Mesa news?
08-06-2008 | 08:03 PM
#21
Banned
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 781
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Don't worry about your next interview, wherever you end up going.
Funny....I did three years at Mesa & then skipped right over to Southwest. I interviewed with 11 other people....all regional guys. Two others were Mesa, one Skywest, 2 Comair, 1 ExpressJet, 1 Eagle, 1 Air Whiskey, 1 ASA & 1 Mesaba. Myself and one other Mesa guy were hired along with the pilot from Skywest.
My new-hire class at Southwest had 3 other ex-Mesa guys and two Skywest guys in addition to the military guys. Every time I report for duty in my pilot base, I run into a group of ex-Mesa guys. The place is crawling with them! The Captain that I am currently flying with is an ex Florida Gulf (Mesa) Beech 1900 driver. Don't seem to ever fly with any guys who used to work for the "premier" regionals....LUV just doesn't seem to hire many of them. The People Department seems to be pretty good at "weeding out" the primadonas (sp.). Southwest hires for "attitude"....period.
The statement that "don't expect a warm welcome at your next airline interview" sounds like it came from someone who doesn't really know what they are talking about or is bitter because they flamed out at an interview with the majors.
One possible explanation of why Mesa, Great Lakes, etc. pilots get hired in higher percentages is probably because they have had a tough time getting their time with the company they work for and are extremely motivated to move on. Most had a fair amount of time hand flying Beech 1900s or Dash 8's before they moved on to the jet, rather than just starting out pushing buttons on the jet right away. Most don't bat an eye at spending 8 grand getting their type ratings and doing whatever it takes to make it to the majors. I know that the guys who interviewed me knew how difficult it was to come from Mesa and were very encouraging and helpful & wanted to help me out. The welcome that I received was extremely warm and friendly & I was in class a few months later.
Make the best decision based upon the information that you have. Best of luck wherever you end up.
Funny....I did three years at Mesa & then skipped right over to Southwest. I interviewed with 11 other people....all regional guys. Two others were Mesa, one Skywest, 2 Comair, 1 ExpressJet, 1 Eagle, 1 Air Whiskey, 1 ASA & 1 Mesaba. Myself and one other Mesa guy were hired along with the pilot from Skywest.
My new-hire class at Southwest had 3 other ex-Mesa guys and two Skywest guys in addition to the military guys. Every time I report for duty in my pilot base, I run into a group of ex-Mesa guys. The place is crawling with them! The Captain that I am currently flying with is an ex Florida Gulf (Mesa) Beech 1900 driver. Don't seem to ever fly with any guys who used to work for the "premier" regionals....LUV just doesn't seem to hire many of them. The People Department seems to be pretty good at "weeding out" the primadonas (sp.). Southwest hires for "attitude"....period.
The statement that "don't expect a warm welcome at your next airline interview" sounds like it came from someone who doesn't really know what they are talking about or is bitter because they flamed out at an interview with the majors.
One possible explanation of why Mesa, Great Lakes, etc. pilots get hired in higher percentages is probably because they have had a tough time getting their time with the company they work for and are extremely motivated to move on. Most had a fair amount of time hand flying Beech 1900s or Dash 8's before they moved on to the jet, rather than just starting out pushing buttons on the jet right away. Most don't bat an eye at spending 8 grand getting their type ratings and doing whatever it takes to make it to the majors. I know that the guys who interviewed me knew how difficult it was to come from Mesa and were very encouraging and helpful & wanted to help me out. The welcome that I received was extremely warm and friendly & I was in class a few months later.
Make the best decision based upon the information that you have. Best of luck wherever you end up.
With all due respect your screen name doesn't help your argument. As far as regional pilots I hear SW hires mostly skywest.
08-06-2008 | 08:15 PM
#22
Line Holder
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
From: 737 RIGHT SEAT
Yeah, why believe mesasurvivor, he only has first hand knowledge, you on the other hand have heard who SWA hires. Get a clue! I know current and former SWA pilots and they do not want whiners and know it alls in the fold. It seems most people who waste hours a day on this site fall into this category.
08-06-2008 | 08:20 PM
#23
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 145
Likes: 0
From: SWA F/O
Chill out.
08-06-2008 | 09:47 PM
#28
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
From: DHC-8 CA Furloughed
At other airlines, if a flight is delayed due to maintenance, does pay start at scheduled out time or actual out time? A buddy of mine works at a block-or-better airline. While in ground school and sim training he was not paid. He received $200 per week per diem. How long will it take for his block or better pay to make up for the fact that I was paid a 70 hour a month guarantee from day one?
As bad as segment pay is, the actual differences in earnings depend upon a lot of work rules. Mesa is not necessarily worst in each rule.
Last edited by TheDashRocks; 08-06-2008 at 10:01 PM. Reason: spelling, dammit!
08-06-2008 | 10:27 PM
#29
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 787
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I think it's so hilarious how all of us RJ pilots for some reason think that everyone knows everything about our companies and their "prestige" among regionals.
From everyone I know at majors no one seems to care (or in some cases even know) about one regional vs. the next. It would be like going to your 1st regional interview and not getthing the job b/c you instructed at a school with less pay and worse schedules than another flight school. How many regionals give a crap what flight school you instructed at? None that I know of. Similar thing with majors--XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ is XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ...everything else is networking and attitude.
