Over the last couple of months I seem to have had a lot of friends looking to me for advice (god knows why!?). A really good buddy of mine came to me yesterday and said he's thinking about jumping ship from Mesa to Compass. Alarm bells immediately went off in my head. He's been at Mesa since the spring, and has a class offer at Compass for January. His only justification for wanting to make the move is that he doesn't like the Mesa route network and he feels Compass is looked on as being a better quality company. While I told him that being happy and comfortable with the company you work for is important, he said that he wanted to go somewhere he could feel happy if the music stopped and he got stuck at a regional.

What would you guys tell this guy to do? He holds a pretty good schedule at Mesa, but commutes. I've put him in contact with my other buddy who has just accepted a class at Compass over Mesa and Skywest, but the more views I can put to him the better. Compass would be his third regional.

 

The only reason I would suggest him to leave is if he really wanted to live in base (which would likely be LAX). 3rd regional??? What is his relative seniority at Mesa? How can he afford to live on 3 first year pay salaries? Pick one and stick it out until upgrade, get your time and get out. No sense in jumping ship unless maybe you are a 7 year FO at Endeavor with no upgrade happening.

 

He should go for it if that makes him happy. He's going to be there for a while so might as well get the QOL you want. To bad that couldn't have been his first place with the wasted seniority and all.

 

Wouldn't he upgrade quicker if he just sat tight at Mesa?

Don't get me wrong Compass is a great company, but wouldn't someone want to be stuck as a Mesa CA rather than a Compass FO. (If the music stopped)

 

It kills me to say this, but he should stay at Mesa.

 

I agree. Compass isn't a bad place to be but seniority is everything. If the music doesn't stop, get in and move on to the majors as quickly as possible. Sounds like he may be able to do that more quickly at Mesa now.

 

Thanks for the input guys. He can't post on here yet as he doesn't have the required number of posts or something. Anyway, your advice goes along pretty much with what I've said to him. I believe he should stay unless he's incredibly unhappy. He worries that he is on the cusp of the cut off for upgrades at Mesa as a late spring/early summer hire. He doesn't want to be stuck in the right seat struggling to make more than $29 an hour. I've told him there is no guarantee that he'll make the cut off for the quick upgrade at Compass either though, although he counters that by pointing out that even if he doesn't, he'll make a lot more in the right seat there than he would at Mesa.

 

Leaving because of route structure at a regional? Even the majors are continuously changing routes and fleets for specific types of flying. If the goal is to move to a major then stay at Mesa, take the first upgrade and fly your ass off.

 

I'd stay at Mesa. I think I know who you're talking about. If it is who I think it is, he's a good guy and has a good future ahead of him, he just needs to buckle down and ride it out until a major calls.

 

So he can't post because he doesn't have enough posts? Huh, that's a new one...