Maybe so, but apparently I have more of a grasp on reality than you have.

And that reality is there are some gains. Absolutely there are some gains, specifically (depending on the final language) scope.


But there are some loses.

A 74 pax TP (which according to the higher-ups at Colgan are the future) is below 50 pax JET rates. Depending on who one talks to, 50 pax jets days are numbered. So management may be looking at giving the 50 pax jets the moon knowing the 74 pax TP will replace them.

Saabs have taken a hit (except for the current Mesaba CAs). The standard pay rate (the rate every non Mesaba CA gets) is BELOW Mesaba pay rates. So Saab pilots (including the Mesaba FOs who upgrade) will be working BELOW current Mesaba rates. If the TA for Saabs was a continuation of Mesaba's rates (even including a signing bonus for current Mesaba Pilots), I would have been on board. But lowering the rate for the vast majority of 30ish seat TP pilots is a sell out.

Honestly, I don't know how I will vote. There is a lot of good in the TA, but there are several areas I am concerned about.



(again, I appreciate the work our negotiators have done and do NOT want my complaints to be a reflection on you guys)

Since you double posted your complaints, I will double post my response. :D

The "74 pax TP" pay is INITIALLY lower than the 50 seat RJ and will be on parity by 2014. Also, the "new" pinnacle has a contract for all their -200 flying well beyond the amendable date of this contract so I don't think its fair to say that their days are numbered.

Like everybody else, I agree that the lower Captain scale on the SF3 leaves a bitter taste, but that needs to be taken in the context of the entire deal. The lower FO rates are simply a product of splitting the "blended" rate at Mesaba.

Please don't make up your mind on how to vote based on a "preliminary" summary and some APC chatter. Talk to your reps and P2P members, go to the roadshows, and certainly READ the language when it comes out. THEN make an informed decision. If you want to vote "no" at that point I fully support you.

(See, this is why we keep ONE thread going and not several)

Low captain payrates on the Saabs means it will go more junior. More junior = faster and easier upgrades for FOs.

Its not all bad. A lot of people have said that they don't care about the pay, they just want their upgrade. Well, there it is for you.

While I agree with what you say that maybe not entirely true...I've been at Mesaba three years and am still on the bottom 20% of the list, since the Saabs are going away on the Delta side and with the rates being unblended, my guess is a displacement or a MultiClass bid will push me to the Saab, I will probably end up commuting and taking a pay cut from the current blended XJ rates...while I may get a good spot on the FO list on the Saab, I don't wish to sacrifice pay and a lengthy commute for that...even if it is short term

One must also consider that without this whole event (purchase, contract, SLI, etc)... you may have ended up furloughed.

My guess is after the SLI, someone 20% of the way up the list will be able to easily bid CRJ in their domicile. Theres going to be a ton of these things running around. You'll get to stay at your base, fly a better airplane, and get a pay raise.

Those who do not wish to do so (with your seniority) will probably be able to, with little seniority, bid phenomenally good schedules or maybe even upgrade.

Mesaba pilots are getting a lot more out of this deal than they think. At best they were going to lose a lot of their fleet and pilots, at worse some were mentioning a shut-down / parting out of the airline. This contract provides a lot of protections for everyone, including preventing any of those crazy things from happening to Mesaba.

It remains to be seen, with seat locks, possible fences, and airplanes coming and going no one knows...you're right though I was looking furlough dead in the face, I'm glad it didn't come to that, just hoping some good will come out of all this...

You could get a head start and bid LGA Saab FO and be grandfathered in on the pay rates, ha! :D

First I've heard of that, you must have us confused with Comair.

It will be interesting to see if any fences come up during the SLI. I could actually see it happening without fences, myself. I think there's enough movement at all three properties that we could probably slide by without them. Even then, I don't see the -200 getting fenced off. There's just too darn many of them. There ARE some "seat lock" provisions in the TA, but it's mainly to keep people from base hopping and cashing in on moving days the way they used to when we had a vacancy every month at 9E.