crj 700

[dondk]

Freedom Air

If you work for MESA, you already know the work rules. You have also been without a contract for about a year, until Dec 2000 you were one of the LOWEST paid pilots in the industry (then you got a "industry standard" wage increase). Mesa has probably one of the worst contracts in the industry and you do not see JO moving to make it any better!

So the real question is... do you really TRUST JO to do the right thing? Do you really trust JO to give you a decent schedule? Follow the rules? for the price of a CRJ-700? The 700 and 900 will eventually make it's way to the regular MESA fleet.

Finally, I was under the impression that only MESA people would have the right to go to Freedom, no "off the street" hiring for some time.
Of the 1300 pilots at MESA, how many have signed on to FREEDOM?

 

[jetdriven]

out of the top 275 people on the list, only 22 are in FAL class, and that includes about 10 instructors there in PHX. Thats less than 10 percent interest.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

just say no to Freedumb!

As usual the word SCAB is thrown around rather carelessly here in bulletin board land. A scab is actually someone that crosses a picket line and/or someone that works "struck work". You do not become a scab by enlisting at Freedumb Airlines. On the other hand you certainly are not helping the pilots of Mesa (and theoretically all pilots) in their efforts to obtain a more reasonable and fair contract.

vere76 -
THE BIG QUESTION YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF IS - WHAT WILL I DO IF I AM ASKED TO WORK "STRUCK WORK". IF the pilots at America West or the pilots at Mesa go on strike (both are in negotiations at present), what do you think are the odds of being asked to work "struck work"? Pretty good in my estimation.

If the Freedumb guys are asked to fly routes that are listed as struck work and you do become a "scab" then you have hurt your chances in the airline business for sure.
My advice to you is this - be patient - stay informed - stay unified. United we bargain, divided we BEG. You may be tired of these slogans, but they are true. Also, you will get all of the jet time your little heart desires soon enough.


flyingsundevil -
The reason that working for non-union Skywest is a smart choice is that they have a reputation for treating their employees well and paying them a fair wage. Talk to pilots that work for them and see what they have to say about the company. I would love to be like Skywest and not have ALPA on the property, but I feel like we have no other choice.

Mesa, on the other hand, has one of the poorest pilot contracts in the industry and our management frequently ignores the contract or the intent of the contract. There is a process for rectifying these contract disputes or "Grievances". There have been many "Greivances" and the union has won the vast majority of them. Furthermore, management is stonewalling the current negotiation process while at the same time creating an alter ego airline to move work away from Mesa pilots. They have done this in the past with West Air and more recently to CCAir. What is preventing them from doing this to us or even to the Freedumb pilots in the future?

From a business point of view - why would you want to create a whole new certificate? - a whole new layer of management? - a whole new training process? - all of this. What a tremendous waste of time, money and talent. Wouldn't you think it would be smarter to consolidate rather than to divide? Let's be clear, this whole Freebumb issue is not about good business sense - this whole mess is about the over-inflated ego of our management. They want it their way or they will take their toys and go play elsewhere. That is what this all boils down to in the end.

End of Rant -
Spiff