Originally Posted by
Lighteningspeed
Flowthrough agreement is inplace as of NOW with Mesaba and Compass but according the the NWA representative at the FLTops Conference, the flowthrough agreement has not been negotiated yet whether it will remain after the merger with the Delta.
I know you have a lot of experience and I am going to give the same advice I gave to a retired AF Col who was looking for a flying gig after his retirement, and that is this: since no majors are hiring right now, you should get a flying gig either with corporate outfits such as NetJets, CitationShares or with a good solid regional and stay current. If your plan is to get on with a major, I think it is better to go with a good regional and get a lot of 121 flying.
Another thing you should know is that IF NWA starts to furlough pilots (I think that may not happen but it could happen), Compass has no protection from every NWA pilot displacing them. Only those pilots who have elected NOT to flowthru will get to keep their jobs. On the other hand, at Mesaba, only the same number of pilots who have flowed up(right now 14) can flowdown. Even then, they cannot displace Mesaba pilots because the seniority number of those pilots who have flowed up remain vacant so no one is displaced at Mesaba.
I can PM you more info if interested. All I am saying is do your research before making your decisions. Interview with Mesaba and Compass and then make your decisions.
I agree with you completely don't come to Compass for flow-though. That said your math is a little fuzzy.
Lets assume for a minute that the new Delta keeps flow-through the exact same for Compass and Mesaba and they continue to hire (you'll have to suspend disbelief
). Compass has 240 pilots on the seniority list and Mesaba has over 1000. There are some restrictions, but the first 20 pilots each month must be Compass pilots. After that Mesaba pilots (I'm not sure what the limitations are there) then off the street pilots are hired. How long would it take for a new hire at Compass to be hired at new DAL verses a new hire at Mesaba?
The limitations at Compass are only 20 pilots per month can be hired, only half the Captains in a rolling 12 month period may be hired, and you must have been employed for 30 months and be a Captain. I'm not familiar with the limits at Mesaba, though only the number of pilots who flow up can flow down.
If your goal is to get to DAL by getting hired at Compass or Mesaba my advice is to set a different goal. If you think NWA will have mass furloughs I suggest going to Mesaba to protect against furlough. If you think NWA and new Delta will keep flow-though and keep hiring I suggest coming to Compass.
I'm at Compass, but I came here for home base and upgrade in that order. Upgrade is now significantly longer than when I was hired. I doubt I would have left Comair if I now was the first time I could be hired. If I were out of work I'd come here in a heart beat.