Airsupport

I said about a month ago that we would be flying 900's for northwest in the near future because mesaba isn't able to staff their planes right now. so we got a memo from the company that states that they are paying 150% to all fo's because we have been given more market hours than they planned on and the sending of crj's to mesaba has been delayed. so i called my buddy up and he said that the way he heard it is that we aren't sending any more 200's to mesaba because their staffing is in worse shape than ours. he said that yes we were given more flying, and with all the new routes nwa wants to start this summer they need the planes to stay at pinnacle, and even give us some of the 900's that mesaba has parked right now.

now for the second part. i also heard that mesaba/compass was taking over the "C" concourse again in memphis this summer. any one at mesaba heard this?

bored

Dude... what are you smoking? You think you know a lot about what's going on at Mesaba... but you're usually wrong.

We have NO 900s parked. We are not short staffed and are not having any problems attracting, hiring and retaining pilots. In fact, we are over staffed on the saab. Jet training is starting to clear the backup and it will only get better when more planes are delivered. Plenty of pilots... they're just not all out of training yet. The more planes that get delivered, the more IOE can be accomplished and the backup is cleared. Our staffing issues are HARDLY as bad as yours over at Pinnacle.

We just took delivery of our 18th 900 and it enters service on March 5th. We'll be operating 17 lines of flying, with one spare. On March 10th, we will take delivery of the next 200. By mid April we will have 19 -900s and 9 -200s in active service, not including the spares.

The MEM 900 base opens in April and they'll likely be parked on the C concourse, where the main crew room is and where the avros used to park before they were retired.

Did you ever think that all this new flying you seem to be getting is for a reallocation of your 200s as your MSP flying decreases? As the XJ 200 flying increases yours shrinks and your planes have to fly somewhere.

Airsupport

the new 200 routes we are getting are ones we used to do back in the day before nwa filed for bankruptcy and stopped flying to those places. so i guess the word "new" isn't the one i should have used. i should have said "old routes that we will be flying to again" instead.

never said i knew a lot about what is going on at mesaba. i got the understaffed and c concourse info from a mesaba guy. and as far as the 200's pinnacle has been told to keep them for now. that is why our management is trying to pay more money to the pilots just so we can staff the planes they thought would be gone, but aren't going anywhere.

see if you read what i wrote and what you wrote we only differ on a couple of things, so getting all aggresive isn't necassary is it?

and actually msp flying is also increasing, not decreasing.

bored

So basically you're posting heresay? What parked 900s are you talking about? What short staffing are you talking about? The vacancies for the jets continue to get published and filled and people are going to training. The issue with the 200 is that so many people are waiting for IOE. YOu can only fly so many hours in a day and since the planes started being delivered late, that created the initial backlog in training. The more deliveries will allow more IOE to be completed, thus cleaning up the backlog. If NWA thinks by delaying the deliveries to Mesaba is the solution to the "staffing issue" they're crazy. The info you're getting from your sources seem to contradict what really is taking place at Mesaba.

Airsupport

haha,, well since i don't work for management then aren't all rumors hearsay?

the no more 200's for mesaba thing was from a memo the company put out this weekend. i also called my buddy to see what is going on, so it is part hearsay and part memo from company.

the mesaba/compass taking over the c concourse was from a mesaba guy.

the short staff comment on the jets was from a mesaba guy.

the 900's not being delivered on schedule and some being parked was from a mesaba guy.

bored

So you're admitting your posting rumors disguised as fact? =) Sounds like your Mesaba guy is full of bad info. Find a new source. We're still taking delivery of airplanes as scheduled. I'm not sure where he gets the impression there are 900s parked or are being delayed.

Did the memo say that your planes were being delayed? Or is that conjecture on your part?

C concourse stuff makes sense, since the 900 base opens in April.. they have to put the plane somewhere. The 175s are already flying to MEM and park on the B concourse.

Airsupport

well here let me quote it for you.

Due to Northwest marketing changes and delays in turning CRJ 200's over to Mesaba, we have incurred more block hours than our original plan. bla, bla bla, deficit of available first officers, bla bla bla, 150% pay (that no one should take) bla bla bla.

and remember just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it isn't happening. thats why i posted it here, to find out what others see as going on.

and the c concourse is where the avros used to be and i think mesaba still has an ops over there so that would be a perfect place for compass/mesaba to have a base.

and my source seemed like a nice enough guy. we were sitting at the delta gate watching basketball and having some popeyes!

LoudFastRules

Yes, it is true, there was a slight delay, some months ago, in starting the transfer of 200's to Mesaba. There is nothing new there. However, the latest vacancy staffed the 200's fully for all 17.

There is absolutely no shortage whatsoever of pilots at Mesaba. The jet guys are working through the pipeline. It does, however, take time to get them through.

It's just like "bored" said regarding 200 training. There was a big backup in training early on, due to us not having enough 200's and 200 flying to schedule all of the IOE required to get folks qualified. The more planes we get, the quicker the sign-offs for new pilots.

There is nothing happening at Mesaba to indicate a new, further, delay in the transfer of 200's.

bored

INteresting... it seems that Uncle Phil is marching to a different beat than we are over here at XJ. There have been no indications that the 200s are being further delayed. Spanjers keeps talking about how they're being delivered, we're still staffing for them at 17 frames and training is working feverishly to get everyone on the line. So, once again - you guys are being told one thing and we're working as if the plan has never changed. Hmmm... who's right? Never trust mgmt.

Regarding the 900s on the C concourse... if you read my very first post I mentioned the 900s on the C. It only makes sense to park them there since that is where our main crew room is and the majority of our support staff etc... The A19 crew room is the second crew room to allow the saab drivers a place to go inbetween flights.

p1kraft

not to get in the crossfire to much but just because info came from a mesaba guy doesn't necessarily mean its true. I hear lots of guys blow smoke in the crew room.
Ive never heard anything about them parking 900's over here. But hey i guess i cant say much since im a saab driver. But yeah we are deffinetly fat on saab pilots we are even being offered voluntary time off without pay until more guys upgrade out of the saab or into the left seat. And as far as i have SEEN and heard we are just trying to get guys through the 900 training fast enough to get them on the planes. Not an issue with actually hiring or anything.
And as far as 200 flying if you are talking about pinnacle picking up more or old minnie flying well i guess i havent heard that one yet but thats the only place mesaba flys 200s anyway. Not our primary platform by any means.
The company did buy a brand new 200 sim and install it in minnie just 6 months ago though.
Just my two cents. Peace.