John2375

No, this is not an attempt at some sort of flame war.
I know both these get beat down on here, but if you had to choose between the 2, which one?
(and please let's avoid "apply somewhere else" type of responses..

PilotJ3

Go somewhere else...had to do it. Lol

8hourrule

Pretty easy right now. Mesa has growth. Go there.

pilotgolfer

That growth is a tumor.

DENpilot

Oh! I like this game!

Would you rather get your hand stuck in a wood chipper - OR - would you rather have an eyeball scooped out with a spoon?

flapshalfspeed

Mesa has a lingering reputation from stories told by 1900 drivers on the Air Midwest certificate--that operation and management team/culture withered away a very long time ago.

Myself and several other people who have recently come back to the 121 world/USA/etc. from other carriers/countries have made multiple posts about how the *current* Mesa is a decent place to work compared to our previous exposures to the 121 RJ world.

Like any regional, I'll state the caveat that you simply shouldn't do this job unless you: a) are single, b) have your finances in order, and/or c) have some form of spouse/parental/outside support for the first 1-2 years (or indefinitely, in the event of flagging growth or an economic downturn).

Mesa's current group of chief pilots are top notch stand-up guys who will go to bat for you unless you're really, truly screwing up/lying to them.

Mesa's training department is a training department--not a checking/politics/evaluation department. Compared to Republic, Endeavor, Eagle, and TSA (in recent history at least), you're not going to get a pink-slip or an "unscheduled" LPC because someone didn't like what you posted on a message board during contract negotiations.

Mesa's growth is solid right now, but like any regional nothing is guaranteed. You'll probably have a line in IAD a month or two out of training, there will be a major shakeup with ORD planes possibly going to IAD in September, and who knows what will happen with CLT/PHX/LAX/DFW flying with the AA merger. The bottom line is we're getting more planes, and staffing them on time. I'd say try to get an IAH/E175 class if you can b/c there will be more relative growth there (and it has autothrottles/trackpads/you can stand up in it without slouching if you're over 6'0").

At minimum, we have no 50 seaters. I understand a lot of Envoy/XJet/TransStates people have fought long and hard to hold the line on pay and benefits, but the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the aging fleet of 50-seaters in the US 121 system--there's no amount of solidarity or rabble rousing that will change the simple math--the more money you're making, and the more 50-seaters your company flies, the less job security you have as a new hire.

That last sentence may tick a lot of people off, but if you're looking for your first 121 job, it's real talk you need to hear.

tinman1

Go to whichever one has the least amount of people with the likes of this guys attitude. These people will try to bring you down to their level of misery.

deltajuliet

Based on growth and health, as well as upgrade time, Mesa. Domicile may affect your decision, though.

flapshalfspeed

It's more like a symbiotic gut bacterium.

A tumor kills the organism within which it develops; a symbiote assists its host in a mutually beneficial relationship, ehancing the chances of survival for both partners.

Regionals provide frequency and cheap feed for major carriers. Unless you can pull off a regulatory hail-mary and require all flying done under a specific brand to be operated by the same certificate holder who markets and tickets the flight, regionals will continue to be the sharecropping peasants on your lordly fiefdom, yielding revenue for the King/shareholders at court.

flapshalfspeed

Prostate Specific Antigen?