Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis International) is set to leave Chapter 11 after a bankruptcy-court judge on Wednesday cleared the US regional carrier to become a unit of Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson). According to the airline, since declaring bankruptcy 12 months ago, it has moved to negotiate tough deals its three main unions including "deep concessions among those workers", while at the same time cutting its operating costs via a tie up with Delta. Pinnacle is to double the number of CRJ900s it flies for Delta to 81 while phasing out its fleet of smaller CRJ200s. In return, Pinnacle won't have to pay fees to Delta for returning those "smaller" aircraft, which should save the company more than US$100million according to a report by FoxBusiness. Overall, the airline is confident it will leave bankruptcy by May 1, with only US Department of Transportation regulatory approval now needed.