Originally Posted by
Falconguy
So my next question (and I think a couple people have tried to address this) is; how will getting these new RJs be affected by people who are currently flying the SAABs? In other words, wouldn't they all want to move over to the RJ, placing new hires in the SAABs instead? I'm sure there's more to this as far as contract stuff, pros and cons, etc. than my corporate aviation pea brain can understand but I'd sure like to hear what people think about this...especially Mesaba pilots.
Also, does anyone have any idea of what reserve times will be like for new hires (especially if they go on the RJ)? I would think that they need to fill seats right now but again, reserve is a foreign word to a corporate slug like me.
Thanks again....
So here is the deal...I am going to go into detail here so that it is as clear as I can make it.
New hires at Mesaba are subject to a 3 year EQUIPMENT lock. Whatever equipment you are hired on to fly, you will be "Stuck" with for three years or until upgrade, whichever comes first. As a new hire, there is no Seat (status - i.e. F/O or Capt) lock per say. To upgrade, you must have 1000 hours in Mesaba aircraft or 2 years of Mesaba longevity. (If we are in a pinch for captains, there is an allowance to double your Mesaba block time to get you to the 1000 hour limit, so 500 hours at Mesaba will get you an upgrade in desperate times.)
Now, for lateral moves, Saab F/O to CRJ F/O for example. If you voluntarily lateral to another aircraft for whatever reason you will then be SEAT (status) locked for 24 months. This seat lock does not apply for involuntary displacements.
Example: An Avro F/O was involuntarily downgraded to Saab F/O due to the Avro's going away. He or she would not be seat locked on the Saab and could upgrade at anytime. However, if that person chooses to voluntarily move to the CR9, they WILL be SEAT-LOCKED in the right seat for 24 months.
Because we are in growth mode with high attrition, upgrades will be coming quickly for those on the list now and the first few classes of new hires. Few people will want to seat-lock themselves and have to wait 24 months to upgrade.
On the vacancy that just came out for the first 10 CR9 F/O's we had 6 lateral from the Saab and 4 recalled from Furlough. You can see just from that, that not all available jet slots were filled by saab F/O's because of the seat lock scenario.
The majority of the furloughs will be recalled to the Saab due to the fact that Mesaba needs to build the Saab numbers early to cover the training events that will take the current captains to the jet and upgrade the current F/O's to Saab captain.
Reserve will be short 1-4 months probably for the first few classes. As we get later into the year and 2008, reserve time will grow as less new hires will be coming in behind you.
I guess the point is, if Mesaba is where you want to be, make the move NOW to interview. Being at the forefront of the hiring will be a good thing for seniority, short reserve and short upgrade time.