Mesaba schedules
 

How are the reserve schedules typically laid out? 5on/2off, a lot of single days off, etc? Do they let you commute in on your first day on and release you early enough on your last day to get home? If there is anyway to get a copy of your lines for a month that would be great too. Thanks

Yes, but I can only speak for the 200 though.

You are expected to be there at your report time and on call until your release time. Traveling to/from your base during your scheduled duty time is not advisable. You might get away with it, but the day you get stuck somewhere is when you get called. If you are within a couple hours of your release time and the schedulers are in a good mood with a lot of reserves in waiting, you might be able to get released early, but don't count on it as a regular thing. It doesn't hurt to ask though if you're itching for a beer.

in msp on the 900 it seems to be 5 on 3 off (3x) and 5 on 2 off (1x) every month, and i usually dont have a problem getting released early for the last flight home, since i have made it pretty clear that i commute. The worst that i have gotten was crew scheduling let me list and get a boarding pass and then call right before i get on the aircraft (in this case they let me go). most of the time if you commute, plan on coming out the day before. I was in mem for awhile and used the late Fedex flights. I left home at 8pm, and got into MEM at 2am, and started reserve at 6am.

I am with Eagle interested in Mesaba. How much open time flying is available to reserve's? Is there a lot of airport standby? or is it "at home on call? Is it a 2 hour call out?

Why would you want to make a lateral move right now during these times??:rolleyes:

You cannot bid for open time while on a reserve schedule. What you get rarely ever appears on open time. During the last year, my low month has been 4hrs, high 50hrs. 1.5hr callout, or you can get ready reserve which for AM is 525am to 125pm - you must be at the airport. Sometimes you get a RR several times a month, sometimes never.

Actually technically you can reduce yourself to 10 days off from 11. So if there was a reserve day or a day trip in open time you could grab that...but that is rare.

actually ready reserve times are not set and often vary. I've never had it start/end on a 25th minute, usaually on the hour, sometimes on the half hour but here is the different periods I have sat:

AM: 5-1, 6-2, 7-3
PM: 1-9, 2-10, 3-11

Also I've had all of these start/end on the 1/2 hour after the hour listed above

It all depends on what they need. Also I've never broken 10 hours on straight reserve.

Flylow is probably sitting in DTW. They have the AM show an hour before the first MEM deadhead departure so if they end up short there they can send us there. DTW has been overstaffed and MEM understaffed on the 900 all year. SO in order to give themselves an extra body for MEM they put DTW ready reserves on 3+hours before the first actual departure so they can deadhead you to MEM if needed since the next flight after the 6:25ish is at about noon to MEM out of DTW.

Whats the earliest they can use us on RR? Lets say your RR shift is from 6-2, can they have you get on a flight at 610 or 620? How long do they give you to get to the gate?

About what is the max amount of days people actually will see on RR in a month? Also, if you are so lucky to be on RR, how often are you used?

RR's can do a max of 3 rr days in a single reserve stretch, with 10 a month max.

Cus were looking at 10 years till captain. And I am on the bottom of seniority as it is.

you can sit ready reserve TEN times in a month??!! you have eight hour ready reserves??!! ugh! i thought the reserve rules when i was at comair were bad! those are horrible work rules! that needs to be changed asap! i can not believe that people put up with that. i thought mesaba had better work rules than that. i guess i was wrong.

now that i read the thread on mesaba pay scales i know why mesaba is the only regional being distributed new a/c. with a pay scale that low and 65 percent of the work force with a year or less in a jet the management (delta) is raking in the dough! richard a. is loving you guys for giving him a nice bonus check this year with all the free labor he is getting.

First off 8 hours isn't that bad, especially the AM shift you just sleep half of it. Second off if you think being able to sit 10 days is bad, better not look at pinnacles, because they don't have a limit on number of days of RR, and I believe they are also there for more than 8 hours.

Since my previous posts were deleted:

Vulgarity Removed:

Listen here... this has been thurougly discussed earlier. Mesaba's pay rates used to be a lot better. We took alot of big cuts on pay during bankruptcy... because we were forced to by a judge. Also ALPA, at the time managed to negotiate snap back provisions, we get a 1% snap back this coming december and another 2.5% next December. At which point our rates will be as good or better than others. So clearly in a year that "advantage" for delta you're talking about no longer exists.

Now, I will not deny that we provide a cheap work group, but that has to do with the fact that about half of our pilot group was hired within the last year. This is also bankruptcy related, a lot of the guys that would have a lot more seniority than we do now went elsewhere when we furloughed during bankruptcy.

