I'm glad you mentioned the "recent history" of Mesa contracts, because you really need to look at the last 20 years to see where Mesa came from and where they are today. I recently got out after 16 years at Mesa and went to a legacy, so I know a few things about the old and current contracts. People love to bash Mesa for their contract, but that's universally done by people with no perspective and almost always, without exception, by those who have never worked at Mesa. Here's my perspective.

I was hired into the 1996 contract. I wasn't around for the negotiations and conversations of those days. I think a major accomplishment of that contract was the integrated seniority list that combined five (I think five) separate pilot groups into one. I didn't see it happen, and I wasn't around then to hear the complaining, but I think that's amazing. It was a very smart move to put negotiating capital into a single list, control the whipsaw, etc. Work rules were very mediocre, pay I don't know, but I was a new hire and didn't know the difference. It paid a lot more than my 14,500 annual salary as an instructor.

2003. The issue of the day was the original Freedom Airlines, a Mesa alter-ego. Freedom was organized as a separate company with separate work rules in order to take on the new (at the time) 900s. These were airplanes that Mesa pilots should have been flying but were not, at a rate of 2-3 additional airplanes per month. There was urgency here. I recognized that on my own. It didn't require spin from our union guys trying to sell a contract to its pilots. If you look at Mesa 900s, check out the tail numbers. If you see an FJ, that's for Freedom Jet. Those were originally alter-ego airplanes. So a contract was hammered out with outstanding scope protection that quickly stopped the bleeding before we found ourselves in the emergency room. We integrated the Freedom pilots and airplanes, stopped the internal whipsaw for good, and included a sort of poison pill for successorship that made it hard to buy Mesa in pieces (pilots go with the planes under new ownership). There were modest pay improvements and other improvements, but the bulk of the pilots capital was spent on scope and Freedom integration. Remember also when this was. 2003. Mesa was the first post 9/11 regional to get a contract. The environment was terrible. 10,000+ pilots were furloughed from regionals and mainlines. And President Bush Jr. had installed a fresh slate of people into the National Mediation Board that made it next to impossible for any airline to successfully carry out a strike.

The strike before Mesa's contract was Comair during summer of 2001, an extremely different time... cheap gas, profitable company and parent company, one of only two Delta regionals, pre 9/11, and a Clinton NMB that was sympathetic toward a striking pilot group. And still, later in 2003, the Mesa vote was kind of close. It passed by a healthy margin, but it was not a blowout. There was plenty not to like, but many took the Freedom threat very seriously. I had a feeling that Mesa Group was on its way to a critical mass of Freedom aircraft from which there would be no recovery for the Mesa pilots. There's no way to know the what-ifs if the contract had been turned down and Freedom kept growing with 700s and 900s at 2-3 planes per month. It could have, hypothetically, gotten as big and then bigger than the original Mesa 50 seat and prop operations, and then what? I don't know. But I look at Trans States and GoJet and often think, "That is what didn't happen with Mesa." I'm not saying what Mesa did is better or worse. Just the closest thing to that other parallel universe. So no, Mesa didn't make any epic strides in the name of regional pilot QOL, but we stopped the bleeding in a terrible environment.

2008. This was a pre-bankruptcy contract. Mesa was ailing and had terrible financials after the China and Hawaii shenanigans. It was kind of a mini-contract that I liked a lot, myself. We got improvements which were standard at some regionals but new to us. Block or better, line guarantees, PBS, some other items, all at a time when Mesa, financially, was extremely unwell. It was a short-term, mini-contract in that many of the changes were on a trial basis, like new scheduling and work rules. I thought this was a great approach. Make a few improvements now while we can, that are win-win, good for pilots and the company. Revisit contract negotiations in a couple years when, hopefully, the company has better footing and can afford us.

