JetJock16

6 day work blocks aren't that bad, what is bad is 4 - 2 leg cross country commutes instead of 3. The best I've made it from my house to our FAT crew lounge is 9 hours (15 minute drive to the train station, 45 minute train ride, get there 45 minutes before my target FLT, 5 hour FLT to LAX with 1 hour in between my connection and a 1 hour FLT to FAT). My commute can take anywhere between 9-14 hours one way. Also keep in mind that my 6 day work blocks are always commutable on the back and sometimes on the front if I can drop the first leg into LAX or SFO and the second departs after 11:00 in the morning. In order to make an 11 o’clock departure I need to make, at the latest, an 8:30 a.m. FLT out of ATL.

I came across a FedEx pilot who commutes from Sydney and works 9-12 day work blocks (I'd work the same size blocks for larger blocks off). Yes he makes A LOT more money than I do but a Sydney-Memphis commute is harsh.

Avroman

A SYD-MEM commute isn't worth being King of Sweden.

ctd57

Whoever gets those Freedom 900's. Have fun with them. Those airplanes are hanger queens and have been a constant pain the @#s since we started flying them. Our MX guys have had one hell of a time dealing with them, and every single time I have flown one of those planes, a MX issue has come up. It's a different story with the other 900's.

Boomer

Have fun with 604LR. I think the autoland on that one needs a look-see.

In line for departure in JFK, we saw that one come in and "land" on 4L and I don't think they ever flared.

Oddly enough, there was no bounce. Not even when the nose smashed down 0.09 seconds after the mains. The wings kinda slapped around all wiggly-like and then the show was over.

A week later it went to Pinnacle, so maybe the Freedom guys were just too Delta'd to care.

Anyway, give the wing tops a good preflight for strut-dents.

JetPipeOverht

Hey thanks for crapping on our x mas gift !

Max Glide

Sounds like one of the following happened to you:

1. Applied to Mesaba but never got any reply
2. Application was turned down
3. Interviewed and the 'No Thanks' letter was sent

You seem to be quite bitter at Mesaba!

ehaeckercfi

Why does everybody say "sorry you didn't get hired" when somebody makes a comment about Mesaba? Maybe it is possible he has encountered several cocky Mesaba pilots? I sure have encountered a few.

thrustsetrj200

You, along with a few others, are the reason why this thread needs to be closed. It's a dead subject.
BTW... Why do you insist on singling out Mesaba when you KNOW there are cocky pilots in every pilot group. Geezz...give it up! Get over the Mesaba bashing. Close the thread!

Tinpusher007

Because "everybody" is being airline pilots...bickering at each other and playing into the whipsawing that is the way of life for us. One guy says we're cocky because we were getting more airplanes and he feels the need to reference the alleged jackass who wore his epaulets upside down because he flies the 900.

Now, ANY airline that experiences growth is going to have happy pilots for obvious reasons. Its just that at the regional level, growth of one is usually tied to the demise of another and thus, animosity.

So then the Mesaba guy snaps back and says "well you're just a sore loser because you didn't get hired here." It's really not rocket science.

The bottom line is of course we were all delighted to have continued growth with the 15 airplanes we were awarded. Theres no shame in that. There are always some pilots who don't truly understand that this is a business and not about the joy of flying, per se...airline execs could care less! But that kind of attitude does not represent an entire pilot group...certainly not the entire XJ pilot group. Mesaba has been beaten down by NW alot worse in the past than what DL has been doing to Comair as of late. Granted, most current Mesaba pilots were not on the seniority list when that occured.

So yes were happy, and now we got a dose of Mother Delta cracking the whip and putting us back in our place. Can we move on now and stop going for each other's throats?

BoilerUP

I was a passenger on a NxxxLR -900 operated by Pinnacle yesterday. Single-point was MEL'd and it took more than 45 minutes to overwing refuel it, making me miss my connection in ATL (well that and the 3 gate changes we got once on the ground).