Factor in the fact that most former military pilots (who might be your interviewer) don't know or care what regional is what, unless you are the company they commute on...I can't count how many times I've jumpseated FedEx out of Memphis and even though Pinnacle has a base there the guys (who don't commute to MEM) ask me who Pinnacle is and what we fly...of course they understand "Flagship=NWA Airlink RJ"...but do they say "oh, you guys don't have an industry leading contract, we'll never hire you." No...because they don't give a crap, and neither will I if I'm ever fortunate enough to get on at a major.
I understand the sentiment that we should all hold out for the "best" regional for our situation, and not "lower the bar," but there is a certain point where you have to remember--a regional is a friggin regional, whether it's Skywest or Mesa. It's typically the lifers at the "better" regionals who perpetuate the myth that somehow they are better or more respected than other RJ drivers, when in fact most people outside of our little realm don't know or care...
Besides, yesterdays "bottom feeder" sometimes becomes tomorrow's "industry leader"...as the topic of our thread, SWA, has proven
From everyone I know at majors no one seems to care (or in some cases even know) about one regional vs. the next. It would be like going to your 1st regional interview and not getthing the job b/c you instructed at a school with less pay and worse schedules than another flight school. How many regionals give a crap what flight school you instructed at? None that I know of. Similar thing with majors--XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ is XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ...everything else is networking and attitude.
Factor in the fact that most former military pilots (who might be your interviewer) don't know or care what regional is what, unless you are the company they commute on...I can't count how many times I've jumpseated FedEx out of Memphis and even though Pinnacle has a base there the guys (who don't commute to MEM) ask me who Pinnacle is and what we fly...of course they understand "Flagship=NWA Airlink RJ"...but do they say "oh, you guys don't have an industry leading contract, we'll never hire you." No...because they don't give a crap, and neither will I if I'm ever fortunate enough to get on at a major.
I understand the sentiment that we should all hold out for the "best" regional for our situation, and not "lower the bar," but there is a certain point where you have to remember--a regional is a friggin regional, whether it's Skywest or Mesa. It's typically the lifers at the "better" regionals who perpetuate the myth that somehow they are better or more respected than other RJ drivers, when in fact most people outside of our little realm don't know or care...
Besides, yesterdays "bottom feeder" sometimes becomes tomorrow's "industry leader"...as the topic of our thread, SWA, has proven
08-06-2008 | 11:08 PM
#30
Banned
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 781
Likes: 0
I think it's so hilarious how all of us RJ pilots for some reason think that everyone knows everything about our companies and their "prestige" among regionals.
From everyone I know at majors no one seems to care (or in some cases even know) about one regional vs. the next. It would be like going to your 1st regional interview and not getthing the job b/c you instructed at a school with less pay and worse schedules than another flight school. How many regionals give a crap what flight school you instructed at? None that I know of. Similar thing with majors--XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ is XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ...everything else is networking and attitude.
Factor in the fact that most former military pilots (who might be your interviewer) don't know or care what regional is what, unless you are the company they commute on...I can't count how many times I've jumpseated FedEx out of Memphis and even though Pinnacle has a base there the guys (who don't commute to MEM) ask me who Pinnacle is and what we fly...of course they understand "Flagship=NWA Airlink RJ"...but do they say "oh, you guys don't have an industry leading contract, we'll never hire you." No...because they don't give a crap, and neither will I if I'm ever fortunate enough to get on at a major.
I understand the sentiment that we should all hold out for the "best" regional for our situation, and not "lower the bar," but there is a certain point where you have to remember--a regional is a friggin regional, whether it's Skywest or Mesa. It's typically the lifers at the "better" regionals who perpetuate the myth that somehow they are better or more respected than other RJ drivers, when in fact most people outside of our little realm don't know or care...
Besides, yesterdays "bottom feeder" sometimes becomes tomorrow's "industry leader"...as the topic of our thread, SWA, has proven
From everyone I know at majors no one seems to care (or in some cases even know) about one regional vs. the next. It would be like going to your 1st regional interview and not getthing the job b/c you instructed at a school with less pay and worse schedules than another flight school. How many regionals give a crap what flight school you instructed at? None that I know of. Similar thing with majors--XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ is XXX hrs PIC in a CRJ...everything else is networking and attitude.
Factor in the fact that most former military pilots (who might be your interviewer) don't know or care what regional is what, unless you are the company they commute on...I can't count how many times I've jumpseated FedEx out of Memphis and even though Pinnacle has a base there the guys (who don't commute to MEM) ask me who Pinnacle is and what we fly...of course they understand "Flagship=NWA Airlink RJ"...but do they say "oh, you guys don't have an industry leading contract, we'll never hire you." No...because they don't give a crap, and neither will I if I'm ever fortunate enough to get on at a major.
I understand the sentiment that we should all hold out for the "best" regional for our situation, and not "lower the bar," but there is a certain point where you have to remember--a regional is a friggin regional, whether it's Skywest or Mesa. It's typically the lifers at the "better" regionals who perpetuate the myth that somehow they are better or more respected than other RJ drivers, when in fact most people outside of our little realm don't know or care...
Besides, yesterdays "bottom feeder" sometimes becomes tomorrow's "industry leader"...as the topic of our thread, SWA, has proven
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