For those of you who have not read the Anderson interview, that was very enlightening. Anderson stated that after the merger DAL would like to start with Mesaba and Compass when he was asked if he wants to streamline regionals flying for DAL. Mesaba and Compass is already held under a Mesaba Compass Holding Corporation. Anderson indicated he was happy with the structure set up at Mesaba and the projected CASM.

As far as growth, no official word has been announced but Mesaba is interviewing and hiring like there is no tomorrow. Mesaba already has 34 of the 36 CRJ9 promised so that is not the reason for all this hiring. The pilot roster grew from less than 600 in early 2007 to approx 1150 as of this month and the list keeps growing every time the seniority list comes out. The maintenance manager last week told us he had received the serial and registration numbers for 17 additional CRJ9s and he added the additional aircraft are coming to Mesaba and he was very certain about it. Take it for what its worth.

I do not think Mesaba and Comair will merge. Anderson did not even mention Comair and there are simply too many barriers for the Comair and Mesaba pilots to merge. What will happen to Comair is on everyones mind but no one really knows for sure. According to aviation analysts, Comair is too heavy with CRJ200s that are no longer economically attractive to major airlines. As far as Mesaba and Compass, I do not see those two merging either. Mesaba does their payroll and other administrative functions according to our management, but that's about it. There is no plan for those two to merge.

I agree that hindsight is always 20/20. It's always a gamble trying to stay ahead in this airline business. I can't recommend what you should do because you have to make that decision. Only thing I can say is talk to Mesaba pilots, compare the QOL and the work rules and see if Mesaba would be a good fit for you. Giving up seniority number is always hard but it would make sense if the other benefits outweigh the loss.