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MESA contract ?s

  • Thread starter mnalpha
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M

mnalpha

Ok we all know the contract sucks over there.
My question is for the MESA pilots.

1. When is your contract up for re-negot?
2. Was Mesa ALPA when you got that contract?
3. When its up for re-negot what is the feeling on the line/with the other pilots on what you want?
4. How far are you guys willing to go to get these goals?
and
5. Do you goals reflect getting in-line with other regional airlines (not ones with real bad contracts), or just an upgrade on your current situation?
6. Do you think JO will just fire everyone if you try to get better QOL, and if so are you guys going to accept that?

The reason I ask all these questions is because I was in the van with a Mesa crew the other day that was bitching about their QOL/contract and I was wondering what you are going to do about it when you get a chance like com-air had the nuts to do. (I feel for you guys now BTW, got friends there)

thanks for the info, just wanted to know
 
Got their names? They may need ream-idial training. They obviously missed a few things in ground school.
 
Yes, Mesa was ALPA when they signed their contract. Mesa had to settle for a substandard contract so they could scope the Freedom CR7/CR9 flying. They gave up ALOT in their contract to get it. Even with the current TSA/BlowJets whipsaw play in effect, people tend to forget that fact.
 
OK, an honest question so I'll respond. I usually don't respond when it comes to our contract because many people don't understand why we have this current POS.

1.) April 2007
2.) Yes we were ALPA. This our second ALPA contract. ALPA national signed off on this contract because at the time it fit into their long range plans. Although many things have changed and they ended up being wrong about a great deal of things, their basic strategy is still on track.
3.) Pre-Freedom Airlines, we were heading into negotiations with a great deal of leverage. For example the Jet-for-Jobs protocol. At the time that represented over 60% of our future jet deliveries. At that time our MEC stated that some of our contract goals were, min 14 days off (out of 28 day period), block or better, industry average plus 5% (average was to be taken from only 4 eligible carriers), duty rigs, PBS. I haven't spoken to anyone at Mesa who will take nothing less. As a matter of fact most people I talk to say that industry average plus 5% is no longer acceptable. If we did that many of our guys would actually take a pay cut. If you want to know more about that I'll explain at a later time.
4.) I have not spoken to anyone here that would not strike to achieve at least these goals. As a matter a fact there is a growing faction, lead by some colorful people in our MEC, that state they will vote to strike this company even if JO gives them everything they want. A somewhat unreasonable position but it reflects the anger of this pilot group.
5.) I believe "industry average", especially among regionals is a bad idea. Having said that I think our next contract will be in line with the tremendous success of Mesa Air Group. When we signed this POS contract we were a 200 million dollar a year company. Now we are a 1.4 Billion dollar company and still growing. By April 2007 we are scheduled to have narrow body aircraft on the property. "Industry Average" rates are going down and we have no intentions of going down. JO is going to have to pay for all this success and we cant wait to collect.
6.) If we all stand together JO can't fire anyone. JO will never allow us to strike. If a company like MESA would strike do you think UAL, DAL, and USAIR would just stand by while we fix our problems. No, they would replace us in a heartbeat with one of the many other regionals. He knows this to be true so if he truly believed we would strike, he would settle. Of course for him to truly believe that we would strike we need to be united enough to go on strike and close this company down if we have to. And as I said earlier I haven't spoken to anyone that says they are not willing to strike.

Hope this helps
 
Lets see April 2007...add 2 years for "contract talks" then another year before your released so April 2010 is about when you will get your chance to walk.
 
xjlifer said:
Lets see April 2007...add 2 years for "contract talks" then another year before your released so April 2010 is about when you will get your chance to walk.

Ha ha, very true. But only a year to get released?? Look at Lakes!
 
Chicago summed it up rather well, so ditto to his answers. As far as how far we're willing to go to achieve these goals?...as far as it takes. Personally, if a strike doesn't work, and the only hope to save face is to walk off the property, I would have NO problem in doing so. And I think I share the sentiments of the majority of the pilot group. The only ones I'm concerned with are the senior pilots (who are senior enough that they really don't feel the effects of this contract) and the junior people who are still drinking the poisoned kool-aid (on avergae, that lasts around 1-4 months of being on-line).

I wasn't around when this current contract was signed, and was naive/stupid enough to take a job here thinking that it's "just another regional", "how bad can the contract be?". In fact, I'm not necessarily sure that SOME of the pilots here really understand the difference between a good contract (such as ExpressJet, Comair, etc) and a bad contract (ours!). They don't fully comprehend just how much of their time is wasted due to not being paid for cancellations, the lack of duty rigs, and having no block-or-better. Our MEC needs to present this comparison in some sort of literature, or presentation, to make everyone aware of the differences in a good contract, versus a bad one. And to illustrate just how MUCH we're sacrificing.

I hope everyone is simply willing and eager to stand up for their rights as employees. It's really nothing more than that. Be a hard worker (which I can attest to you that every crewmember I've flown with is) and get rewarded for that hard work by the company. If we get cancelled for a trip, we get paid for it. If we're over block, we're still at work, so compensate us for our time. The list goes on and on.

Although I wasn't around for the last contract negotations, and still don't understand how anyone with self-respect as a professional could have signed it, I at least understand the contributing factors associated with it. Having said that, I oftentimes wonder what I would have done faced with the decision of signing a POS contract like that, or walking. Getting back to my original point, I DO know what I would do if faced with that decision this time around...after living through a horrific contract. I'd walk. Actually, I'd run...far, far awaaaaaaaaaaay!
 

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