Pinnacle Airlines Corp (NASDAQ:PNCL) announced on Tuesday that it recorded net income of USD11.4m, or USD0.62 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2009.

Excluding a gain related to the sale of the company's Auction Rate Securities portfolio Pinnacle reported net income for the quarter of USD7.3m, or USD0.40 per diluted share, compared to net income of USD6.9m, or USD0.38 per diluted share, excluding special items, for the third quarter of 2008.

Operating revenues for the third quarter 2009 totalled USD217.2m, a drop of 2%, or USD4.6m, compared to the same period of last year. This decrease is primarily due to a reduction in Colgan Air's pro-rate operations and the fall in Pinnacle's capacity.