First, I'm new to this site and would like to thank all the Mesaba gurus for all the great info on this thread.

I interviewed right after Christmas and got the Street Captain offer. I'm thrilled to be going to Mesaba and I'm hoping to be in the 01/28 class if they open it up to Street CAs.

I'm trying to put together a family budget before class starts (I'll be commuting for a while) and have some pay/QOL questions.

So here we go...

1) Can reserves "bid to fly", ie. volunteer to be first called for assignments?

2) How often do reserves break guarantee? Never, twice a year, or fairly often if they try hard enough? (I'll be trying for DTW if that makes a difference)

3) Does anyone have the 2008 year-one Captain pay rate in front of them?

4) Are reserve days off "hard" days, or movable? Are the 11 days off in sets (2s and 3s), single days, or a combo?

5) What is "Saab leak"? rainwater? Deice? Mysterious old goo? How does one defend oneself from it?

6) Now for a big QOL issue: Do the Saabs have cupholders?

7) Do they pair CA/CA or CA/FO for the sims?

8) Are the Street CAs still starting groundschool one week early?

Thanks for all the help and see you in MSP!