After Mesa?
 

Hello guys,

I am currently coming close my hours for the regionals and Im currently thinking of Mesa and Commutair because of the united cpp program. I can do bases at either company. So bases arent too much of a concern.

So I was wondering if anybody knows what the cpp timeframe would be at Mesa as a new hire. I talked to HR earlier today, she told me 4 years. But I wanted to confirm with the pilots at Mesa right now.

Also, where do people without the cpp end up. Do a lot of them go to the legacy carriers with no problem? I see that people mention the reputation of Mesa but does the legacy carriers look at which regional you worked for?

Much information and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The CPP is kind of a gray area as far as us pilots are concerned. They don’t give us any numbers we don’t know our class or interview percentages at UAL. I’ve heard the commute air CPP is the shortest around 2 years. One thing that could push your proposed time of 4 years out is if people on the AA side start jumping ship to the UA side which isn’t really happening.

Bases seem more important than the CPP - people move on to others before they would get picked up by the CPP anyway.

CPP is nothing more than a carrot on a stick.

If you live near IAD, I would go to C5. Mesa management is talking about “possible” big changes on the United side for both EJETs and CRJs.

Unless you get in...and then it’s far more than that.

You have no clue. We lost 3 APDs in one month to CPP. Much more than a carrot on a stick.

The worse the pilot shortage gets the more they’ll meter us into mainline with these programs.

I heard in round one of CPP, we placed about 25% of our CPP candidates. In round two, I heard we placed none. Our pilots weren’t prepared and came off as amateurs. Is this true?

Not sure but I wouldn’t be surprised, a lot of the guys at the top of the seniority list gave up on going mainline years ago now they all of a sudden have an interview. Probably weren’t ready probably didn’t have their apps filled out properly. For guys thinking about coming to Mesa for the CPP it’s only an interview not a guaranteed job. With the CPP we only get to skip the technical portion of the interview correct?

25% is abysmal and embarrassing. For both our pilots and UA. What happens after they fail?

That is only if you get past the Hogan test.

I am expecting the next round to be down to 4 year seniority.

They have at least a year hiatus is what I hear. At Xjet, the percentage is around 40% from what I hear and they are the pioneers of the program. So, 25% may not be bad. 0% is bad.

From what I can see, United uses this program to pluck out highly qualified pilots and leaving some guys behind.

I was told this as well by a Captain I flew with on my last trip.

Pilots are unprepared and came off as amateurs? is that b/c the training at mesa is lacking? or was it just pilots wasnt well prepared for the interview?

The latter is what I understand from what I am told. I hear the interview isn’t very technical.

He means the interview. There’s a whole show and dance at the interview. Most guys hire professional help before going on legacy airline interviews. You need to be super polished.

Part of it taking 4 years is that you need 2000 PIC or 3000 hours total with the company. That takes a couple of years at least to get that time.
First round, 30 took the Hogan. 5 didn’t pass. Out of 25 interviewed, 9 passed. 4 of the 9 didn’t pass the TWO year attendance lookback. 5 eventually went to United. Those odds sound good to you?

Wow! You have the statistics down. That is only a 17% acceptance. I only know the 3 APD’s who are gone. It sounds like only 2 other pilots went. These are great statistics for pilots who really had given up on moving on because of their longevity at Mesa. But, still half of the reported acceptance at Xjet.

Is it true no one passed the interview in the latest round?

It's true. 10 out of 10 did not pass. We'll have to see how last Thursday went for the latest.

Two years? What’s the max callout they are looking for?

Hopefully, they got professional help. Pilots who are serious about this need to get serious now - lose weight, develop good stories to answer the questions and not scare off the interviewer, have their resume professionally prepared. Look sharp. Be sharp.

Seems like CommutAir has the best for the CPP program right now. Placing guys just past two years and 2,000 hours. But, of course, they are essentially controlled by United and it seems to be the “United flow”.

One of the best pilots I know didn’t make it in round 1 due to absences.

Yeah being reliable is a real SOB. Guess he should have came to work when he was scheduled!:rolleyes:

It is really the bogus staffing levels we have here. Captains are scheduled the max with min days off and are unstacked where they don’t get their preferences. As a result, they tend to call out sick if they have a sincere personal reason (anniversary, kid’s birthday, brother’s wedding).

If someone wants to be a captain here, they need to be willing to give up a personal life until they have 10 years of seniority to hold the schedule they want in order to go to United.

Do tell. Would you expand on this?

That’s all for now, JO talked about it on the quarterly earnings call. Part of the reason 700s have not been extended yet is that they are working on some type of larger deal. No details beyond that.

Exactly, here you are locked in whatever you get. It’s not mainline where they can swap drop at will. Some guys are calling out once a month obviously too much.

DFW FO Grid is green a couple of days this month. Most improvement I've ever seen. Now just need to get them to be able to understand and talk on the radio.

4 occurrences per year. No UFW, tardies, sick calls on holidays, etc. also

No tardies is ridicules. Often a tardy has nothing to do with your own choices weather car accidents etc I guess you just have to use those sick calls wisely

UCC’s included in the count?

No wonder they said Mesa initially was going to implement United’s attendance policy and then we heard crickets. Too bad that United doesn’t know how Mesa operates by never having Green Reserve days and gives pilots the benefit of the doubt. There are zero Green Day’s in either IAH or IAD in either seat for December.

I wouldn't think UCCs, UFEs, or UFJs would be in the "bad" category, as they are allowed.

But yes, use sick calls wisely. Calling out on a one day trip carries the same weight as calling out on a four day trip....