change in the air at mesa

[CFIse]

When our owners came to us for a concessionary contract, the first thing they did is plop down the POS Mesa contract on the bargaining table. When we recieved our wage adjustment on March 1st, MESA was the carrier bringing the average pay down (which is what our wage adjustment was based on). Comair had the Mesa POS plopped down in front of them as well. Every decent contract in our segment of the industry has been damaged by the mesa PILOT contract. You need to "get a frickin' clue". I hope you enjoy flying that 90 seater. I make more flying a 50 seater and I made more as a 2nd year FO on the 146 than any Mesa FO ever will on the current contract. You might be stuck at Mesa longer than you planned...negotiate a contract you can live with for the long term. Better yet, negotiate an industry leading contract that every other regional can aspire to. I wish you guys good luck with the contract.

The alternative view, go with it or not, is that the Mesa contract eradicated non-union Freedom and allows all of us to continue to work with ALPA representation (good or bad) as opposed to being in some non-union free for all.

Of course Freedom might have unionised somewhere else, a la *************************s, but......

 

[MINIME]

Good luck to all you boys and gals at Mesa! You guys can singe handedly change the course of this profession with a new and improved contract. You guys also have huge bargaining power, and don't let the upper ups tell you otherwise. The company is huge and JO knows it. If planes are parked, he might as well hang it up cause I'm fairly certain they will run him out of town. He cannot afford a strike and therefore has to sit down and talk. Good luck we're all pulling for yah. Your gain is our gain!

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

I think we were thinking long term...

I believe that we were thinking long term when the majority of us voted for the current CBA, and here is why:

In the past, especially at the majors, unions have used their bargaining power to gain better pay, benefits, and quality of life. However, they usually gave little (or inadequate) consideration for the protection of their flying. So here we are, years later, all fighting it out for the scraps in our race to the bottom - as so many on this board like to say. Why didn't these guys think long term and spend more bargaining capital to protect their flying and not just increase their pay? Probably a little bit of both greed and naivete'. Those little commuter turboprops looked so harmless way back when, right? Well, here we are.

In voting for the current CBA we brought ALL Mesa Air Group flying under Mesa ALPA. Every bit of flying at Mesa Air Group (the holding company) and not just at Mesa Airlines is flown by pilots on one seniority list. A HUGE thing when you consider that ten years ago we had about 6 or seven different seniority lists. (i.e. - Mesa, WestAir, AirMidwest, FloridaGulf, Liberty, Desert Sun, and the later purchased Charlotte Dash 8 guys...mind went blank on the name - sorry). That was a LOT of potential whip sawing prevented which would have made our contracts and yours even worse than now. So it may not look like it, but we ARE heading in the right direction.

The last CBA was all about protecting our flying and improving our bargaining power for the future. JO got a lot of what he wanted when it came to keeping labor costs low, but if you think he was happy to give us scope then you are mistaken. Believe me when I say that nobody was more disappointed than us - the flight crews, because we desperately want pay and QOL improvements. Let us hope we can make great strides in that direction with the next CBA.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

you STILL did not answer the question

It means that your pilot group allowed management to rape you when it came to issues like pay and quality of life to save money and increase profit. You may not have been the cause of the state of the industry but you are certainly part of the downward trend in wages and what made this job rewarding.

You don't answer the question because either you can't, or the answer is not satisfying to you. It is more gratifying to your pathetic mind to say: "YOU MESA GUYS SUCK!"

I can't remember, but I think you work for PSA, right? If there was never a Mesa (ooh...your salivating now), and considering the current state of the airline industry, would PSA, or any regional for that matter have taken paycuts anyway? Yes, you would have.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Got CLUE?

When our owners came to us for a concessionary contract, the first thing they did is plop down the POS Mesa contract on the bargaining table. When we recieved our wage adjustment on March 1st, MESA was the carrier bringing the average pay down (which is what our wage adjustment was based on). Comair had the Mesa POS plopped down in front of them as well. Every decent contract in our segment of the industry has been damaged by the mesa PILOT contract.

As I told CRJDog, all of you guys STILL would have taken paycuts, even if MESA had never existed. Who knows, if those managements had not had Mesa's contract to use as a baseline, they might have asked for something even more drastic. Ever thought about that? That is the state of the industry at present. The mainline pilots are taking paycuts and so are/will you until things start trending up. The good news is that the industry is beginning to turn the corner and 2006 looks promising. Let's hope the CEO's all get too busy counting their money, bonuses, and stock options to care about keeping us down.

 

[Soverytired]

I was told the said person you are talking about was not even elected.

Your Reps thought he was too aggressive.

If you're talking about "A" . . . more like bat-sh** insane.

He has the HEART of a fighter, I'll grant him that.

But I sure as heck don't want him to be the HEAD. I can't understand a tenth of what he posts.

 

[737 Pylt]

People like you need to get a frickin clue.:smash:

We were not the cause of United, US Airways, Delta and Northwest bankruptcies.

No, that's because of piss poor management for years. Borrowing with double digit interest rates, and hoping each other go out of business as their plan of attack.

We are not to blame if they don't know how to run an airline in the good times AND bad (Southwest does...maybe the legacy carriers should take some notes).

UMM...Ever look at Southwests route structure? They cherry pick the routes they want to fly. Going to places like ISP to avoid LGA/JFK. They go to OAK to avoid the high prices and delays of SFO. They have 1 type of equipment, and have been very successful at hedging fuel, and even their own CEO admits that without fuel hedges, they would be losing money!

We are not the cause of skyrocketing fuel prices.

Agreed, its the towel heads' greed that does that. Look at just how much money Exxon/Mobile made in the 4th quarter alone!

We are not the cause of the lack of pricing power in the industry.

no, but you are the cause for bleed for many legacy carriers. your fee for departure is a joke. how many times have I seen one of your flights delayed for "4-6 hours" just to run the flight with 1-5 people on it, sometimes empty, so your company gets paid! Remove the "fee for departure," and let's see just how good your company does on its own.

You can blame all of your problems on us if you want. It may make you feel better for a little while, but it won't help you to get a handle on reality.

Reality will be to see how/if you did without your company being involved codesharing with 5 different carriers. If you think rj carriers alone can make it, I've got 2 words for you.....INDY Air! Those poor folks took it in the shorts!
737

 

[Regul8r]

I must respectfully disagree. I have flown with him and he is as level headed as they come. He is also a father and a commuter. He says that everyone keeps singing the same song to him and it is quality of life. That is at the fore front of his agenda. He is ready to be rational with J.O. and he is ready to park planes if J.O. won’t play fair. He is an outstanding listener and a great pilot. I personally think that he is the leader that this pilot group as been looking for to rally behind.

Any news regarding potential new or changed contracts???

 

[QCappy]

yes said person has also stated a goal of a 3:1 duty:flight rig. i didn't want to list all of his/her wish list.

That sucks. I'm sure it's better than you have now, but still....come join us at the top and don't stop until you have a 2:1 duty rig. Oh...and don't go for a 4:1 trip rig. Especially if you fly short hops. We learned our lesson and it will be changed this time!

 

[Dave Benjamin]

The alternative view, go with it or not, is that the Mesa contract eradicated non-union Freedom and allows all of us to continue to work with ALPA representation (good or bad) as opposed to being in some non-union free for all.

Of course Freedom might have unionised somewhere else, a la *************************s, but......

When you guys bring this point up again and again you always seem to forget that the judge granted a single carrier ruling. Unfortunately the vote took place BEFORE the judge issued his ruling. Had you guys waited until AFTER the judge had ruled you might have been able to gain some ground.

 

[GrowASpine]

I must respectfully disagree. I have flown with him and he is as level headed as they come. He is also a father and a commuter. He says that everyone keeps singing the same song to him and it is quality of life. That is at the fore front of his agenda. He is ready to be rational with J.O. and he is ready to park planes if J.O. won’t play fair. He is an outstanding listener and a great pilot. I personally think that he is the leader that this pilot group as been looking for to rally behind.

Sure, if you like someone blowing sunshine up your arse all day.

 

[RJP]

Yeah, there's change in the air at Mesa. Better check what the exchange rate for Chinese Yuan is. If JO can't pay any less in the US, maybe he can do it in China.
http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=76897

 

[Sioux115]

If you guys want things to get better, make sure you have both the top and bottom of seniority represented on the negotiating committee. I started at Mesa right after the cba was ratified and it seemed like the junior pilots got sold down the river. Good luck.

 

[pilot772]

If you guys want things to get better, make sure you have both the top and bottom of seniority represented on the negotiating committee. I started at Mesa right after the cba was ratified and it seemed like the junior pilots got sold down the river. Good luck.

The new chairman and sec/treasurer are both reserve CA's