While I may think that your contract is lacking, I didn't say our contract wasn't. You took me out of context and didn't quote my entire post. I thought it was pretty clear I would be willing to sacrifice time off for other gains. I was just pointing out that Mesaba's contract is lacking (along with our's) in many areas.

No, I'm not bidding in the top 20% in base. Not even in the top 30%. You want to look at descent contracts, look at Horizon or Air Wisconsin. Neither of us are even close.

I did a quick read through of the XJ contract yesterday, and for the MOST part, yeah, it's better. I don't think the company will drop everyone back to 4 hours and 11 days off. We don't have the staffing for it. They'd have to hire 200 more people to do that, which will cost them more in the long run due to training costs, health insurance, etc. To drop us down to 4 hours, you'd have every pilot flying 3 legs a day on average. We don't have enough people to do that, even post merger.

It looks like we've got vacation slide, but XJ's vacation language is better. We get 5 days (with two days off), they get 7. Put that with vacation slide, and you get more days off in the long run since you'd be sliding 7 days instead of 5.

We accrue sick time faster (3.75 per month), but they don't want us to use it. If we DO call in sick, it's a roller coaster ride of doctor's notes and base management meetings.....and that's after only 3 of them.

I didn't see a sick policy or a commuter policy in XJ's contract, but I could have missed them. If they're not in the contract, expect 9E to try to axe 'em both and implement our crappy ones. So, we NEED to get commuter language and sick call/fatigue call language in any agreement we get. Without it, the company is just gonna change it on the fly like they have been the past few years.

Insurance is hands down better at Pinnacle. However, the company has this as their #1 thing to get rid of apparently. It's what caused the showdown at the NMB that led to us being put on ice. The only thing I saw in XJ's contract that I understood (I think) was something to do with name brand drugs, a $500 deductible and a $50 co-pay after that. My wife takes a medication daily that has NO generic brand, so even with XJ's higher pay rates, I wouldn't see much more take home just thanks to that alone. I'd be paying retail every month for her medications until I hit $500, then $50 a month after that. That's a huge difference over $10 a month. I'd rather take the $10 generic/$20 name brand the company offered in TA1 than that. If I'm wrong on this, XJ guys, please correct me.

You either didn't read the vacation language correctly or it changed with PBS. In a short bid month you may only get 15 days off (4 days above the min day off guarantee). Yes you get the week off in which you bid vacation but it may only turn out to be 4 extra days off. Let me get this straight, you are not guaranteed to get the full week off that you bid vacation for?

Mesaba does have a commuter clause (it may be built into our FOM as opposed to in the contract)

Everybody seems to be ingnoring the bear in the closet, and his name is DUAL QUAL...Rest assured, management will release this bear right about day 44.

If it's in your FOM, don't expect it to be there much longer...

Eventually, I've heard we'll have a POI who will probably beg to differ...you know who I'm talking about...

I'm assuming there will be some sort of fence agreements. That could kill dual qual dead, honestly. Why even waste negotiating captial on it if they can't use it because the -900s (or all but 16 of them) are fenced off?

"Your wheelchair pusher makes more than my FO."
(and has better flight bennies)

or....
pushing a $45 wheelchair.....$25k/yr
Pushing a $25mil jet........18K/yr

Haha, but that's what the line guys do.