I don't think a captain at Mesa, even a year 1 or year 2 captain, at 57/59 an hour with a 76 hr guarantee, even with some 50 seat pay thrown in, is making less than an FO elsewhere at a regional. But anyway. How is it possible Virgin doesn't pay you during training, Hawaiian pays you $36 an hour to fly a widebody the first year, etc. Other airlines have some pretty bad deals as well. Other regionals who pay a lot more 1st year are losing pilots to mesa...still. A quick upgrade and making $59 an hour on that pay makes up for the $22 an hour and relying on marketplace healthcare, so long as the music doesn't stop, at least to several who keep filling classes.

That works to be around 10% a year. I wonder what the attrition rate at other airlines is?

All very good points. I can see these cost saving measures at a public company where the management has a duty to the shareholders above all else. Being that mesa is private, who is lining their pockets at your expense?

Endeavor first year fos make 50k. This just includes min guarantee and the retention bonus. No per diem no trips picked up. If you pick up trips with the work rules set in place you can easily make over 60k.

I flew with a few second year captains at Mesa who made 57-60k including per diem.

I jumpseated on Republic last week. The FO was 1st year. He was making $60/hr ($40/hr X 1.5 -- Time and a half for critical pay or something like that) and had received the $15k signing bonus.

Good for him. It's great to see it working out for some people.

Yes, Obamacare varies state to state. I qualified for a subsidy in my state, but it only knocks off 200$ a month. I am paying 770$ for my entire family for a GOLD plan with zero deductible. Having a zero deductible is very important, otherwise your throwing money away each month as most people will never spend enough to have the insurance kick in.

Obamacare is socialized medicine. Ask Canada how it worked out for them. The rich come to the US to get there care. Obamacare....really.

I'm not a fan, and feel that I was forced into it. With that said, it's the cheapest option for my family to give us the coverage needed. Getting penalized for not having it, or forcing my wife to slave away at her job just for medical isn't right either.

If you think Obamacare is remotely close to socialized anything I have a babushka doll to sell you.

Depends on what is important. I would have been at 9E for 6 years and was still miles from upgrade. I'm now in left seat on the EJET. I PIC, enjoy a nice bump in pay, live in base and then I'll get the heck out. Not saying you can't get hired without PIC... It's just your chances are lower. Plus I'd rather set the tone in the cockpit instead of all the tools I have flown with over the years. That's worth it's weight in gold