Originally Posted by sgrd0q
I looked into this a little further and found out that even though there will be Dash-8s operating out of JFK the pilot base will not be JFK. Nobody will be assigned to JFK. Instead you'll have to be assigned to another base (e.g. BDL, PVD, ALB, etc.) and report at that base. As a result commuting out of JFK will not really work well because if you need to report early in the morning, in PVD say, there won't be any flight that can take you there on that day.
The other thing that I've heard is that you can't necessarily bid for the Dash-8 CA if you are a jet FO. This is due to the FO's equipment and seat locks. Actually, there is talk about B1900 FOs being allowed to bid for the F8 CA spot but as it stands now this is not permitted by the contract.
I got my information from a friend who just started with Mesa and he is trying to figure things out himself so he is not the most reliable source. If anyone can correct me please do so.
P.S. Mesa must be pretty desperate to find CA for the Dash-8, as there are rumors they'll drop the ICAO ATP minimums. Instead you you'll just need FAA ATP minimums for the Dash-8 CA position.
They have tentatively released the seat locks on the CRJ FO and 1900 FO & CA, but not the ERJ.
I suppose the ICAO mins are not an issue since they appear to flying domestic only. They are probably assuming that all their FAA-only captains will have ICAO times by the time DAL decides to send them to the great white north.