Once again, Vulgarity Removed:
Yeah... the RR is not our brightest spot but we do have a lot of good work rules. IE Actual Block or better, time and a half for picking up open time (or being junior manned) that goes on top of guarantee(mesaba and ALPA are in talks to raise this to 2x regular pay as an incentive to pick up time), we have the 14 hour rule, and quite a few others. I suggest that it is not proper manners to bash another airline in this manner.

i wouldnt waste your time getting me fired up about pinnacle and their work rules/pay. i know its bad! i just thought mesaba was better than it actually is. i was dumbfounded to read how horrific your work rules and pay are. obviously your stuck with what you have...i just hope you know how bad it really is.

thanks for the kind word of praise:) but the fact is i was referring to your pay "after" the snapback you so quickly jump too. 34/hour for an fo on a jet is pretty poor at 3rd year. i guess you will now say that "its ok cause i will upgrade in a year or two". well your captain pay was not looking too hot either. i'm not knocking you for accepting what you got. i would never do it...but we are all different. i just always thought mesaba was on par and not a bunker and water foul away. to give you an idea fo pay at comair was around 45 hour for three year fo on the 70/90 at the same pay scale you are referring to (time-line wise) eight year fo pay? try around 52/hour. does that give you some perspective as to what i am accustomed to? so when i look at your pay and say WOW! maybe now you know why.

Sorry... after all that I almost forgot to answer the real question at hand.


You can not be used in the first hour. That is you can not be on a flight where the posted departure time is before an hour after your report time. So, if your RR shift starts at 5AM and they're having you deadhead the flight departure time can't be until 6AM if they're having you fly, you have the right not to close the door until 6AM. After that its fair game for be at the gate ASAP. It has been my experience that they will still give you an hour to hour and a half notice. They will usually give you the flights that are just under the time required to call a regular reserve in. For example for a home reserve there is a 1.5 hour call out plus 30 minutes for charts/crew room plus 30 minutes to preflight/shut the door(2.5h total.) So if someone calls in sick and is already on a trip for example, and his next turn departs in an hour and a half, they'll have a RR fly the next turn and by the time that trip returns to base they'll have a home reserve there to pick up the rest of the trip.

my friend (as my boy mccain would say) i could care less about bashing YOUR job. just like i could care less about bashing the guy driving the truck on the interstate or the guy that picks up my recycables every wednesday morning. i was just completely taken back by what i thought was a good work environment at mesaba. the work rules you talk about with 14 hour days and 1.5 pay for extra flying are pretty standard at any airline so i wouldnt consider that a big bonus. obviously you like where you are so good for you. its obvious with how defensive you got the minute someone said, "there is no way i would work for that". i wish you plenty of success. once again.... thanks for the advice on what i should do with my spare time.

Well this explains a lot. Good luck keeping your job at your coveted comair.

Yeah, and look at where those payscales have gotten Comair. Is Mesaba the best... no. Is Mesaba the worst... no. But thanks for bashing us. Personally, I think you're a troll and a pretty lame one at that. But oh well, I guess you're just tasting some sour grapes, right?

Don't let him get to you. Comair has some exceptionally good work rules (except DH pay), the problem though is that Comair routinely takes us to the limits of our contract and far too often beyond those limits on a daily basis so when we see a payscale or work rules worse than ours we assume we would be treated even worse over there. Since my app is one of many over there I really hope that is not the case. A friend of mine furloughed from Mesaba in 2005, and now back on reserve at Comair, told me they would much rather be on reserve there than here, so I remain optimistic.

From talking to classmates that decided to stay at Comair instead of taking recall to Mesaba, strictly speaking on reserve I would MUCH rather be at Mesaba even with them now implementing ready reserve.

I couldn't care less .. that is the expression.

Saying "I could care less" means that you care more than the minimum.

Sorry for being a grammar Nazi.

Never blame a company's failure on pilot pay rates. I know you probably weren't intentionally meaning that, but the statement implied that.

the pay rates/work rules at comair have gotten comair one of the most senior pilot groups in the regional industry. not because they cant go anywhere. they dont want to go anywhere. their schedules are good and the work rules are some of the best. its pretty much common sense why things are growing at mesaba. 1) you shrank to around 400 pilots 2) you have one of the lowest paying pay scales in the industry 3) you still have the infrastructure to grow 4) you were just acquired by us (delta).

for the last time. if you think i am bashing mesaba? nope and dont care. your life is YOUR life. i am simply stating that there is NO way i would ever work for what you do and i am very surprised people do it. if you dont like the fact that i say i woudnt work under those conditions. sorry. just like you are entitled to your opinion...so am i.

Once again, blended FO rates, works out for Saab FOs like me.

Horrific work rules? You just said a post earlier 'industry average', which is it? IMO they are industry average if not a little better.

