Slice....I love the avatar!

 

I'd go to Mesa if I had to choose between only these two...I can't imagine being a RJ FO for 7 years! Life is still better in the left seat.

 

Thx, Maiden and Sponge Bob, can't beat that.

 

Thanks, Stick and Rick. I follow your posts and enjoy your views. I have an opportunity in a Lear 31 for some 91 flying. Never get to the left seat, but it does offer a full type in the right. They only fly about 3 days a week, the rest of the time is yours, pending call outs. Talk about forever reserve! Not sure I'm hip on never having planned days off. That would suck. Decisions, decisions. I wish I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up... at nearly 40, that can be frustrating!

 

Keep in mind its not as easy as getting 1000hrs PIC turbine and bang automatically hired at a major. Even if you have 5000hrs PIC turbine its still hard to get hired at SWA/CAL/FedEx unless you have connections, so be ready to sit wherever you are until you make some good connections or the hiring boom really hits.

 

I'm not sure if you made up your mind but I'd say neither. Any other regional is better than those choices. Try PSA or CHTQ or any others. Ordinarely you might hear that turning down a job offer that is a sure thing is not a wise decision but if it's Mesa or Eagle, it's an exception. MESA should be your last choice so much so that I'd even continue CFIing and turning down turbine time, you don't need the MESA BS even as a 5 year captain you still have to report to the chief pilot if you want to go on a few days vacation. No extra pay, plus you only get paid what hours you fly and from what I hear that's at the minimum too, if a 2 hour flight goes 2.5, you still get paid 2 hours or better yet, the check never comes at all.

 

True

True

False

True, and recently they have done their damnedest to rip you off for the small amount of pay you are entitled to.

 

Well, I can definately vouch for most of the previous posts. I was hired this past winter as a street CA's for Mesa and let me tell you that it is NO walk in the park. I had almost 1500 hours PIC in similiar aircraft and it was still tough. Remember that you will only get 8 sim sessions to be up to ATP standards and able to make CA decisions at a moments notice. Your support pilot will simply be doing what you tell him too. He will not make mistakes to see if you catch them but if you decide to take off without adequate visibility or without the required T/o ALT per the company FOPM due to wind, weather or any other reason your toast!. Assuming you pass the ground school and sim (We had 3 out of 7 not make it this far), You will get 32 hours of IOE. That sounds sufficent right? I don't think so. Remeber that you will then be making the go no-go decisions on 10 - 15 minute turns for 16 hours a day. The schedule alone can make a seasoned CA's decisions faulty.

So, Assuming you get through all of that without any problems, the first time you are rushed and take off with the wrong A/C # on the release, the wrong pilots name , illegal weather (3585 will make your head hurt) , missing smoke goggles (yes FO checks but has happened before), forget to sign the release or weight/balance, forget to check the ADL is on board that the mechanic's like to remove from the a/c, or one of 100 more things this company will pick up the phone and call the FAA ( I think its on speed dial). I don't care how small you think the problem is, it will not stay in company. They will get you violated. This is where you have to ask yourself if you are ready to put those cert. on the line for this company. Remember how big those loans for those cert. are before you risk them. A violation will make that major job much harder, even if you have 5000 PIC turbine.

Thinking about all these things I would say the smart choice is on the FO job and then the quick upgrade when YOU feel comfortable.
All these things aside, I have been with this company for less than a year and I can honestly say that I have good days (Today actually) and bad days. More often than not the bad out number the good. To say a few good things about Mesa, the guys I have had the honor of working with have been top notch for the most part. A few have really saved my backside a few times. It is nice to know that since you cant trust management here that you can trust your fellow workers.

Well , I am not about to correct all those grammatical error's so good luck

XtremeF150

 

That is definately true. My paycheck yesterday was for .01 hours??? That was shocking / insulting They do have a bad habit of making mistakes in their favor on the checks!

XtremeF150

 

hey xtremef150,
how do you feel about the MPD program?????
Please PM me any/all info you are willing to share with me. It is greatly appreciated, thanks