lpcunity

I'm wondering about peoples thoughts on G0!(mesa) coming to Hawaii. Out here the aviation world seems to be getting nasty. I see anti GO! stickers all over, and Aloha and Hawaiian pilots rejecting Mesa jump seaters! I have been hearing small trash talk on the radios. Im sad to say that GO! might do some major damage to Hawaii aviation job market.
People's thoughts please.

rickair7777

Strictly looking at pilot jobs, it should be a net gain...it takes more 50 seaters to do the same mission than it does 73's or buses, therefore more pilots.

Of course the pay and benies are significantly less...

DjHubberts

rickair, GOD i hope you are kidding! Or are you one of those guys that will do anything to fly a jet, who cares if it screws us all down the line. I mean, you will get to fly a 90 seat jet with just 1000TT. Heck, you know the Boeing 717 only seats 85? Flying the 90 seaters is taking away our FUTURE JOBS! who cares if it means more pilot jobs. It means less majors jobs, and a heck of a lot less money

fosters

A couple points:

1) Airtran's 717's seat 117, not 85. http://www.airtran.com/aircraft/boei...iguration.aspx.

2) MAPD puts guys through to mesa with ~200TT. There are guys with around that time flying the "90 seaters" at MAG, which are actually 86 seats.

3) In rickair's defense, he mentioned its a net gain for pilot jobs but a net loss in quality of said jobs.

Dude you're batting 0 for 3 today...

Laxrox43

Hehehe...goooOOOOOOO FOSTERS!

Lax

DjHubberts

Sorry, as a MKE commuter, I only know about Midwest's 717, which only seat 85 people. Personally, I don't care if rick mention loss of quality of jobs, its the guys that are willing to take those 87 seat airplanes away from the majors that are going to wreck my future earnings. And is MAG is putting guys with 200TT in the -900 series then god help us all

surreal1221

Not just your future earnings, but everyones.

In my short time on this message board I've learned a great deal about the pilot biz. From the start we have to protect each other.

rickair7777

I stated facts. I did not advocate exchanging higher-quality aviation jobs for a larger number of lower-quality jobs.

ryane946

I spoke with the crew ferrying the last Mesa RJ heading for Hawaii. They took off from SFO with the plane completely stripped of seats, and 6 large gas tanks inside the plane. A couple of my opinions.

1. The plane attempted to make it to Hawaii 3 times. Try #1, radio failure. Try #2, gas leak. Also, battery indicator showing 99amps. Mesa is promoting their service as "state of the art jets"
These pilots must have spent 12 hours at the FBO not flying. I wonder if they got any pay for that.

2. The Mesa FO whom I spoke with for about an hour was hateing life. No pay, in debt,... He loved to fly, but once he got a full time flying job it was no longer fun. All he was excited about was going surfing in Hawaii. I wonder if the living expenses will catch up to him.

3. Will the Hawaiian's really welcome this service. Is their loyalty to Hawaiian and Aloha, or is their loyalty to low prices.

4. How will an RJ do in the salt of Hawaii. Full blast for 15 minutes, level off, power off descent to the airport. 20 minute turn, then back at it again. All day long...

Those are my thoughts.

rickair7777

1. Typical, but the ferry configuration was custom-engineered for this mission, so there's bound to be bugs. The pilots were probably on reserve, so they were getting paid guarantee and per diem.

2. COL in Hawaii is nor secret, so I'm sure all the FO's either have a plan or were junior-manned.

3. So far, the locals are going for it with more enthusiasm than I had expected. Apparently they have a long-standing resentment towards the local carriers due to a perceived history of price gouging.

4. The RJ's probably won't have any more short-term environmental issues than other airliners. In the long term, it's cheaper to replace them when they start to wear out. RJ's are commonly used on super-short legs in other places (ie PHL).