Originally Posted by Airfix

DashRocks,

Here are my responses to you:

For 50 seat jets FO:
Please tell me how FO pay is industry standard.

Mesa FO pay is higher than two of the companies on your list. Not at the bottom, but too close to the bottom.

Your Dash pay really is well below industry standard.

That's ******* right! There should not be as big a gap between jet and Dash pay. I wish the TA addressed this, yet I would still vote yes because I do not think I can get everything I want.

Many of the carriers above have block or better and have CPI pay raises included.

Mesa will have block or better under the TA.

Again tell me how our captain pay is industry standard?

At the high end of the longevity scale, Mesa's rates exceed some other carrier's. Mesa pay tends to the low side of the industry, but will not be rock bottom with the change to block or better.

Think how below industry standard we will be in 5 years time with no CPI link. We need the CPI link NOW to set a precidence for all future negotiations.

Yep, that would be a good strategy. I would love to have a tie to CPI. I do not think it is realistic to expect that of this company in this ecomomy. The TA only lasts 2 years, not 5.

Regarding pay; Mesa has fewer pilots on furlough than many of the other carriers in your lists. I would rather be flying for $3.00/hour less than be furloughed from a company that used to pay me $3.00/hour more.

...I must have missed the language in the TA that contains the penalty clauses if JA's are not reduced by at least 30%.

I misspoke. The letter our MEC put out states that the company must reopen bargaining on reducing JA's within 15 months if JA's are not reduced by at least 30%.

I don't see how this puts us in the driver seat with regards to JA.

I think we would be in the driver's seat because the ALPA folks explained during a TELCON that JA's go to the "junior available" pilot and that it is up to the pilot him/herself to determine if he/she is available.

It is only an improper reasignment IF there are no ready reserves OR the flight is going to be late.

H. Premium Pay
1. Junior Available and improper reassignment segments will be paid at 200% of rate for equipment flown.

I take this to mean that if the company reassigns you in violation of the TA, you get 200%. JA means the assignment uses time you were supposed to be off work.

This puts the company in the driving seat. They define the number of ready reserves so could easily manipulate this number to avoid paying premium pay AND we would have to prove there was no ready reserves. How do we prove that? Secondly the only reason they junior assign a pilot is if a flight is going to be late. This language means the company will never pay premium pay ever again.

My understanding; During the footprint of your trip/pairing, the company can reassign you. This cannot impinge on time off. If it does, you get 200%. If you lose time off, extra dough.

I'll bet if PBS gets introduced the displacement will be greater than if we stay with the current contract. I have no data to back that up, just a gut feel.

My Brother, most of us are factoring "gut feel" into our decision at some point. My gut says, this TA is pretty good for the current state of the industry.

Dash I understand that you can't vote but I'm sure you voice your opinion about the contract to your colleagues and captains as I do. I just hope you fully understand the implications of what you say and have researched and understood the language correctly.

I try to be as informed as I can. I also value and respect the differing opinions of others. Yesterday, my FO expressed the hope that the TA is defeated. "I should probably be careful what I say, I might be angering you", he said. I told him that it is a vital and complex issue, that everyone has their own hopes and needs they factor into the decision.

My NO vote is already cast.