FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 02/11/2009 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol MESA AIR GROUP INC [MESA] (Last) (First) (Middle) 85 BROAD ST 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director __X__ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) NEW YORK, NY 10004 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) ___ Form filed by One Reporting Person _X_ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock, No Par Value 14,222,656 I See footnote (1)

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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 85 BROAD ST NEW YORK, NY 10004	Â	  X	Â	Â
GOLDMAN SACHS & CO 85 BROAD STREET NEW YORK, NY 10004	Â	  X	Â	Â

Signatures

/s/ Kevin P. Treanor, Attorney-in-fact		02/17/2009
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date
/s/ Kevin P. Treanor, Attorney-in-fact		02/17/2009
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	This statement is being filed by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ("GS Group") and Goldman, Sachs & Co. ("Goldman Sachs" and, together with GS Group, the "Reporting Persons"). Goldman Sachs is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GS Group. Goldman Sachs beneficially owns directly and GS Group may be deemed to beneficially own indirectly 14,222,656 shares of common stock, no par value per share, of Mesa Air Group, Inc.

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