On January 3, Pinnacle Airlines (PNCL) sold $335 million of its $377.5 million unsecured claim against Northwest (NWACQ) to several third parties for aggregate proceeds of approximately $283 million, net of expenses. Having been approved by the bankruptcy court, Pinnacle received $283.3 million in proceeds from the sale of this claim on January 23, 2007, according to CFO Peter Hunt who spoke before the Raymond James Airline Conference last week. Hunt added that Pinnacle had the highest cash by percentage of assets of any regional.

Hunt also pointed to Pinnacle's performance calling it the best the airline has every posted, adding its performance on all controllable factors was at the top of the industry which will help with any negotiations is has with other majors for contract service, now that the restriction against such action has been removed with its new 11-year deal with Northwest. The new deal eliminated the margin in fuel expenses, reduced aircraft rent and reduced the margin on other aircraft items, he said

Hunt also said that the airline's recent acquisition of Colgan positions it well to gather new contract business and to acquire larger turboprops for Colgan which now operates the Saab 340 as the largest in its fleet.