rabsing76

I am a current Mesa Airlines pilot. I don’t normally post here, but I felt compelled to share a few things about Mesa and our recruiting process because I’ve seen a number of new guys come to our airline due to “half-truths” given to them by our recruiting team. We are as desperate as any other regional is for pilots, but that really doesn’t justify what our recruiting team is doing. It’s shameful that Mesa operates this way, and I just can’t stay silent any longer.

1. Fast Upgrade Time. No! Sorry, you missed this gravy train. Our CEO JO (Jonathan Ornstein) loves to tell new hire classes they will be a captain in 6 months. The fast upgrades are really driven by our growth with new planes. Currently, we are about 1/3 of the way through a batch of 18 E175’s that we are taking delivery of for UA. If the upgrade gravy train were to continue that means we need to keep taking massive delivery of aircraft. Where are we going to get those planes from? Mesa as a business really has only 3 potential customers - DL, AA, and UA. We do not do any business with DL, and my understanding is that DL in their scope clause cannot do business with any regional that has any aircraft on property with seating greater than 76, even if those planes are not flying for DL. Mesa has a number of CR9 aircraft at 79 seats that are grandfathered into the AA system, so there is no DL flying for Mesa on the horizon. UA is scoped out at 76 seat aircraft at the moment. I’m not sure if AA is scoped out, however I believe it’s unlikely that we will get an order for a large amount of additional aircraft for AA. So Mesa Management, tell me, where are you going to keep getting all of the additional aircraft that you are talking about all the time?

Now it’s true that our most junior CA is a Sep 2015 hire. Take a look at the screenshots from our seniority lists, the left column is date of hire and the right column is global seniority:

IAD CRJ CA:



DFW CRJ CA:



IAH E75 CA:



IAD CA is our most junior CA base. The thing to look at here are the HUGE gaps in seniority at the bottom of the upgrade list. In order to be a captain in a FAR 121 operation, you need 1000 hours of 121 SIC time. Our “recent upgrades” are a result of scores of our new hire FO’s lacking the 1000 hours of 121 time, so people very low on the seniority list happen to be upgraded simply because they have the 121 time. Every month when the company does new upgrade more FO’s roll over with 1000 hours of 121 time - so currently our upgrades are mostly “filling in the gaps” in the low end of the seniority list. This means that as a new hire, DON’T expect that fast 6-12 month upgrade, unless we all of a sudden announce an additional 30 airplane order from somewhere (and I don’t know where). A 3-5 year upgrade time at Mesa for current new hires is more realistic. That’s just the truth. I’m sick and tired of our recruiting team and JO touting how our most recent upgrade is a Sep 2015 hire, because that really doesn’t give the whole story.

2. Be very wary of current Mesa employees telling you how great it is here and trying to get you to come to Mesa. Senior management at Mesa doesn’t care about the people flying the line. The corporate culture is one of treating you poorly. Granted, there are SOME good decent people in management, to be fair they are not all bad apples. However, the people at the top really don’t care about you and for the most part that filters down into middle management. Other airlines have a recruiting strategy of giving out signing bonuses to pilots to come. Mesa’s strategy is for their employees to tell others about how “great” it is to work at Mesa. The fact is that Mesa gives $10,000 bonuses to current employees for referring a pilot who comes to work at Mesa. So if you here of someone telling you how great Mesa is, ask them if they are planning to share any of that $10,000 bonus with you that they are going to get if you come to Mesa to fly. Here is an email that we received on March 1 about the pilot recruitment program:

———————————————

Dear Mesa Pilots,

We are very excited to announce that today, 3 Mesa Employees have received the first installment of their $10,000 pilot referral bonus.

Unlike other airlines who are trying to lure pilots with up-front incentive bonuses (which do not work long term – and fall short of the benefits of flight time and the current upgrade time at Mesa) we chose to put money in the pockets of our employees! You have already made a commitment to Mesa and work here each day for our collective success.

These 3 employees were each paid $5,000 today as the pilot candidates they referred successfully completed their Initial Operating Experience (IOE).

Since the inception of Mesa’s Pilot Referral Program; we have received 187 referrals from our employees, of those referrals, 107 qualified employee pilot candidates were extended offers and are now in our pipeline.

We all benefit from qualified pilot referrals, not just with continued growth and job security, but now with money in your pocket!

