Mesa
02-11-2014 | 06:30 AM
#1471
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 555
Likes: 0
Is living in base any salvation with Mesa? I'm returning 121, with offer and just wanted to see if this is worth it (and contract). Is RAH any better? worse? opinions please before I sign up. I am aware of starting pay/deliveries etc. looking more at QOL issues as FO living in base.
If you're trying to decide on a regional, the only thing you need to consider with Mesa is the pay. I made the ill advised decision of chasing growth, but it's a fine place to work if you take it for what it is. Working for a regional isn't cushy, and the low margin aspect of this company (or any regional) means that pretty much everything is going to be sort of second rate - old computers, understaffed, small budgets, etc. Kind of like staying at a Choice Hotels brand hotel (which we do) instead of IHG.
First, choose a regional that isn't going to go out of business, then choose how much you want to get paid, then, if you want, go ahead and speculate on upgrade times, etc., but don't let it rule your decision making process (then, embrace the "suck").
Mesa = low pay + staying in business + growing.
Last edited by RV5M; 02-11-2014 at 06:50 AM.
02-11-2014 | 06:42 AM
#1472
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,539
Likes: 0
From: 175 Left
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickshaw
Is living in base any salvation with Mesa? I'm returning 121, with offer and just wanted to see if this is worth it (and contract). Is RAH any better? worse? opinions please before I sign up. I am aware of starting pay/deliveries etc. looking more at QOL issues as FO living in base.
It sounds like you're taking in too much of the APC negativity. In real life, Mesa is a normally operating regional airline that, like any airlines, employs a bunch of good people, and a few bad ones. Plenty of Mesa pilots like it here and some plan to stay long term. The three most recent classes were made up of decent, professional pilots from a range of backgrounds. These were not rejects, or people who couldn't get jobs anywhere else. It really isn't bad.
If you're trying to decide on a regional, the only thing you need to consider with Mesa is the pay. I made the ill advised decision of chasing growth, but it's a fine place to work if you take it for what it is. Working for a regional isn't cushy, and the low margin aspect of this company (or any regional) means that pretty much everything is going to be sort of second rate - old computers, understaffed, small budgets, etc. Kind of like staying at a Choice Hotels brand hotel (which we do) instead of IHG.
First, choose a regional that isn't going to go out of business, then choose how much you want to get paid, then, if you want, go ahead and speculate on upgrade times, etc., but don't let it rule your decision making process (then, embrace the "suck"
.
Mesa = low pay + staying in business + growing.
Originally Posted by rickshaw
Is living in base any salvation with Mesa? I'm returning 121, with offer and just wanted to see if this is worth it (and contract). Is RAH any better? worse? opinions please before I sign up. I am aware of starting pay/deliveries etc. looking more at QOL issues as FO living in base.
It sounds like you're taking in too much of the APC negativity. In real life, Mesa is a normally operating regional airline that, like any airlines, employs a bunch of good people, and a few bad ones. Plenty of Mesa pilots like it here and some plan to stay long term. The three most recent classes were made up of decent, professional pilots from a range of backgrounds. These were not rejects, or people who couldn't get jobs anywhere else. It really isn't bad.
If you're trying to decide on a regional, the only thing you need to consider with Mesa is the pay. I made the ill advised decision of chasing growth, but it's a fine place to work if you take it for what it is. Working for a regional isn't cushy, and the low margin aspect of this company (or any regional) means that pretty much everything is going to be sort of second rate - old computers, understaffed, small budgets, etc. Kind of like staying at a Choice Hotels brand hotel (which we do) instead of IHG.
First, choose a regional that isn't going to go out of business, then choose how much you want to get paid, then, if you want, go ahead and speculate on upgrade times, etc., but don't let it rule your decision making process (then, embrace the "suck"
. Mesa = low pay + staying in business + growing.
