Mesaba on the West Coast
 

To all Mesaba pilots...

So I was flying my Metroliner (ex Mesaba ship ironically) into San Diego Lindbergh (KSAN) last night and was being followed by a Mesaba CRJ700/900. The LA Center controller ask the crew if they were doing a charter or scheduled service and the pilot came back saying they had a couple city pairings on the West Coast. Do you guys have a base out here now? If so, welcome to So Cal flying! Enjoy the sun and nice weather!

Mesaba is filling in some SLC flying while SkyWest fills in the pieces at ATL for ASA in wait of their new -900's...If that makes sense LoL. Back to normal in a few months ;)

Still just DTW, MSP, MEM for crew bases but yes we just started SAN this month with the CRJ900. Rumor is the flying out of SLC to the west coast will go away soon, To be replaced with the black hole of JF'nK.

Had a friend go from Comair to Mesaba before the music stopped, said the best part was no longer having to deal with that sh!thole. HAHA. All I can say is... enjoy.

Although, the VOR 13 and the Canarsie Climb were fun.

Do you guys do LGA yet?

I heard a rumor you guys do that Canarsie climb green needles? Say it ain't so Joe?

Jeez... does the issue of Mesaba flying out west ALWAYS have to reach around to how it's temporary and that we're baby sitting the routes for Skywest? It's DLs flying that has been allocated, at this time, to Mesaba. Simple as that.

How about a simple answer. YES, Mesaba is flying out west from DLs SLC hub. As mentioned, no new crew bases are open as the flying is supported by the current bases.

JFK is simply a rumor.

Ya it was green at comair

AMEN

The flying is owned by Delta not by Mesaba or Skywest who knows how long XJ will be out there!! As we have seen with Delta everything is a rumor until you get the printed release in your hands. Every pilot group I think understands that they are at the mercy of Mother Delta and the flying/airplanes that they "own" can be gone any second.

This is my standard response to the skywest jumpseaters that feels it necessary to educated me on the fact that we are just filling in for them on a temporary basis.

But what do WE know? We're just a bunch of dumb midwestern newbie to DCI Mesaba pilots. We have no clue of the concept of whipsaw, getting beaten down and dealing with mainline mgmt BS.

It's a good thing we as XJ crews will take the HIGH ROAD when Skywest, Comair, ASA etc... come to our neck of the woods in MSP and DTW on the ABC and B/C concourses in the next few months.

Ouch guys...!

And it's still temporary :D lighten up will ya? I know it's a sore spot and all but we're all still friends, right LoL

What's the deal with Mesaba? Have the rumors of furloughs been extinguished yet?

They have been doing Time Off Without Pay for the past few months and it seems like 30 or more people take it every month. The rumors are still around but I haven't talk to anyone that was in RGS last month so don't know if anything else has changed. I know they are sending the instructors back to the line in June that plus PBS and not getting the additional 10 900's has left us 110 pilots fat. There was a post on a different thread saying XJ check airmen were told that they won't be sending as many instructors back to the line as first thought because there is some announcement coming this summer but that is the first time I have heard anything like that.

Thanks for the update..since Comair doesn't seem to be recalling anytime this decade I'll just keep on floating in this pool!

Went to RGS about two weeks ago and well the news is not good. The possibility of a furlough is pretty prevelent. They are thinking they may offer Extended TOWOP. somethings more than a month off. Anyway the way the union and JR put it, if things change for the good then great, but as of right now thigns are pretty gloomy.

-Farv

Did they mention a number if they do have to furlough?

Oh yes. We had a lot of deviations due to map shift before we got GPS. First time I flew it I had the MFD map shift over half a mile on me. Had the bearing pointer up so it wasn't a problem. ATC gave us a vector before we reached CRI anyway. Now that most, if not all, of the airplanes have GPS Comair could very easily do it white data but, they are still required to do it green data. Call it paranoia on the part of flight standards. I believe it's close to 5 miles from CRI to the course to DIALS that the LGA arrivals take. So it doesn't take much of a deviation before they are sending LGA arrivals scattering.

EXACTLY!...take your Midwestern (or Southern) butt back to BIS, RAP, and FAR!.....and dont come back!! ;) Or in my case DSM. In my year here at Mesaba, ive stayed there more than any other place, hands down!
But.....im glad to have the job.......continue.....

Farva - there was no doom and gloom painted in RGS. Furloughs are no more imminent today than they were a month ago. Yes, they're working on furlough mitigation projects and besides TOWOP, nothing further has been announced. So... I don't take that as being doom and gloom. You new guys have no idea what doom and gloom is! You will definitely know, when things are bad around here.

DL has changed as the wind blows with respect to many things. It's becoming VERY obvious that DL shoots from the hip, whereas NWA was very calculated, precise and predictable. So worrying about FALL block hours today will only waste energy.

Don't be such a negative nelly.

Hey take it easy on us new guys we are still learning the ropes of this "living the dream" job!!! ;)

I heard XJ getting JFK is a pure rumor and not going to happen. Most likely JFK will stay with Comair. No one really knows how long a regional will continue to fly a certain route but XJ is getting some interesting destinations out in the West for now.

Few LCAs have said all CRJ900 ground instructors were kept in MSP and not returned to line flying. What this means, is anybody's guess.

Few senior NWA CAs have said that if the load factor does not come up this summer furlough at DAL is a definite possibility, and this has nothing to do with the no furlough clause as related to the merger.

One thing I heard lately from LCAs is that XJ pilots will get new uniforms sometime in 2009 to match DAL color scheme. Probably along the line of Comair and Pinnacle pilots' uniforms, black jacket and pants with gold stripes.