Here’s a reminder of how it works:

Mesa will pay up to $10,000 for each of your pilot referrals. Even better, there is no limit to the number of pilots you can refer. $5,000 is paid, directly to you, after your pilot referral successfully completes their Initial Operating Experience (IOE). $2,500 will be paid, directly to you, one year from your referral’s date of hire and $2,500 will be paid, directly to you, two years after your referral’s date of hire. Total: $10,000!

Click here for specific details of the program (http://mesanet.mesa-air.com/Employee...20Overview.pdf) and here to complete the online employee referral form. If you have additional questions, email us at [email protected]

It’s easy! Fill out the referral form and send it to [email protected]. Be sure to have your candidate fill out the “I was referred by” section on their application where it asks for any personal acquaintances which are employed at Mesa Airlines. Make sure they include your name and position. We will take it from there.

We understand these are your friends, acquaintances, flight school buddies, neighbors or even the pilot you met traveling on vacation who is ready for a change.

The money is yours for the making!

Sincerely,

The Mesa Airlines Pilot Recruitment Group

———————————————

Here is another thing that I want to share with you. Granted, this example is concerning flight attendants, however it’s representative of how middle management treats people at Mesa. The middle management for pilots is similar. This is a letter that a former base admin emailed out to all of our FA’s in Dec 2015 prior to quitting.

———————————————

Dear <<NAME REDACTED>>

I have decided to reinstate my resignation that I sent two week ago effective December 14th. I have had enough of getting up every morning and wishing that I didn’t have to come to this **** hole. I don’t appreciate how when I needed help in my base due to me being out I was not given NOTHING. I was out for 2-3 weeks on two occasions, and the week that I returned I ended up having to be in PHX for <<NAME REDACTED>> baby shower/ our Base Admin meeting. (that wasn’t really a meeting more of a sit and stare for 2 hours) So how in the hell do you expect for me to be on top of everyone’s attendance?? That is impossible. I find it very funny how you told us to tell you if we were behind on attendance in the meeting in September and I spoke up and told you I was behind…. I have even spoken to you via cell phone and told you I was behind on KwikTag due to me being out.. Yet on the Attendance Conference call today you acted as if you knew nothing about that. I have been going through something that required me to take time off from work and I FINALLY got <<NAME REDACTED>> to come to my base this week when I returned to work.. Wow! <<NAME REDACTED>> can throw her back out—and you send <<NAME REDACTED>> there to cover for her.. <<NAME REDACTED>> had surgery on her knee—You sent <<NAME REDACTED>> there for a week.. <<NAME REDACTED>> had a death in her family—You sent <<NAME REDACTED>> there… Get my drift??? Any time any other base admin has been out for more than a few days you sent help. Where was the help in my base when I needed it? Especially when I was without a chief pilot for months just a few months ago and was doing EVERYTHING by myself.

I have had enough of this place and I really hate that I ever took this position with this company. I had always heard bad things about Mesa when I worked for Delta but I didn’t know that they were this bad. You guys treat your employees like crap. You don’t give proper raises.. You hired me and told me that I wouldn’t ever get a raise and not to be expecting one. (red flag!!) I made more money as a struggling make-up artist in college… And you wonder why your flight crews are so disgruntled and hate this company. (sarcasm)

You treat them like CRAP! I have seen <<NAME REDACTED>> pick and choose who she wants to grant personal time to just based off whether she likes them or not. I have seen her fire some people for things and keep others who have done the same thing she fired the others for. I’ve seen flight attendants who have quit because of this. Yet you want to harp on me about flight attendance when it’s really your fault for not sending help when I needed it. I can’t keep up with 3 weeks of work and stay current. Oh and if you haven’t noticed-- Most flight attendants that have quit do so because they truly can’t stand <<NAME REDACTED>> or the way that she treats people. She is honestly one of the most rude & unapproachable managers I’ve ever seen in my life and I think that you need to harp on her for the way she bends the policy to fit whatever mood she is in on that day. She comes to work on Tuesdays and leaves out on Thursdays and is at home most Mondays and Fridays with her baby who you can sometimes hear crying during attendance meetings (super unprofessional)—yet you say that we base admin’s can’t work from home…… Yeah right. I have heard her dogs barking in her house when she did attendance meetings with me and everything. You all are not consistent and you bend the rules for your favorites….. She takes all of the free United Wifi cards so she can use them on her commuting flights, and she sleeps in the crew room when she gets stranded in different bases and can’t get on flights back home, yet you reprimand flight attendants for doing the same thing. SOME LEADERSHIP AND CONSISTENCY! You all are not consistent yet that is what you always preach. It’s amazing….

