...but I am not eligible to vote; I have not completed one year of service at Mesa and am still an apprentice member of ALPA.

I looked at the Comair contract. It seems that a big difference between the MAG TA and the Comair contract is that Comair has more specific language in many areas. Specifics about how to build a schedule, how to transition from line flying to training events, when the company may contact pilots on layovers, etc. I would like to see our MEC continue to work on making future CBA's as detail-specific as this one.

However, I feel that the MAG TA contains improvements significant enough that a "yes" vote is warranted. The TA would last about 2 years, quite short for an airline industry CBA. I think MAG pilots should take the significant improvements that are worth a "yes" vote and encourage the MEC to work on inserting more specific language in the next contract.

Pay will be increased by the change from segment time pay to "block or better" pay. Days off will increase from 104 to 132 per year for reservists. Minimum days off for line-holders will increase from 130 to 132 per year. The introduction of PBS will give pilots more control over their schedules.

Anyone looking for advice on how to vote should learn as much as possible about the person giving the advice. Again, I am relatively new to Mesa and am not eligible to vote. I am a reserve lineholder and stand to have my time off significantly increased under the TA. My Mesa experience has been positive. I fly the Dash and we have not been hammered quite like the jet pilots. So far, anytime I have asked the company for a favor (an extra day off after a training event; lodging in company housing for training in my domicile), they have given it to me. I have not lived through the junior assignment horrors of '05-'08 and the other bad times more veteran MAG pilots have dealt with. I fully understand that my perspective is different than many of my brothers and sisters.

Some describe the TA as still being below industry standards. I do not see this. Mesa pay rates are comparable to "good regionals". The TA brings days off in line with "good regionals". Currently airlines are furloughing and burning through cash reserves. The chances of winning big pay raises and other great things right now are zero.

Be aware that people on this forum advocating a certain vote on the Mesa TA may have their own agenda and may not even work at Mesa. Some current and former Mesa pilots may remain so angry at the company that they have adopted a "scorched earth" outlook and would urge a no vote on any TA.