So about 2 weeks out Mesa flight attendants votes 99.7% yes to give their MEC strike authorization, should it come to that.

Now I know we are pilots, but it would be wise to see how our CEO, Jonathan Ornstein, is reacting to our FA's voting for strike authorization.

Below is an email that was sent out to all of our FA's. Read it, and make up your own mind if this is a place that you would want to come and work at. Just make sure to think long and hard about it...

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From: Ano, Jameson
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 8:50:37 PM
To: # Flight Attendants - Mesa
Cc: Ornstein, Jonathan
Subject: A message from CEO Jonathan Ornstein

Dear Mesa Flight Attendant,
Recently, you received a letter from the AFA expressing their desire to "fight" with management over contract negotiations. It is important you know we are very disappointed with the content and more importantly the "tone" of this message. We have no interest in counterproductive or destructive dialogue with any employee group. To the contrary, we are committed to honest and constructive relations and will never resort to angry, accusatory rhetoric that serves no purpose other than to incite discontent.

It is in this spirit that we would like to share a few points with which you may not be familiar.

· Mesa has added more than 1,000 flight attendant jobs over the past three years allowing you to quickly hold a line rather than sit on reserve for years, as is the case at most airlines.

· Our growth has given all our flight attendants the opportunity to be based in their domicile of choice. No other airline can make this claim.

· Mesa has paid performance bonuses in each of the last three years.

· Mesa is the only airline to actually lower health insurance premiums this year.

· We have created innovative, industry leading, programs specifically for our flight attendants, including FA to FA mentoring, perfect attendance bonuses, “No Stay No Pay” and crash pad assistance.

· Most importantly, it is our understanding that Mesa is the only AFA represented airline to have never furloughed a flight attendant or reduced FA pay, even during the worst of times post 9/11 and in bankruptcy.


While our recruiting process is highly competitive and selective, thankfully we now have over 6000 applications on file! We look forward to working with you to make Mesa a better place to work for all of us.


We have worked for many years to create a culture of openness and transparency and don’t understand why anyone would attempt to undermine these efforts. We have stated many times, starting at new hire luncheons, that we have an open door policy and are happy to discuss any issues of concern with you. As a former new hire myself “throwing bags at LAX”, I assure you that we understand the challenges you face. While contract negotiations are normally closed door we are concerned you are not getting the whole story. To ensure you do, we invite you to attend and hear the negotiations for yourself. We have sent a letter to your union asking them to approve this invitation.

I think you would agree it would not be in anyone’s best interest for us make an agreement that we could not live up to, just for the sake of coming to agreement, however short term. As you may or may not know, we operate under “fixed rate” agreements with United and American which provide no mechanism to pass along wage increases. As a consequence, we must balance our ability to increase costs with our ability to remain a viable business long term in order to provide job security to all our people. While negotiations are not easy, particularly given our situation, we have been working in good faith to find common ground and reach an agreement which reflects our competitive reality.

As always, please feel free to contact me directly if you have comments, questions or concerns.

Most sincerely,


Jonathan Ornstein
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer