411 on Mesaba

[GEORGE DUBYA]

Anyone current or former Mesaba pilots have anything good or bad to say about Mesaba? QOL ? Bases? Commuting?

 

[Kroll]

It's a great place! Great people for the most part. Great training. MEM, DTW, MSP. I haven't been there since 2001. I spent about 6 years there. So it may have changed a bit.

 

[azxj]

Mesaba is a good place to work. Great bunch of guys/gals to fly with. The scheduling dept is a pain, so get off reserve as fast as you can. It has once again become the pilots responsibility to staff the airline, so plan on having your vacation cancelled.

I've been based in all three bases:

MSP: Professional attitude, on overnights you may eat a meal with the crew, that's it. Learn to walk down the hall looking at the floor, don't say hi to anyone. Lots of short flights, seems you are never in the air for more than an hour, only means you have to fly more legs.

MEM: Fun crews, like one big family. Not only do you hang out if there's time on overnights, a lot of them spend their days off together. Flying in MEM (on the Saab) has a lot of inefficient flying. Seems you sit longer than you are in the air.

DTW: First choice for me. A mix of crews here, this is the base for the best flying, and best schedules. Also the best place to commute from (depending). Chief pilots in DTW are the best, don't screw around and they will back you.

In my experience with Mesaba (6.5 yrs) they seem to want to do things the right way. If you do something by the book, or in the interest of safety you won't be hassled. Now with new airplanes coming, finally some growth opportunity.

 

[RampTower]

Mesaba has not received a new aircraft in over 5 years. This CRJ growth is only the tip of the iceberg. It's safe to assume we're going to be getting alot more CRJs. Thus movement is going to be very good. We still have a little less than 4 years left on our pilot contract which is room for lots of potential growth. Get your resumes in now. They're starting to interview for the july and august classes which will be the CRJ FO newhires.

 

[cathal]

I know all of our chief pilots personally and wouldn't be afraid to deal with any one of them. They've each been very helpful to me whenever I have needed their assistance.

 

[PILOT]

Can anyone specify what the pay rates will be when you get the contract pay raise. IE right now I have heard 23.54 and 28.00 for first and second year fo. What will it be when you get your 1 year contract bump? Thanks a bunch!

 

[T-handle]

If you were hired today (4/28/05) DOS = 1/31/04

First year

$23.54
DoS + 2 = 24.01

Second year

$28.79
Dos + 3 = $29.94

Third year

$32.87
Dos +4 = $34.19

 

[FN FAL]

I was with Mesaba for a short time. They treated us with kid gloves during the training, although I think the actual training department it self was lacking at the time.

They were great during the hire process, they were great during most of the training process, but the AVRO training in East Berlin left a little bit to be desired. They paid salary during training and picked up the hotel room in Germany, plus the hotel room in MSP. For that I cannot complain.

I'd say, "go for it!"

 

[WMUSIGPI]

East Berlin???? When I interviewed there a month ago they were going to show me there Avro sim there in Minneapols but it was being used at the time. Was this some years ago or do they send some trainees out of the US?

 

[Northern Lights]

Anyone current or former Mesaba pilots have anything good or bad to say about Mesaba? QOL ? Bases? Commuting?

They do have a commuting clause which basically says that you have to list yourself on two NWA/XJ/9E flights to get to work on time. If it comes down to the wire, you do have cockpit jumpseat access on all three as well. If you're commuting between hubs, you will have to compete with lots of other Mainliners/Airlinkers.

All ground school and sims are now in MSP. Hotel and 75 hours/month pay provided during training.

 

[RampTower]

East Berlin???? When I interviewed there a month ago they were going to show me there Avro sim there in Minneapols but it was being used at the time. Was this some years ago or do they send some trainees out of the US?

Before the Spectrum Training Center, we did Avro training in England and Germany. It cost the company travelling and lodging expenses. It wasn't until 2002 when they moved the sims to MSP.