Says ACA's Antitrust Claims Aren't True

Mesa Air Group says it has been advised of a Washington (DC) federal judge's ruling handed down Thursday, which was "in favor of certain aspects of Atlantic Coast Airlines's lawsuit against Mesa.

Although the judge denied all of Atlantic Coast's claims with respect to antitrust violations, the judge issued a preliminary injunction against Mesa, stopping it from moving ahead with its attempt to overthrow the ACA board of directors.

In a statement to Aero-News, Mesa said it does not believe Atlantic Coast's antitrust claims have any basis in fact and was surprised with the judge's grant of temporary injunctive relief when the judge herself admitted that "Atlantic Coast also has not established a substantial likelihood of succeeding on its claim that United is an undisclosed participant in Mesa's solicitation."

Mesa said it was pleased, however, that the judge denied all of Atlantic Coast's claims with respect to Securities Act violations, including, among other things, the allegation that Mesa's Consent Solicitation proxy contained false and misleading information, that Mesa did not disclose United as a participant, as well as claims of conflict of interest between Mesa, its board of directors and certain officers of Mesa.

The airline says the judge also turned away allegations that Mesa misled investors about its history of profitability and that several Mesa insiders engaged in insider trading.

Mesa says it's now deciding whether to appeal the consent solicitation and its potential exchange offer. In addition, as a result of Thursday's ruling, the company may just give up and sell its Atlantic Coast share holdings.

FMI: www.mesa-air.com