Can't blame you for not wanting to sit reserve for a long time! But it sounds like you have a good idea of the big picture since you say you're "not young". I'm sure you know, but just remember that just because the people who have been at a place for X amount of time are upgrading in X amount of time, it doesn't mean when you are at that place for X that you will upgrade in X.

Since it doesn't sound like you're chasing the quick upgrade...if you are willing to move, pick someplace quality that you could see yourself being happy at if you were to be stuck there, then see if they have bases in places you would like to live. Who knows what will happen if the age 65 thing or if all the coming "consolidation" might happen. If they both do, they might not be much movement for a while.

ALL IMHO...

 

MESABA SAAB or CRJ Assignment ?


FROM RJ85FO on another post.

Positions are awarded based on vacancy notices that are issued to all active pilots. Crew planning is simply feeding numbers to HR to tell them how many pilots they need on property each month. HR has no idea what aircraft you will be assigned, because the vacancy for the new hire class you will be in may not have come out by the time you are offered a job.

There are two line pilot positions at Mesaba. First Officer and Captain. We do not hire CR9 F/O's or SF3 F/O's. We hire F/O's. The pay and choice of bases are the same for each aircraft at the F/O level.

Traditionaly, you are notified in advance (maybe a week or two) of the aircraft you have been assinged and some training information is sent out prior to you coming to class. Sometimes, and this wave of hiring may be a good example, the material is not available in time, and you will find out your aircraft Day one of class when they pass out the "folders."

 

....yes!

Sometimes planning decides that a class of 20 will be split between different aircraft. In that case, HR leads us to believe there is some scientific method to selecting who gets the jet and who gets the Saab. In reality, I have seen every combination you can imagine. When we were spooling up the first few classes of CRJ pilots back in summer/fall of 2005, it was a mix. We had CFI's whose most complex airplane was a Seminole go to the jet, and we had 135 Hawker captains with 2000 hours jet PIC going to the jet. We had CFI's going to the saab, and 121 pilots from PSA and Piedmont going to the Saab.

In my opinion, I think they draw names out of a hat for assigning aircraft in split classes. During interviews they used to toss out that fact that they like the lesser experienced pilots in the most automated airplane and the more experience pilots in the Saab. The Saab sees some tough flying; in the weather, backwoods airports with no ILS, coyotes and badgers on the runway, in the ice, in the turbulence...plus it is not nearly as sophisticated up front as the Avro was or the CRJs will be. It is sometimes tough to put a lessor experienced pilot into that airplane and give them a flaps 15 auto-coarsen failure on a missed from a night circling manuever.

In the jet, it is autopilot on at 500 feet, and you are a computer programmer for the rest of the checkride essentially.

Don't stress trying to profile yourself into one airplane or the other. Typically, you will end up being dissapointed. I can tell you that if you get in the pool and get a class right away, you will get the jet. We are fixin' to be overstuffed on the Saab soon. This last vacancy shows 100+ furloughs recalled to SF3 F/O. Not all of them will come back, but you can see that the Saab is pretty well covered for the short term.

 

Hey RJ85FO, I meet the Mesaba multi-time minimum, but am a little short on the total, but I will have a 4 year degree in a couple of months. Should I apply? Will they accept a little time shortage with a degree? I have heard that some regionals will.

 

I don't know if they will budge on the reduced minimums YET. However, it never hurts to ask.

 

What's up B? Mesabah bla the pink Slaab Pilot extraordinaire!! Gimme a call.

 

It cannot hurt you to apply anyway. When you fill out the online application, be sure to note in the "Other Pertinent Information" section what your estimated time to accrue the minimums are. This way HR has some information to plan with. Maybe they know the pool is two months deep and the you say you will meet the minimums in two months etc. Submit the application and keep it updated on a bi-weekly basis as you continue to build time.

There is a trade-off between what Mesaba pays for insurance and what our hiring minimums are. They have taken a higher premium to lower the minimums to 600 now. I don't know how much "wiggle" room is left, if any.

 

Thanks for the help RJ.

 

Is there going to be any kind of flow through to NWA? Is it even being talked about? Once they get all the CRJ's rougly what number will the junior captains be?

 

There has been talk about a flow through. I doubt that will happen. Compass has a flow through with NWA.

Once all the CRJ's are delivered (Dec. 2008) you can expect a junior Saab captain to be in the 600-640 range. That is based off of a comparable seniority list in 2005 when we had 49 Saabs and 35 Avro's