Mesaba or Lynx?
 

Mesaba street capt or lynx fo?
commute to DTW or move to DEN?

If it was me, I'd choose turbine PIC.

Determine your priorities among these factors:

1) Where you'd be living/based and commuting issues
2) Pay/Work rules
3) Equipment
4) Industry reputation
5) Expected career progression/upgrade/where people go when they leave
6) How well others like working for each company
7) How well you think the company will fare in this dog eat dog world (usually anybody's guess, but use your crystal ball if you have it)

See which one does the best among your top priorities. Remember what is right for others is not necessarily right for you. Good luck.

That's all entirely up to you...what do you want out of life?

Lifestyle-wise, there's a lot more to do in the front range than in DTW. As a street CA you'll probably be on reserve in DTW for a LONG time. If your main form of recreation is video games, it shouldn't matter. Otherwise...

QOL...obviously you'll have more time off and schedule control as an FO rather than a CA at any airline (not to mention a street CA).

Money...how bad do you need it?

Career Goals...this is the toughy. Obviously you need the PIC to progress, but PIC alone won't do it. Oil is up, hiring is down at the majors, UAL is throwing the "F" word around again, and we just started the five-year "window-of-pain" for age 65. Do you have a REALLY good connection at a good major (that will be hiring for several more years)? If so, it might be worth jumping on the PIC at all costs. Otherwise...

Also what are the growth opportunities at Lynx? If they're still expanding, an FO job there might turn into a CA job real quick, and without a bunch of senior FO's on top of you. That would be a huge factor for me, and I would do some research. Don't just take for granted what somebody on the internet or a recruiter says, look at SEC filings and quarterly reports...hard orders for airplanes (as opposed to options) would be a good sign.

Lynx has 10 on order, only 1 is left to be delivered, IIRC, 10 options.

Objectively, there is a good chance Lynx will get the A/C due to higher oil and the reduction of the mainline F9 sched. Now, if things go nuts in the economy, everyone will stop growing and those options will be put off. Stopping growth at Lynx is not good news for Frontier either. No money to grow Lynx means cash has gotten very tight and things are getting ugly.

If you live near a Mesaba base and will have good QOL, then I don't see why going there is a bad option. If you live in the west, more specifically Denver, then the commute would suck.

<Rolls Dice>

Have Fun and Good Luck!

Checko

No question at all.

Mesaba street captain.

There is no question Mesaba is the best choice. First, turbine PIC is the important time. Mesaba has been growing big time over the past year. Lynx is filled with captains who had a decent amount of experience, so they are not as interested in moving on. Trust me that attrition at Lynx will not be like attrition at Mesaba (atleast over the next few years). The pay is twice to three times better at Mesaba (isn't that reason enough).

Honestly, I think Lynx is one of the worst regionals out there specifically because of their pay ($50/hour for 74 seat captain). Yes, I would say Lynx is worse than Colgan.

Go to Mesaba.

I think I've seen this statement word for word in another thread... haha.. :)

so did both lynx and mesaba offer you these positions???

Utedrummer I have had an app/resume in for three weeks now at Mesaba for a street captain position. Haven't heard a murmur from them. Sounds like plane deliveries slowed down so hiring is slowing. Also sounds like guys are waiting quite a while for IOE due to plane deliveries. Getting on with them would have been nice I have family in Detroit and MSP, but some pay is better than no pay. Good luck with your decision!

Don't spread erroneous rumors unless you know it to be true. Deliveries of new airplanes have not slowed down. Mesaba is getting 2 new CRJ900 and 2 CRJ200 per month and continuing to hire like crazy. January alone XJ is getting 2 new CRJ900s. NWA has options for additional 74 Bombardier jets after initial 36 CRJ900 have been delivered in 2008. Poised to hire another 330 or more pilots in 2008. Hiring has only slowed during the Christmas and year end weeks. It is already cranking back up. Flowthrough to NWA has started this month and it will further create vacancies, in addition to growth at a rate that I have not seen in other regionals at the moment.

I put in and got a call the next day....???