I can't believe how bad my decision to go to Trans States was. I thought I was doing a good thing by not accepting the offer from Mesa. If I'd gone to Mesa, I'd at least still be flying. Crazy how this industry works.

Well it's refreshing to see some optimism on this board every once in a while.

If Mesa goes under, that's almost 1,500 pilots on the street. I work at an airline flying Cessna 402s and have seen former ATA, Air Tran, American, and Eos pilots applying for jobs. I'll be the first to admit that it's a great place to work, especially in the current state of the industry, but if those guys can't find another job right now, I can't imagine the thousand plus Mesa pilots finding work as easily as you imagine.

Mesa going under will leave a void, but it won't be large enough to create jobs for as many pilots as it puts out of work.

I don't blame you, the period from late 07/early 08 TSA was booming, they told us a year upgrades and no reserve out of IOE. You'd have to be crazy to turn that down for anything else. I didn't really do my homework either, I just saw what was happening and I wanted in. I had no idea how badly TSA management had positioned the airline to basically crumble badly if something went wrong like it did this summer. Still learned a valuable lesson though, always think about the future, not what's happening at that time. Also TSA apparently had a history of repeatedly furloughing guys with no regard, things you find out later I guess.

heh.

I went to TSA instead of Mesa because I mentioned going to Mesa to a few people I know and got hell for it. Mesa this, Mesa that, if you value your career, you won't go to Mesa, if you want to be alive in a year, stay away from Mesa... etc. I'm not saying Mesa is perfect, but most of the gripes I've heard regarding Mesa are ones that exist at nearly every other regional.

I guess it serves me right for taking advice from people with an agenda.

Well, they did lose almost half of the pilots in 07 and 08 and are current mesa refugees all over the regionals including Skywest, xjet, RAH, they do have the worst contract in the industry, and they might go into liquidation so in fairness to your friends they were probably on to something.

Thinking and preparing for the future doesn't work either brother. Nothing does in this industry it's all the luck of the draw.

I guess the only downside to Mesa tanking would be that the APC forums would get really boring and the threads would be less abundant due to us all knowing the fate of Mesa........:D

Yeah, I know I'd still be flying there though. I interviewed with a guy who I still occasionally talk to and he got the class the month after me and he's still flying. I think he's the absolute lowest guy that didn't get the furlough though.

I know the grass always seems greener on the other side...but at MESA??? Trust me, you're better off furloughed from TSA than rock-bottom reserve at mesa in IAD.

Besides, mesa is a house of cards right now...as soon as anything goes wrong, they are done. And they have not one, but FOUR impending train-wrecks that I can think of: Delisting (Dec), Bond Payments (Jan/Feb?), Aloha Lawsuit (Spring), and DAL Termination Lawsuit (Spring?). JO's pretty slippery, but I doubt he can dodge all of these...

TSA Furloughs?
 

For the TSA furloughs...

Are you guys being offered gojet jobs?

What is the thought process on that right now? I mean if they are going to bleed TSA down to nothing anyway, I'm not sure I would it against a legit TSA pilot if he had nowhere else to go at this point...