J4J and Mesa?

[Lonestar]

First let me say that I've been a cargo and corporate pilot my entire career so the ins and outs of Regional flying is foreign to me. That being said, I would like to get some answers about what J4J will mean for Mesa. If it is voted in, will Mesa furlough to accomodate the USAir pilots? If it is voted down what is likely to happen? Will Mesa lose their flying and still have to furlough? I have a buddy in their pilot development program and I am concerned about what he will be doing after he graduates. Are there any Mesa pilots here that can answer this?

 

[Beantown]

First I would like to say that according to the yahoo site, Mesa and ALPA are not going to agree to J4J by tonight's US Airways deadline. If this deadline is for real, Mesa is out of any future expansion with US Airways.

That said, to your questions. If somehow ALPA and Mesa find a way to approve J4J, there would only be growth at Mesa. No furlough. They have a deal (only with ALPA approval) for 70 additional jets in the next few years. Unlike the US wholly owned's, who would be replacing props for jets and giving half the seats to furloughed US pilots, Mesa would only be expanding. Half of 70 is 35 times 10 pilots = 350 new Mesa pilots in the next two years or so.

Now to ugly for your friend. Without J4J and with Freedom taking all of Mesa growth, Mesa pilots are looking at a furlough soon. Everytime Freedom adds a CRJ700 (and soon a 900), Mesa is losing a 200. Because of this and the fact that so few Mesa pilots took the offer to go to Freedumb, Mesa is beginning to have an excess of pilots. Soon the Mesa Air Group will be hiring on one end (Freedumb) and Furloughing on the other (Mesa). And people wonder why Freedumb is so bad for pilots. Very soon, Mesa will go the way of is brother CCAir.

If this happens and your friend turns down a offer to go to Freedumb (which I hope for his career he does), he is going to have a long wait for a job at Mesa. If it is even still there. What a mess this has become.

I hope this helps clarify things a bit. -Bean

 

[WileE]

Weird dilemna

If that idiot Johnny O furloughs again, he'll perforate the other foot this time. His whole point is that Mesa has too many pilots because of Freedom (which is also sinking any chance of Mesa getting J4J until it dies a long overdue death). The thing is, the only excess is in RJ pilots. If he furloughs it has to come from the bottom of the seniority list which just happens to be almost entirely Beech 1900 jockeys. He cannot furlough by type of equipment, only by seniority. So if he furloughs anyone, he'll still be excess in Jet jockeys and even shorter on the prop side.

Also, if as current rumors are true, AmWest pilots new contract has a scope clause which will prevent non union carriers from flying any aircraft for AmWest, which rules out Freedom.

Between the J4J and now this, a blind man could read the writing between the lines and abandon Freedom. Unfortunately Adolph Orenstein behaves more like a spoiled child than a businessman and is intent on driving the entire company into the ground in an irrational fit of spite rather than admit he is wrong.