Robert Swenson '76

President and CEO, Mesaba Aviation Inc., Air-Tran Corp.

At a time when other airlines are taking a nose dive, Minneapolis-based Mesaba is soaring. This commuter link with Northwest Airlines for the country's mid-section has grown in 15 years from a single Cessna 421 to a fleet expected to reach 55 aircraft by next fall; from 3,500 passengers in 1978 to more than 1.2 million in 1992; from serving two cities then to 46 cities in 15 states and Ontario now owing to the savvy of Swenson, its founder and first pilot. "Just before deregulation," says Swenson, recently named chairman of the Regional Airline Association, "we figured that opportunities would exist for short-haul carriers. We started the company and went up from there." Look for Swenson to go even higher: he expects the company to grow into a sizable national carrier within the next ten years.

Swenson's Mesaba istaking off.