Along with all the other emails in my box this morning was an SEC alert on Mesa Air Group.

The airline says in the filing that if it loses in its effort to keep the Delta Air Lines’ contract in effect with its subsidiary Freedom Airlines, that it could be forced to seek bankruptcy protection. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many folks — if you can simply do the math concerning the business that Mesa is slated to lose as a result of losing the contract.

As we reported here last month, a hearing on the matter is now scheduled to be heard beginning next week in Federal District Court in Atlanta.

I think the deal here is now pretty clear. If the judge agrees that Delta had the right to cancel the contract for just cause, Mesa will have no choice and will probably be forced into bankruptcy.

Ticker: (MESA:Nasdaq)

Technorati Tags: airlines, bankruptcy, Mesa Air Group

Oh wow guys. It’s been a busy, busy day.

It all started this morning with the Southwest Airlines’ annual meeting. Herb Kelleher’s last meeting as Chairman of the airline that he helped to start. Here you see Herb engaged in one of his favorite activities — the kissing of women. Any woman. I think this proclivity of his probably ranks behind only drinking and smoking on Herb’s list of his most favored activities. I still remember the night he grabbed me at an ISTAT convention and kissed me. So do a number of folks who witnessed the-feet-off-the-ground event.

Today was an emotional affair. Herb cried. Colleen cried. We all cried. Ginger Hardage, Southwest Airlines’ SVP of Corporate Communications told me that she only had one Kleenex with her, but hearing CFO Laura Wright sniffling in the seat in front of her, she tore her one tissue in half and shared it with Laura.

Yes, it was a very special day. Only fitting, because folks, Herbert David Kelleher is one special man.

Then, as we started the press conference part of the annual meeting, all the media types who had been at the American Airlines‘ annual meeting joined us (as the American meeting is always held earlier the same morning….something that someone should change).

It was at that point that I first heard about the changes American had announced, including the $15 charge for the first checked bag. (I want to see the nightmare this causes at check-in ….), the many employees who stood up and talked at the meeting, the hundreds of protesting airline employees there, major cuts in capacity, and on and on.

Meanwhile over on Denton Drive, it was a Herb LUV fest.

As Herb and Colleen left the press conference, Gary “The King” Kelly strode in. While technically he is not “King” of Southwest, I guess he is pretty close. The board of directors named Kelly Chairman of the airline today, and he will also assume the “President” title in July when Colleen steps down officially from her Presidential Perch.

He did tell me I could kiss his ring.

It is also always great to see all my Dallas media friends such as Dan Reed with USA Today, Terry Maxon and Suzanne Marta with the Dallas Morning News, Mary Schlangenstein with Bloomberg, and others.

Not long after Gary had left the building, and all of us were back and connected to the outside world, news hit that shares of AMR were down 25%  on the day.

The shares didn’t move much for the rest of the day, as shares of AMR, parent of American Airlines ended the day at 6.22, down 24%. It was the biggest decline posted by any airline on the day.

While AMR posted the biggest decline, it was a horrible day for the entire airline sector as a whole — driven by the record uptick in fuel, the dire tone set by the American Airlines‘ news and its annual meeting, and Kevin Crissey’s downbeat research note comments.