I have been told by so many flight attendants that if I quit then they will quit as well because I am the only positive person that they know here at the company and the only person who really cares about them. I go above and beyond for them. I love my flight attendants and pilots and would do anything to help them and I hate to leave them but I have been in the airline Industry for over 6 years now and I haven’t ever seen a company run like this one or seen people treated so poorly when they get sick or have to take personal leave due to circumstances beyond their control. I’m not one to kiss asses like some other base admins that shall remain nameless so that I can stay with a company that really sucks just to say I am with an airline. That’s not my style. I refuse to stay with a company who has ****ty insurance, ****ty pay, ****ty management, and ****ty policies. You don’t pay me/us enough to care. We barely make enough to survive.

From day one I felt like you guys just tell people what you want them to hear and you don’t even really listen to them—you just quickly brush them off just to get them out of your face and don’t even know what you just heard from them. That includes flight attendants and base admins. You act like you care about us but you really don’t. You just mass hire and wonder why your turnover rate is sooooo high. Training sucks and is very unclear and is inconsistent… Crew tracking is lost and has no clue what they are doing… You are lost half of the time and don’t know what the hell you are doing because you are off in LaLa land or something. I’m over you wanna-be pseudo-professionals at this company. You’re a joke.

So with all of that said I QUIT!!!!! And to all of my flight attendants who are just as sick of this **** hole as I am do yourself a favor and click the link below and better yourself:

Major airline interview and hiring information! Flight attendant inflight jobs and careers
I will send my badge and all other company items in to headquarters tomorrow.

To all of my Houston flight attendants old and new: I love you guys and I hate that I had to leave this way but I have had enough and I was sick of biting my tongue! <3

———————————————

3. They will talk about how good our training is. You’ll be told that the “real interview” is to see how well you do in training. Mesa training is mediocre. There could be a whole other thread devoted to the specifics of the issue, but here’s a summary. If you have your CFI, you had to do FOI (Fundamentals of Instruction) of earn that CFI. In the FOI you learn that there are 4 levels of learning: Rote, Understanding, Application, and Correlation. As a teacher, it is your job to get your student to the highest level of learning, correlation. The entire training curriculum at Mesa is designed to train people at an Application, not Correlation level of learning. That is the root problem with Mesa training. I asked our training department about this a few years ago, and the answer I got was that it was too hard to train people to a higher proficiency than we currently do so what we do is good enough. In my opinion, this is really a systematic error in our training curriculum, not a fault of any particular trainee.

Whether you choose to come to Mesa or not, it’s your choice. However, make sure to have as much information as you can before making a decision. Personally I am waiting for a call to move on to the majors and leave this Mickey Mouse operation.

TogaParty

If Mesa had an in-person interview, I wonder how big their class sizes would be compared to how it is now.
Of course this doesn't apply to everyone going to Mesa, but it does seem that some people have a strong aversion to interviewing whether that be fear or nerves and willingly choose lower pay to avoid it.

FrequentFly3r

Agreed. It's just too easy to get a job here. I'd have to jump through more hoops to work at Arby's than I did to get a job flying a 76 seat airliner.

No interview attracts the hobbyists who would be willing to come fly big jets for free just cause it's "fun" and "cool".

Edit: Heard from a check airman today that new hire quality is going to hell in a hand basket and attrition is starting to pick up quite a bit. Anyone who doesn't realize Mesa is on the verge of trouble is either clueless or impressively naive.

tinman1

Great post! Thank you for your time and effort in putting that together to disseminate factual info.

minimwage4

That sounds like any other regional.

El Dorado

IAD is not the junior CA base. 10+ years to hold a line. Both Ejet and DFW have 2.5 year CAs holding lines.

Day4mx

Good information and all but I'd think mesas payscales would be enough to keep people away.

Bootleg

a "regional" airline telling lies to attract newcomers.

the very idea


hmmpf

20sx

The most junior captain at Mesa is in IAD. That's for a reserve line, where typically junior captains start.

pilotwithnoname

Damn. I thought it was bad at RAH..

Good post, the 121 newbs will appreciate this, even if they don't post it. Though they may be naive enough to go anyways thinking "it can't be that bad".

Hint: yes it can!