I don't think the company knows anything yet. Freedom ERJ = 36 airplanes, and roughly 300-350 pilots.

I don't think they'll hire any street captains since 300ish guys will be displaced into the remaining aircraft (read CRJ). Were still hurrendously short in ORD and IAD. Ex/ this month more lines than captains and f/o's in each domecile. ORD actually has 77 lines and 45 F/O's.

We are in fact doubling our Hawaii presence, so some pilots will be needed to staff that. Don't think that will be popular however, since everyone knows how Go played into the Aloha shutdown. I know I don't want to be a part of that, and that none of us on the mainland support the operation.

I'm sure they're still hiring, but the awarded upgrade classes may be moved/cancelled, it just depends on how the #'s work out when they run the displacement bid.

AirMiddie pilots are on the same list (everyone is at MAG; that's actually how we got the contract we have now). We had to sacrfice everything to Ornstein to get the Freedom A-list guys back on the master seniority list. If we didn't, then he would have moved every 700 and 900 to freedom, leaving the Mesa operation with just the 50 or so -200s and thus further destroying the pilot group.

This will certainly get interesting. If we were staffed (and we aren't) then this would result in furloughs. Who knows?

 

I just want to thank you for posting here. Along with the Desrt guy and the other few. I know it takes pretty thick skin to be a Mag guy and still post. I have no respect for the folks here who blindly flame Mesa pilots. The site isn't about flaming but about the free flow of useful information in a professional, respectable, manner....Yes, even at the regional forums....

The Mag guys that bother to post help the rest of us get an accurate picture oh whats really going on inside Mesa airlines. That valuable information. Thanks again.

 

This is what most of the MAG bashers don't understand.

 

Good post,
I don't think many newhires know what they are signing up for. At the end of the day, you would think any company that operates a high-performance aircraft at the 121 level would be a professional, reputable company. Unfortunately that is far from the truth with the way MAG has treated it's people and done business in the past.
As a newhire, you don't want to bar-hop from one regional airline company to another since you set yourself back, having to start from the bottom of the seniority chain. I can't imagine being at Mesa and trying to decide whether to call it quits or grin and bear, as being an easy decision. I think if the pilots realize that the company dangles things like early upgrades and sign-on bonuses as a way to play with their hopes, they will realize how bad the company really is.

 

Hawaiians as in population, the people of Hawaii

 

Too much flying and very little rest

 

Here's what I know from my almost seven years I was with MAG. Right now the Crystal Palace is in a state of shock. People are telling those who make the staffing decisions that they'll recapture the ERJ flying, and Mesa will run the numbers to retrain all the ERJ guys and the thought of all that cash will lump in their throat and NO ONE will have the balls to pull the trigger. They'll let these guys sit until the very last moment, they'll then come up with some crap like telling the ERJ guys that since you're on a different ticket you have no Mesa bidding rights and stuff like that. Anyway they can avoid paying the displacement including salaries they'll do it...anyone at MAG has seen it before. My guess is people will sit at home until the 11th hour...typical Mesa.

 

FROM DELTA



We have terminated a portion of our Delta Connection operating agreement with Freedom Airlines because of operational performance of their 50-seat aircraft. The move is effective immediately. Our operating agreement with Freedom for its 14 76-seat aircraft remains intact.

“When we began working with Freedom in October 2005, our goal was to extend the market service of Delta Connection while ensuring a mainline-like experience for our customers,” said Don Bornhorst, s.v.p.-Delta Connection. “Freedom’s agreement with Delta, similar to the agreements with all of our Delta Connection partners, reflects this requirement. We expect the operational pull down to be orderly and have minimal impact to our customers.”

Orlando and New York-JFK handle the majority of Freedom’s daily departures. Most customers will be rebooked through our hubs in Atlanta and Cincinnati. Some former Freedom point-to-point flights may continue and be supported by our other Delta Connection partners.

 

Probably the most disturbing trend here @ Mesa over the last year or so, besides the severe attrition, has been the exodus of extremely senior pilots. I have personally known several pilots who have been here for 15 plus years (for a regional, that's fairly senior) who have left for other airlines. Most of these guys, at least the ones I knew, were just awesome guys who taught so many pilots so many valuable lessons about flying the line and surviving Mesa. It's very tough to watch them bail. We're talking about 10-15000 plus hour pilots.

I completely agree w/ Paxhauler85, the lessons learned from Freedom Airlines should not be forgotten. It was a tactic that divided the pilot group and ultimately got our CEO and management exactly what they wanted. The vast majority of our pilots held out, per ALPAs request, and avoided flying CRJ 700/900s until a contract was reached. What was the reward? An industry leading sub-standard contract that ultimately created the low morale and situation that we're seeing today. The ironic thing is that the pilots who jumped ship and staffed the CRJ 7/9s, Freedom A-listers are what they are politely called, are now leaving and getting hired at ALPA represented carriers. In other words, we all took it in the shorts for nothing. All of this, along with ALPA's encouraging the president to sign into law Age 65 legislation even after 70% of polled ALPA pilots specifically voiced their discontent w/ Age 65, has led me to conclude that ALPA is totally worthless. They are all about themselves, and that's it.

I never trusted MAG management to begin with, my service @ Mesa has also taught me to extend the same level of distrust to ALPA. They just totally dropped the ball in my opinion.

 

I can tell you have worked for JO. (I was there over 8 years) That is exactly the scenario except that they will also say that they are furloughing out of seniority and that ALPA can start the 3 year grievance process if they want. They may even try to invoke Force Majure again! In any case those ERJ guys are likely going to get screwed for a long time if this plays out as I am sure it will!