba would also like to clarify the time limit for filing group grievances and would like AMFA to withdraw specified grievances with prejudice. Tuesday's proposal also included the establishment of a profit sharing program to ensure that employees participate in Mesaba's successful transformation.

AMFA and the other unions at Mesaba have made numerous requests for information from Mesaba and we have and will continue to have meetings with ALPA, TWU, AFA, and TWU to share information and analysis.

AMFA met with Mesaba on Wednesday afternoon following internal meetings to renew and request more information in detail in order to perform due diligence analysis so that AMFA can properly respond to these proposals. AMFA will continue to process the information that we have received while we wait for more information from Mesaba. Unfortunately, due to the Company's inability, at least up to now, to provide timely and thorough financial disclosures to requested data, we are only in the preliminary stages of determining Mesaba's need for concessions. Then, if determined necessary, the nest step is to establish the correct number, which becomes the starting point for negotiations. We are, however, already looking at different ways to construct counter-proposals that might prove more acceptable to our members than some of items the Company has proposed. Please keep in mind that we haven't agreed to concessions yet and that the analysis process, although time consuming, is paramount to responsible and accurate conclusions about Mesaba that will have a significant impact on all of our careers for years to come. Thank you for your continued patience.

Jim Schafer
Neil White
Nathan Winch
Kevin Wildermuth