I certainly hope for the best for you guys, but some of the suggested schemes to operate those 69 RJ's are pretty thin on practicality, kind of like indy air. Though I do give your mgt credit for keeping the planes and breaking it off in CAL's butt :eek:

Another code-share would be great, hope it happens, but don't bank on it until you see it in writing. Anybody taking an XJet job needs to be aware of these issues, that was the point of the discussion. Until the new program(s) are up and running there are a lot of uncertainties.

Hey rickair7777, what about the MAPD guys? How long does it take them to upgrade? I'm guessing mesa doesn't have an upgrade minimum right?

The difference between XJT and Indy Air is that XJT wouldnt be jumping both feet into flying for ourselves. 75% of our aircraft would still be flying for CAL making money. In addition, XJT knows its niche and you would not see us do something dumb like buying Airbii and flying low-yield transcons.

Mesa has a high upgrade minimum because they fly international. Most captains must meet the ICAO minimums, which are higher than FAA mins for the ATP. There is extra PIC time required that MAPD grads DO NOT have. They usually miss seniority upgrade because it takes them 4+ years to accumulate enough SIC time to waive the ICAO PIC requirements.

Mesa likes to hire high-time CFI's and 135 guys for that reason.

If I am not mistaken, XJT does international flights and doesn't require special flight time besides ATP mins.

This is the minimum for Captain applicants at mesa:

* 2000 hours Total Time
* 350 hours Multi Engine, Fixed Wing
* ATP Certification
* At least 100 hours logged in the preceding six months
* Current flying job
* 121/135 flight experience
* 4-year college degree
* Three letters from pilots who can attest to applicant’s flying skills, having flown with applicant previously

What's up with that?

It is illegal to fly outside the US unless the captain meets ICAO ATP requirements. You could get arrested in Mexico or Canada, or violated by the FAA.

XJet may allow folks to upgrade w/o ICAO times, but then would have to ensure that they stay domestic. Mesa does not want to do this because of the scheduling hassle. They require all jet captains to be ICAO qualified, period. It is hard to bid a line at mesa that does not have international flying.

Those are for DHC-8 street captains only. Since the turbo-props stay domestic, they can legally use FAA, not ICAO minimums. Normally the company enforces ICAO mins for all captains, but they are in a bind right now...

That is exactly the case. This question came up in ground school and the instructor said, that it doesnt prevent upgrade. They merely only allow you to fly Domestic until you reach ICAO mins which are 2000TT and whatever else....Shouldnt be a big deal when upgrades are at least 2 years....