There's zero upside potential at Mesa now though (for someone without 1,000 hours prior 121 time). All of the future Captains for all of our planned or potential growth/attrition are already on property and fast-approaching their 1,000 hours 121 time necessary for upgrade.

When a person comes here today (without previous 121 experience), it's basically the same thing as when a plumber/janitor reads about some hot new growth stock in an investing magazine 3-6 months after all of the fund managers and expert investors have already bought up the cheap shares that will actually yield gains.

A total FNG w/o 121 experience might eek out a decent bump in FO seniority before the last EJet arrives, but all of our future upgrades for the next 3-5 years are already on property. My gut instinct based on a decade of experience with regional airline cycles says a noob with south of 1,000 hours 121 time is looking at a max upside potential of 30-40% in FO seniority, and then a 3-5 year wait for a left-seat.

I've been a Mesa cheerleader on here for a long time--I encouraged people to come here for a long time. The tides are turning, though, and I can't in good conscience adivse someone to come here now given the combination of money and opportunity that's on offer literally everywhere else. It worked out for me, it'll work out for the top 50-60% of our current FO list...but it's not going to work out for a brand new FO with south of 1,000 hours.

But yeah--for those of us already on property, our management culture and training department are top-notch.