There you go... go to mesa... They have shiny jets! Who the ******* cares about paying bills??

How does pay and benefits affect QOL?? seriously?? How about not having to worry about where rent is coming from every month?? Student loans? Or car payment? Or not have to tote around a cooler full of room temperature food on your 4 day trip??? How about you break your iphone and want to get the new one?? Or what about being sick of winter WX and being able to just drop everything on your days off and run down to an all inclusive in Costa Rica on first year pay to get away for a few days??? Actually get to use your travel bennies...

$22 per hour starting pay is deplorable. Even the 2nd, 3rd, 4th year pay is lower than a lot of airlines starting pay these days. This idea that compensation doesn't matter that much because of 1) shiny jets 2) quick upgrade 3) 'its an awesome place' 4) whatever other meaningless carrot, is what is wrong with this industry. When close to $100,000 of education and training is required to get into an industry, we should demand better pay and benefits... stop making excuses. Other places have made decent strides to put pay closer to where it should be, but then there's places dragging the industry back into the sewer.

 

Oh, the fight it's on in the comments!

Mesa people vs Envoy people

Who will win? Haha.

 

I'm sure that upgrade time will decrease. They are saying in their page that new hires will be captain in about 2 year and a half. But always the airlines will put all beautiful in their webpages, wonderland. Let's see what happens, but if that's is true about the upgrade time, Envoy come back will be strong.

 

You asked for an opinion so I gave it. What you choose to do with that is up to you.

 

I know and I appreciate it sir!

 

Um. Take a deep breath. I think you missed the point of Rob12345's post.

He was saying the same thing you are. That although there are decent things about Mesa, i.e. decent pilot group, etc., that ultimately QOL comes down to pay and benefits. If you don't have enough money to live comfortably, you don't have a good QOL. That's why he is looking to leave Mesa. Pay and benefits are below what is required for an acceptable QOL.

I think you missed the point of his post.

 

Some might find this helpful.

This is APC pay rates and bonuses pulled into one place for convenience. For hourly rates, if there were different rates for different A/C Types, a blended rate was used to keep it simple. Same thing for bonuses.

Every contract is different so this graph is only a starting point. Educate yourself on the different work rules and contracts which can affect your pay and QOL.

Some considerations:
Cancellation pay, DH pay, per diem, schedule flexibility, schedule quality, time on reserve, reserve schedules, time to upgrade, hotel quality, insurance/other benefits, commuter QOL issues, how many commuter hotels are offered (if any), Is a training contract required, etc.

Be aware that recruiters are selling a quick upgrade at many regionals, when the quick upgrade is possibly over. Upgrades can only happen if they can hire enough FOs to fill the right seat behind you. And I think we all see the writing on the wall, that that is becoming more difficult for every regional by the day. So just make sure that if you do get stuck in the right seat for a while, that your bank account can withstand it.

 

Yeah, what he said. FLOW baby FLOW! Couple that with a 2.5 year upgrade, 5.3 year flow and the best work rules in the industry and Envoy is the only way to go. Don't expect it to be easy getting hired though. They are hiring AA pilots and are super selective. Just ask this salesman eaglepilot if you have any questions.

 

Until you ACTUALLY have 2.5 year upgrades, and 6 year flows, you can't say that you have it. Right now you have 4.5 years of reserve with no upgrades in sight. Again, until you are doing it, it doesn't exist. Right now Mesa has quicker upgrades and ability to hold a line.
As for QOL, if you have 1000 121 time, you will upgrade in a year or less at Mesa, right now. I came at a good time and upgraded in 18 months, and have been a line holder for the majority of it, and I am a line holding captain now, and I have yet to hit the 4 year mark. Enjoy your 40$ hr...

 

Ill say it agin, chasing PIC upgrade time is a bad strategy. First off, those of you who have 0 121 experience must remember in order to upgrade you must have 1000 121 time first. There is no way you will get a 1000 in a year. Reality is you will fly about 650-750 a year. If you live in base and pick up as much OT as humanly possible, sure you can there a bit faster. My point is it's probably going to take you 16-20 months to get the 1000.
I seriously dont care what company you choose but look at the big picture not just who has the best 1st year pay or fasted upgrade times but who has a standing chance to weather what's coming in the next few years. Who cares if you get paid $4 an hour more year one if in 2 years you're already bailing from said company because the PIC upgrade train you sought has stopped, and the company is in Shambles.