Oh and at the end of our contract, if management plays the pinnacle/ASA game and we go 4 years without a new contract, we get cost of living raises, an unprecidented clause among regional contracts.

well lets see? horrific or industry average? how about below average payscales in a horrific regional industry. i do like the 4 year clause you have in your contract. please quit wasting my time defending your contract. I DONT CARE that you think its great. just like you DONT CARE that i think its crap. move on already. no more responses to this as far as i am concerned. im glad your getting flying. just dont go taking my job at mainline and we will have no issues. right now it seems i am ok but if mainline starts furloughing and you guys keep hiring then it will be a mud fight. till then....good luck.

lol not to jump up on my pedestal but look at the last name on the list...but i know what ya mean not holding a line is not holding a line...and being the last 10-20 sucks no matter which spot you are...

if you can get a feel for things you can start working the system to get a lil more QOL however like evh347 says it isn't necessarily advisable.

i tend to get ready reserve a lot and i am the first called out if i'm on a 2 hr call out i also commute in...so this is how i think i beat the system...

if i have to do the early ready reserve on day 1 i commute in on the first flight that day...the shift starts at 7am the flight gets in at 710 am...sometimes it gets in earlier and i sign in and i'm okay if not i just don't sign in and call scheduling and say hey i'm just getting thru security can you sign me in...

as far as getting out on the last day...they can't use us for PM ready reserve on the last day so if i am on the AM and it goes til 3pm i just leave around 1pm bc generally they won't use me b/c i'm not good for anything...i just don't call to get released...

if i am on the 2 hr call out on the last day which goes til 7pm i still take a 3pm flight bc i am generally useless...

i just keep an eye on whats open...what the weather is...how many more flights have to go out...did the crew come with the plane...will they time out soon and is everything at the outstations well staffed...if this is the case i sneak out early and just hold my breath...

So at Mesaba, if on a 1.5 or 2.0 hour call out, they can't call you 5 minutes before the end of your shift and tell you that you have to do a flight in 1.5 or 2.0 hours for an overnight somewhere? Basically if they don't call you in your callout time prior to your duty off time they can't use you anymore?

Just asking because at my prior airline they would call you up to a minute before your duty off time and extend your reserve shift to whatever they needed to get you to do a flight, up to a total of 16 hours on reserve of course...

No they can't because are Reserve periods are 14 hours long and our contract limits scheduling to schedule us for 14 hours or less unless you specifically request it in wich case you can go to 15... therefore if you are at the end of your reserve shift you are on the end of your legal usability. You have 1.5 to get to the airport plus another .5 to get the the a/c and then another .5 to close the door so anything past the last 3.5-4 hours or so is pretty much a wash because most of our flights block > than 1.0 ...

generally i've noticed that on the last day they won't use you towards the end of your duty time unless they really need too...weather, running out of reserves etc...

i'm also an american seagull so i don't know what mesaba's scheduling is like...

How many days does the company give you for move days after IOE?

"if i am on the 2 hr call out on the last day which goes til 7pm i still take a 3pm flight bc i am generally useless..."

From a former XJ'er. This is practiced alot, and as this one said you will have to get a feel for whats going on. HOWEVER, there was a time I was needed to reposition an aircraft for whatever reason and was unable to do it because I was getting on a plane headed to ORD. Thankfully I had a good friend in CS who covered it. Now im not sure as to what they can do contractually for reposition taxis these days(used to code it as flight 9999 i believe). Just watch yer butt, you dont want Joe or Dan chewin on it. Although getting a "cup o joe" from Hop was always fun too.

Was Hop a CP back in the day? He does like coffee!

I cant remember if he was assistant with Fran. Thats going back about 9 years ago for me. But yeah, it was fun. I was DTW based, but when we linked through, I usually got called on the carpet for no wearing the hat, or something like that. Then you get called in and he didnt remember what he called me in for:rolleyes: Then get the ol' "lets grab a cup o joe". No problem since my nickname from one other DTW'er was "coffee in a mug"

Miss them days!!

Let's face it. The Comair contract looks better on paper. That's all I know. A 2:1 duty rig and 3 high-speed in a row max would really help out. Then again, if Mesaba didn't have the "competitive" contract that they have, they probably wouldn't be getting the extra airplanes. So, what are contract carriers to do? Look for better contracts or be competitive? I think the answer is somewhere in the middle. Too good of a contract and you won't get the flying. Too poor and... I'll skip that part.

we may not have a duty rig but the 4 hour min pay per duty period is pretty close. I just got 4 hours pay for 3:50 duty for a AZO turn. Better than having a duty rig. Sometimes the duty rig would be better but usually for our schedules it isn't. It's really rare that you'd get less than 4 hours flying in an 8 hour duty day. As for highspeeds, yea sucks to have that 4th one in a row. But if I remember right we are both now 11 days off min after the bankruptcy concessions. At least we dont' have to lug around those dang hats. That's gotta be worth something. Plus we get a good chunck of pay back December 1st. I'm looking at just under $6/hr raise. Now I will say when it comes to the employee bus at CVG compared to any of the Mesaba bases you've got us obliterated there.......