Colgan vs Mesa

[CX880]

I'd wait

 

[rattler]

Both airlines have a reputation for not treating their employees well. If I were forced to choose the "lesser" of the two evils, I would go to Colgan. They are geting a bunch of the 76 seat turbo props, should be some good growth.

 

[GFRacerX]

Fu(k Mesa..............

 

[pdub20s]

Fu(k Mesa..............

well,tell us how you really feel? LOL

 

[CX880]

they're both sub par why not go to the one that pays the most?

 

[knewhigher]

If you like having only 8 days off a bid sitting reserve (probably out of domicile)... then being jr assigned into your day off just to deadhead into another domicile to pick up one leg of flying, then Mesa is for you! If you like having to fight blatant abuse of an already horrible contract on a daily basis, then by all means come to Mesa. If you like having to constantly fight with crew trackers to keep yourself legal, then come to Mesa. If you like having to meticulously watch how many hours you credit because the company almost always shorts you money, then come to Mesa.

I don't know much about Colgan, but please do NOT under any circumstances come to Mesa. I came here because it was my first class date offer out of the three I was hired at back in March of 06. I stayed because I was awarded my hometown of Charlotte and thought, how bad could it be living at my base? Boy was I wrong! Mesa stole any bit of a life I had left and stomped it into the ground. I'm not even close to holding a line after almost a year, and I routinely have to sit reserve in Dulles which isn't my domicle, and where there are at least 70 FOs junior to me, most holding lines. I am illegaly jr assigned almost every time I have a day off and have to fight with the trackers and chief pilots to prove that I am in fact NOT the most jr. The fear of jr assignments has pilots and fas bailing out of airplanes on the end of their trips, out onto the ramp, and into the adjacent gate, just to escape the tracker or cheif that is probably waiting for them.

I've got my interview at Republic coming up this week and I couldn't be more excited to get out of this hell hole of an airline. There is a reason the attrition rate is so high here. Keep instructing and go to the regional you WANT to be at. The idea of "get your time and get out" may not work for everyone. You want to be at a place you don't mind being 2, 5, 10 years down the road.

 

[Daddy69]

Don't go to Mesa! I worked there for 2 years, trust me DON'T DO IT!

 

[johnsonrod]

If these are your only two options and you absolutely must choose, pick Colgan if you can get on the Dash 8 400 off the bat (not sure about timing or delivery of those aircraft). If not, go to Mesa, fly a jet and suck it up. Don't go to Mesa if they give you the Beech or Dash. If Mesa does have high attrition, then maybe you will not spend much time on reserve. Just expect to be manhandled by management if you go to Mesa.

I agree that it might make sense to wait awhile and see if Coex or Republic would pick you up. In the end, both Colgan and Mesa are low-end choices.

 

[Grinder10]

Pinnacle seems to be hiring anyone who can pass the mirror test...

 

[Soverytired]

Here's a little of what you can expect at Mesa:


1st Year:

• 6 days on/2 days off reserve. You WILL fly (a little) every day, so no side employment, and you won't be commuting either
• Like Airports? Good, because while you're waiting to fly, you'll be waiting in uniform at the airport for a minimum of 8 hours a day, but 10 hour "ready reserve" shifts give crew trackers maximum flexibility (you get maximum misery)
• Like Airplanes? Great! Because you're not only going to fly them, there's a good chance you'll be sleeping the back of them as well. Bring earplugs, blankets (summertime)/sleeping bags (winter for busted APU's), and cold medicine, because our planes are CRAWLING with bacteria.
• Oh, you're reserve, so you'll fly daytime one day, night time the next. Forget about a regular sleep schedule for at least the next 2 years.
• Annual pay $17,180 (B1900 or Dash), $19,383 (CRJ2/7/9)
• "Training agreement" . . . you're on the hook for up to $10,000 if you bail the first year for greener pastures.
• Contract games . . . anyone's guess, but it won't be pretty, and it won't be short. I suspect the company is going to squeeze very, very hard in every way they can . . . and remember, you're probationary the first year, so you better play along.
• Bases: IAD or ORD, most likely for the CRJ. Performance is a problem at ORD (company offering a bonus to make pilots try harder) and IAD is expensive as hell.
• 401 (k). Do it. Company matches 3.0% for the first 10% you plunk in. Adds up over time.

2nd Year:

• You might be able to hold a "hard line" . . . so at least you get 10 days off every 28 (mostly groups of 2 days off).
• But you don't really know what your schedule is, because guess what? The company can change it at will! Repeatedly! And no, you're not pay protected if your awarded 85 hour line gets slashed down to the minimum pay guarantee of 70 hours. Cancellations due to weather, most maintenance, equipment downgrades, etc . . . you're screwed.
• Upgrades? At 2 years? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH. You wish.
• Contract fight is still on. At least you're union now. Your contract will be ignored and twisted on a daily basis, but you can "fly now, grieve later". Good luck with that.
• Oh, but you'll be giving almost 2% of your paycheck to ALPA. Hope it's worth it, cus the B.S. coming from one side in the debate is going to be very, very thick.
• Enjoy your 1 week of vacation. But our vacation bidding is a joke (not going to go into it). Suffice it to say I hope you like taking vacations at non-desirable times.
• Pay on jet: $26,000 Pay on D8/B1900 $19,300
• Your domicile will have been changed on you at least twice by now. Company doesn't care "You chose to become a pilot" . . . oh, you don't get "move days" . .. .you do that on your own personal time. If you're in the B1900, it's more like 6 times by now.
• (If you're like most current Mesa fo's, here's where you BAIL for Skywest and RJet . . . but they'll be filling up by then)

3rd Year

• Upgrade right around the corner. Maybe. Problem is, if you take it, you'll be right back on reserve with 6 on/2 off in a domicile you probably don't want to have anything to do with. Commuting once again nigh impossible. (This assumes we haven't lost a code share by then)
• Contract fight getting nasty. Lots of picketing on your day off, but no end in sight. Lots of rhetoric from both sides, lots of yak, yak complaining about contract on the line. Oy! This is like working on flightinfo.

4th year

• Upgrade now! Assuming the planes are still here. A lot can happen in 4 years, we could have lost a code share or two. In which case, you're f'd.
• Contract fight slogs on.

And so forth. This contract fight will take at least 3 years, probably more like 5, and the advantage will be for the company as union leadership quits to get the f out of here as fast as they can. And save your pennies, because if this doesn't go to a strike, ALPA isn't doing it's job.

Good luck. For the life of me, I don't know why you wouldn't try to get on somewhere else.