Mesa Updates
 

Are they still losing 20 pilots a month? How are the recalls going? Are many people actually going back when recalled? How has the performance on the United side been since changing to an all 700 operation? Any opinion on if United would resign a contract with them come 2013? Any input would be great!

Attriton is strong. Not sure how many forloughees are accepting recall but there doesn't seem to be any slow down going on in offering recalls. UA likes 700s in general and Mesa is doing well with their 20. The contract on the first 5 ends late this year and no word yet on renewal possibilities.

Wasn't there an option for them to pick up additional 700's down the road. Or some sort of plane swapping deal for every 2 or 3 200 they got rid of they got 1 700?

Mesa did have the option of adding additonal 700 flying until sometime in either 2009 or 2010. I'm sure Winglet or someone else remembers the details. Anyway, IMO Mesa had been very successful in squandering all their available cash in the Hawaii and China fiascos so when it came close to the deadline for exercising the option, Mesa was unable to line up the financing and a/c. At the very last minute, Mesa attempted to notify United of the "firm" start dates for the 700 service and United said "prove it". Then the "I'll sue you --- no ---I'll sue you too" dance began and the issue was finally dropped back in 2010. Bottom line --- nope --- Mesa does not have the option of adding additional 700 flying.

Threre was an agreement. (I believe it was a 2 for 1 swap up to a max of 10 airframes) but our stellar folks at the top of the heap tried to give United a BS letter of intent to bring the additional 10 700's on property but wait until fall of last year (2010) for the first delivery because nobody would finance Mesa for an additional 10 airplanes with such a dismal looking balance sheet. This resulted in a disagreement between United and Mesa, with United's stance being that you start getting the airplanes as soon as the CRJ 200 Contract is terminated so we dont have a "Gap in Service" Also proof of aircraft orders and proof of crew training/staffing were demanded. None of which Mesa could provide. Instead the flying was granted to Express Jet/ASA. Yet another corporate hoodwink attempted by ML and JO. This resulted in a lawsuit being filed by United, which was subsequently settled/dropped somewhere in Bankrupcy.
(These are the facts as I know them Fellow MAG-ers feel free to correct)....although people are coming back the outlook is still dismal and we are slated to lose 5 CRJ700's for United come December 2011, unless a rabbit can be pulled out of hat...Some speculate that JO's bag of tricks was liquidated in Bankrupcy.

Good Luck To All

As previously stated, if the performance on the 700 side is satisfactory, why wouldn't United renew, especially since Mesa can probably provide the same aircraft and service for a competitive rate? Also, with the emergence from bankruptcy is JO still the CEO or has the company still not learned its lesson? In my opinion, I think that at one time Mesa had great potential to be a very successful airline, however, we all know how that was destroyed.

Because they don't have to renew, simple as that...United announced a 2-3% capacity reduction domestically in which 50% of that would be RJ's aka Mesa is on the chopping block again because they are the first ones up to bat to lose airplanes.Yes, JO is still in charge with ML shadowing his every step.

Quite dismal indeed...

UAX:
20 CRJ 700
-5 Dec 2011
-5 Dec 2012
-5 Dec 2013
-5 Dec 2017
Not even a rumor that UA has any intention of resigning any part of this contract. MGMT seems resigned to the gradual wind down and phase out.

USX:
38 CRJ 900 - In contract until 2015.
6 DH-8 - No current agreement: "Continue to operate as long as it 'makes sense' to US Airways."
6 CRJ 200 - Continual phase out at approximately 2 per year.

Go!:
5 CRJ 200
-Barely eeking out a profit. In the words of PF "If it were up to me I would have shut down go! yesterday."
-Drop in revenue as Japanese tourism to the islands plummets. (In a country obsessed with image, it's particularly faux pas to go on vacation while your countrymen suffer)
-Increasing fuel prices.

Unless something happens soon, Mesa is on track to become a 43 aircraft operation by the end of 2013. Consider that it's a near certainty that very few of those top 250 pilots (15-30 year folk) will be leaving and it becomes clear that the potential for upgrade here is near zero.

The 8 CRJ 200s for USX will wind down operations completely on 06/30/12. Until that time approx 2 more can be pulled at six month intervals should Airways so desire.

Great information here, it will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming months and years. Best of luck to all and let's hope the new board of directors does the right thing and gets a new management team with some people who can turn things around...