We'll send back planes before we raise payrates imho--this isn't a wholly-owned cost center type operation.

If we can't staff the feed at existing profit margins/rates, we will send it back and say "sorry can't staff it at that rate." Whether mainline comes back to us with a flow or CPA rate increase has absolutely nothing to do with ALPA at all.

Just giving you cold hard facts...can ALPA turn the screws on the company versus what they're doing now? Sure--sure they can. But can they force an increase in payrates, or a comprehensively-better/satisfactory CBA? Nah--probably not.

Mesa's key benefit at the moment is that our flight ops management doesn't try to micromanage us like every other regional--HR has less power than our chief pilots, and that's the main reason I like working here...if that ever changes and we turn into some Republic/Endeavor/XJet management culture where HR micromanages the daily life of pilots, then yeah--people are going to leave.

Personally, I think Mesa is worth a few bucks less per hour on the payscale precisely because management leaves us the heck alone about minor things like sick calls. At present, if your flights go out on time and you aren't breaking things, they leave you the heck alone--which is exactly how it should be. If that ever changes, a handful of people will put their "next job" plans in motion--hopefully the continuing policy of "hands-off" management will continue, for the sake of anyone who works here!