02-11-2014 | 06:59 AM
#1473
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 12,523
Likes: 1,114
It sounds like you're taking in too much of the APC negativity. In real life, Mesa is a normally operating regional airline that, like any airline, employs a bunch of good people, and a few bad ones. Plenty of Mesa pilots like it here and some plan to stay long term. The three most recent classes were made up of decent, professional pilots from a range of backgrounds. These were not rejects, or people who couldn't get jobs anywhere else. It really isn't bad.
If you're trying to decide on a regional, the only thing you need to consider with Mesa is the pay. I made the ill advised decision of chasing growth, but it's a fine place to work if you take it for what it is. Working for a regional isn't cushy, and the low margin aspect of this company (or any regional) means that pretty much everything is going to be sort of second rate - old computers, understaffed, small budgets, etc. Kind of like staying at a Choice Hotels brand hotel (which we do) instead of IHG.
First, choose a regional that isn't going to go out of business, then choose how much you want to get paid, then, if you want, go ahead and speculate on upgrade times, etc., but don't let it rule your decision making process (then, embrace the "suck").
Mesa = low pay + staying in business + growing.
If you're trying to decide on a regional, the only thing you need to consider with Mesa is the pay. I made the ill advised decision of chasing growth, but it's a fine place to work if you take it for what it is. Working for a regional isn't cushy, and the low margin aspect of this company (or any regional) means that pretty much everything is going to be sort of second rate - old computers, understaffed, small budgets, etc. Kind of like staying at a Choice Hotels brand hotel (which we do) instead of IHG.
First, choose a regional that isn't going to go out of business, then choose how much you want to get paid, then, if you want, go ahead and speculate on upgrade times, etc., but don't let it rule your decision making process (then, embrace the "suck").
Mesa = low pay + staying in business + growing.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be paid more, just thinking there is probably A LOT more to it than $20 or even $50 an hour. If it isn't, then our industry is truly in big trouble.
02-12-2014 | 03:56 AM
#1474
Line Holder
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 377
Likes: 0
From: men without hats
Are the travel benefits on both UAL and AAG? I'm not talking about zed/id90 etc.
02-12-2014 | 07:04 AM
#1475
sippin' dat koolaid
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 982
Likes: 0
From: gear slinger
Someone answered everything in a PM. I was just curious which carriers you could non rev with.
02-12-2014 | 07:15 AM
#1476
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 1,459
Likes: 0
Is living in base any salvation with Mesa? I'm returning 121, with offer and just wanted to see if this is worth it (and contract). Is RAH any better? worse? opinions please before I sign up. I am aware of starting pay/deliveries etc. looking more at QOL issues as FO living in base.
I sent you a PM.
02-12-2014 | 08:06 AM
#1477
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 203
Likes: 0
The E-175 program sounds a lot like the Desert Sun issue we had a while back. Risley handpicked the guys to go fly those Fokkers and operated it as a different company (so they were essentially off the seniority list). Then when it failed, he brought them all back without a loss of seniority. Didn't they do that again with Freedom Air? Was there any action taken by ALPA for the seniority issues?
Desert Sun happened just before Mesa was forced to combine all of the different pilot groups into one seniority list. (Florida Gulf, Crown/Liberty, Air Midwest, Desert Sun and Mountain West -which was what Mesa's name was changed to for a short while.) All of the Desert Sun pilots had originally come from the different pilot groups.
When it came time for seniority list integration, Desert Sun was looked at as a separate carrier, and its pilot group was subject to ALPA merger policy. The result was that some of those "page one" Desert Sun pilots lost a significant amount of seniority.
When it came time to staff Freedom, Ornstein had learned his lesson from the Desert Sun massacre. Freedom was always meant to be a negotiations pawn held over MAG pilots' heads during Section 6. Both Ornstein and the pilots knew that there was a chance that Freedom would get folded back into Mesa. Having been burned once before, the Friends-of-Larry/Jonathan struck a deal. The on-property pilots who were chosen to staff the non-union whipsaw outfit were allowed to keep their seniority numbers at Mesa.
It was a win-win for the A-listers.
Hog
(If this has already been covered, I apologize for the repeat. I didn't read the intervening 15 pages to look for a similar reply.)
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