Originally Posted by etflies

Couldn't tell you about the change in minimums but if I were a betting man they would keep Mesaba's minimums. We're keeping the Mesaba certificate and they've taken over most of the training from what I hear. Your best bet is to keep flying and get as many hours as you can. Don't put it on cruise control when you meet one company's minimums.

We do have internal minimums to be met, but you're joining a decent sized seniority list, you won't be seeing an upgrade just because you hit the minimums. Assuming you meet the minimums, when your spot can hold a CA seat, you can upgrade. Upgrade time for new hires is probably 4-5 years right now, based on the DOH of junior Captains. I've heard as low as 3 and as high as 7 from different people though so again, your guess is as good as mine. For pre-merger guys its different because of the SLI fences put in place. Of course this can all change rapidly.

As far as which airplane, your guess is as good as mine. We just had a new guy doing his observation rides last week that said he started class thinking they would be on the Q and at somepoint before indoc was done they were told they would be a Saab class. My point is I don't think the company even knows until your class gets there and until you start systems don't get your hopes up either way.