A little advice...if you are taking NWA into consideration for the future that's all fine and dandy. However, please do not let that be a deciding factor in your decision for XJ (let it be a bonus). Things can and do change quite often..

I agree. I am already committed to XJ but that was not a deciding factor because for me flowthrough was not even being discussed when I got hired.

Who knows?? The bar is going lower and lower every day. Maybe they will start hiring non-121 guys soon. Even so, it would do you well do get some 121 experience before its your ticket on the line every flight. Food for thought...

The flowthrough was being discussed long before you got here... they've been talking about it for years (and got close a couple times too). Sounds like this one is going to actually happen though.

-IHM

Not to hijack the thread but I heard of someone who finished the pc and has been waiting 6 months to start IOE at Mesaba. Any truth to this?

My ticket is on the line every time I fly now, I've been a Captain here for a couple years now. That doesn't really concern me. Obviously I don't know exactly what you guys do but if anything I would think life as a 121 CA would be ALOT easier than life as a 135 CA. Seems to me like alot more of the work and decisions are done and made for you. I have to do all my own preflight planning, file my own flight plan, load my own plan, perform my own weight and balance, choose my alternate, find my own weather, calculate and how much fuel I need and order it, etc all while teaching a 250 hr wonder how to fly IFR. Can you explain some of the differences?

Not that spending some time as an FO would be a bad thing, but I was more worried about simply getting better acquainted with the plane.

Sometimes doing things yourself is a better way to assure they are done right; and by making those decisions yourself you don't have to argue with the 6 other people involved in getting your flight off the gate.

I was an Airnet guy for 14 months. 121 is a different animal, there will be plenty of days here where you wish you were back there. I do. Of course, the opposite is true as well.

My comment about your ticket being on the line not to say that you are capable of being a good 121 CA but like everything in life, there's a learning curve. The feds watch 121 much closer than the 135 outfits and its nice to be able to sit in that right seat and watch how someone else handles certain situations.

As RJ85FO said, its not that its harder just VERY different. I too have done the 135 CA and the 121 CA and I'm trying to say, I'm not worried about your PIC skills, its your lack of 121 experience. You've been around long enough to understand what I'm saying.

Having experience in both positions, my best advice it to fly the line as an FO for at least a couple months before you take the upgrade. However, there is only one person in this world who can make that call.

Good luck!

Making all those decisions is great. But, as said before, making those in the confines of company policy with higher scrutiny by the FAA is different. Starting here as an FO wouldn't hurt you a bit. Get comfortable with the way we do things and then upgrade. I am waiting on the upgrade myself--not because I don't have the time or flying skills but because I am still working things out on how to be a good Mesaba captain. Maybe that will only take you a month or two, maybe longer but if you start as an FO you have the luxury of time that you don't as a street CA.

Just my $.02 but what do I know, I am just a lowly FO :D

you probably are a good pilot and i doubt anyone will say that being a 135 CA is easier. You are right in that some decisions are made for us but there are many different aspects of a 121 job. I am not saying you dont do this but 121 guys have to be very political with gate agents, flight attendants, the regs, staying out of the chiefs office, and dealing with an fo that you have never met before and have never flown with before. I used to pull gear on a citation and i am amazed at how little i knew about the 121 world. Its not something you can get out of a book or any indoc class... you need to get thrown into some ****ty situations and deal with it (know when you can put your foot down and cant) and not **** the wrong people off. I am only an fo but i can tell you that there are bad captains who i have flown with (upgrade was at 2 yrs here for awhile) who end up getting walked on because they are too afraid of ****ing someone off. Dispatch, Maintenance,... they dont know the ballgame well enough. If your a new captain on probation from the union, dealing with new SOP's, new airplane, and brand new fo's who you really cant rely on in bad situations... i could see some bad things happening. Good luck with our decision.

You're not talking about MESABA r u ?