Well said. Couldn't agree with you more.

I totally agree. Thanks for the comment. This thread was going so well until Farva decided to doom and gloom the site. We all know the current situation. Lets try to be at least halfway positive. Things aren't that bad right now. We will know when they get back...if that happens. Everyone at Mesaba still has their jobs. That's a big deal these days.

Had a friend who is furloughed from Comair check the Delta Master Schedules on Travelnet. We are loaded in the computer for Salt Lake flying through August according to the latest fall schedule. In addition saw we will start MEM-JFk this summer and Salt Lake-Spokane (GEG) as well.

Interesting thoughts lightningspeed... but again... I think you put WAY too much credence in what an LCA says. An LCA is not any more privy to info than you or I. He/she is a regular line pilot that does training duties. He/she does not have a direct line to Spanjers and wouldn't be told news by anyone of importance who might be bound to proprietary information. Lots of speculation can be turned into fact.

IF it is true that instructors aren't returning to the line... that can go two ways. PREFACE: the following comments are not meant to be negative thought inspiring, nor am I saying the negative option will happen. It's just something to think about. I myself, having been here long enough to know what it looks like to be on the bad side of things, will choose to remain cautiously optimistic for our future.

option 1 - good news, and we'll need the instructors for good things.
option 2 - bad news, and we'll need the instructors to train the pilots that will no doubt be displaced either between fleets or from CA to FO in preparation or in conjunction with a furlough.

yeah you guys are also full on this new TLH-Orlando, TLH-FLL, smart of Delta to start that up good luck to our DCI bros

Future DCI schedules are, unfortunately, not set in stone. For example, Delta announced in February that ASA was to begin ATL - BIL service in June; however, the route has since been switched to operate as SkyWest with no announcement detailing the change.

Not being a "negative nelly," just pointing out that the schedules as observed from delta.com or TravelNet are largely useless.

Yes nothing is ever set in stone that is just what the plans show for the time being.

Then perhaps they need to fire "King of all douch-bags" Eric W. so that some of the union's proposals to mitigate the overstaffing can be implemented instead of stonewalled....

[quote=Lighteningspeed;589465]I heard XJ getting JFK is a pure rumor and not going to happen. Most likely JFK will stay with Comair. No one really knows how long a regional will continue to fly a certain route but XJ is getting some interesting destinations out in the West for now.

Few LCAs have said all CRJ900 ground instructors were kept in MSP and not returned to line flying. What this means, is anybody's guess.

Few senior NWA CAs have said that if the load factor does not come up this summer furlough at DAL is a definite possibility, and this has nothing to do with the no furlough clause as related to the merger.

One thing I heard lately from LCAs is that XJ pilots will get new uniforms sometime in 2009 to match DAL color scheme. Probably along the line of Comair and Pinnacle pilots' uniforms, black jacket and pants with gold stripes.[/quote]


Wonderful.... I guess my suitcase's head won't ever get cold then......Cause the hat sure as hell won't ever be placed on my head

Then that's a recent change... We WERE showing nothing in SLC after May earlier this year. Just the JFK stuff.

Avroman... so you mean to tell me that if they actually started enforcing the requirement to our hats you'd still not wear it? Is it really that big of a deal? I just don't get this huge deal people make about the hat... and not wearing it for various silly reasons. Nobody is judging you, wether you look goofy or not. It's the uniform... wear it.

god forbid the uniform is actually worn as intended :)

Yay, I really hope we go to a black uniform. It'll make it easier to find non-company pants. :p The current blue is a ***** to match with the blazer.

I agree.. I was in RGS recently and I didn't take anything away from it other than there wasn't anything new happening.

It was reiterated to us that SLC was NOT a testing run, temporary step. Mesaba was, in fact, to have more in SLC because they did NOT want JFK, or the performance numbers that go with it, under any circumstance. Skywest said they wanted JFK and we ended up with 5 planes instead of 10 in SLC (the remaining 5 in ATL) because of the current contract with Skywest / ASA.

Nothing more, nothing less.

I doubt you guys would get new uniforms. ASA and Freedom are silver and black. Maybe, you'd go from blue and silver to black and silver? I doubt it though.

I don't see us being issued new uniforms. And I sure hope we don't switch to gold.
I drive an airplane not the SS Minnow.
Ground instructors are contract not union positions. They kept them ca
use they cost half as much as union FTI.

I think they are keeping the 900 Union FTIs around which seems like there is growth coming or they are gonna need them for a displacement. For you senior XJ guys if they are thinking about a displacement why would they keep just the 900 instructors around? The 200 is where the overstaffed problem is and from what I have been told the Saab and 900 are short on the FO side. So if this is true wouldn't the displacement need Saab and 900 instructors?

[quote=Avroman;589551]Not to worry Avroman. I heard the hat issue was specifically asked and the answer was it will not be enforced. A vast majority do not want hats either, apparently.

Don't have a sure answer to this right now. You are right about the staffing situation as they are described by mid level management people. Little overstaffed on the Saab CA and on the 200 CA and FOs. Many people are skeptical about this overstaffing situation as described by the management.

One way to keep an eye on it is to look at the load factor this summer on the mainline jets and see what DAL does with their right sizing fleet concept. If you see more cities added every month with increased blocked hours at XJ then that could mean growth.

I spoke to a returning Instructor. Summer block hours are not what they had hoped. Unfortunately I don't know if that means overall or just one fleet.

As far as the 200 being overstaffed. Maybe on the FO side but on the Captain side we are 6 to 9 short. 9 went to the 900 and they didn't back fill. I have no idea how many Instructors are returning to the 200 line but I don't think its that many.