2010. Bankruptcy. This was not a contract year, but consider what usually happens during an airline bankruptcy. Serious pilot contract concessions. You know what happened to the Mesa contract? Nothing. It remained completely intact with no changes. Company paid us on time and did some smart things behind the scenes that made it a more pleasant place to work. Training modernized with AQP, operational efficiency became a big deal, Mesa started thinking about EFB's.

Present day, the company obviously has an upward trajectory again. The pilots are still operating under the 2008 contract, which is pretty sad. It's no secret that Mesa needs a new contract, and one with improvements, pretty badly. I think the pilots deserve something good and I earnestly hope they get it. The company is privately held which makes it kind of hard for people on the outside to know what's going on inside. But once again we find ourselves in a unique economic and pilot-hiring climate. Everytime it's been something different. I'm not going to sing the praises of how much better Mesa is versus another regional for this reason or that. Why? Because it would be dumb if I did. I can't know. It's impossible for me to know. I would have had to work at every airline at exactly the same time and only then would I have a valid observation. But even that would be only a snapshot in an environment that changes every day.

I know this got extremely long-winded. Sorry. But I wanted to share my 16 year experience with Mesa contracts, and let y'all know that everytime the Mesa pilots voted in a new contract, it was a move in the right direction and made things better. It was never my plan to park myself at Mesa (or any regional) for as long as I did, but I could certainly have done much worse. Seriously, when I got hired in 1999 it was Air Midwest who hired me. I didn't even know what Mesa was or what they did. But I got on that horse, it ran wild at times, got sick, smelled bad once in a while, but as I learned its nuances I was able to make it a pretty comfortable ride, and it eventually got me where I wanted to go. Good horse.

 

Awesome recap cows, thanks for taking the time to post all that! I doubt it will quiet the haters but at least it gives a balanced perspective.

 

Nice post cowsgomoo. I know there is this mantra "get your time and get out". But while we're here while not make it a worthwhile stay and improve things for future pilots who will weave their way through Mesa. If you have bedbugs in your hotel room, you don't say "get your sleep and get out." You do or say something to improve your nights sleep and hopefully the next person who stays in the room doesn't have to deal with bedbugs.

 

SDF cough cough.

 

Thanks cowsgomoo, good write-up and I'm glad you've been able to move on.

As for this displacement...

I half expected it on the Captain side, but based on the last two months I really thought they'd allow FO numbers to decrease via upgrades, especially since summer flying is about to kick in.

 

ha, not to be a huge dick, buttttt this has only been announced by the company for at least 8-10 months in their monthly update emails. So if you didn't know this was coming you're clearly illiterate or you don't read emails.

AAG wants those routes served by 175s and as Compass 175s come online, our 900s are being shifted to DFW.

As for COWSGOMOO, probably the greatest write up ever about Mesa you can find online. I don't know what's better, his write up or his username. LOL.

 

Must be illiterate lol

 

While we knew the LA flying was eventually going away, the company could have planned for it ahead of time, instead of sending 30 captains to DFW with less than a months notice. Several just got PHX after they were displaced from CLT. Why did the company even move them to PHX last bid knowing this reduction was going to happen? Doesn't make sense unless they were banking on getting some additional flying from the SKW PHX renewal.

On the FO side, with the last TDY bid, good up to four months IIRC, I don't see why they didn't just let upgrade attrition and movements via a standing bid (I know a couple people who were moving to DFW from Phx anyway to get off reserve) plus the TDY work itself out. TDY and base assist reserves to cover the delta of remaining DFW flying until attrition + new hires equalled the correct numbers for each base. I don't see the big picture though. I'm sure they have it completely under control.

 

Idk bruh, I'm a Houston guy, don't pay much attention nor care about the CRJ side of the house much these days.
#AutoThrottlesBrah#FlyEJETsbrah#MesaMainline

Disclaimer: If anyone is getting their panties in a bunch I'm just joking around.

 

It was mentioned in another threat that EJet upgrade failures are high. Is this true? A high failure rate is very un-Mesa.