Mesa Go'in Solo.....Hawaii Here they come!!!!

[Dan Roman]

I don't have a problem with the Mesa pilots and have no intention of jumping on the payscale bandwagon. What I have a problem with is an Oppurtunistic move into a shrinking market that is well served by Hawaiian, AQ and Island Air. Ornstein may have more trouble doing business in Hawaii than he realizes, Hawaii doesn't need his way of doing business.

 

[islandhopper]

may as well forget about how Mesa captains top about $11/hr above Jet Blue E190 captains (yeah yeah yeah, they get overtime pay, so that makes it okay)

And how many days off a month do Mesa Captains get in Domicile? Let me step out on a limb here and guess JB guys have 2 or 3 times as many days off as the typical very senior now junior assigned ready reserve vacation cancelled Mesa Jet Captain.

rubbish!

 

[Fly2Scuba]

Dumb

Man, you guys (I mean boys) really crack me up trying to differentiate and segregate all the different regionals based on pay. Seriously, you're talking about a difference of a few bucks per hour (IF that!). I advise everyone to step out in the "real" world...maybe take a look at corporate america, for example. There, you'll see that differences in pay are based on HUNDREDS of dollars per hour, or THOUSANDS per month. I don't hear anyone in the industry I work in saying that XXY Engineering, Inc is "dragging down the rest of the industry" because their engineers make $2 per hour less than their competitors.

Seriously, you ALL make sqaut! (and I did as well when I USED to work at a regional). And to hear you try and ridicule the likes of CHQ, Pinnacle, and Mesa as "bottom feeders" based on a few bucks less per hour is just absolute comedy!

And what I really don't understand is how ALL of you continue to get SO worked up over how little someone else makes at another regional, and how crappy their contract/QOL is. If I were you, I'd be downright happy at not having to work there, and leave it at that. If someone at, for example, CHQ is able to pay their bills on first year pay, and enjoy a decent QOL, then what's the problem? And if some guy at Mesa, or whatever other regional, is doing the same, then so be it. What's it to you? Of course, those pilots aren't sitting around wasting time on this board...they're out enjoying their lives. Novel concept, huh?

...but I forget, they're still all "dragging down the industry"!

Carry on children!

It's much more than pay that makes Mesa a f**ked up piss poor place to work. Quality of life and work rules are huge. I've met numerous Mesa crews on 6 day trips. Eights off in a 28 day period; are you kidding me? Would you guys be singing the same tune if some other airline offered Yonited to fly their routes for cheaper because their pilots were getting 6 days off in a 28 day period thus decreasing total operational costs?

 

[Taco Rocket]

And how many days off a month do Mesa Captains get in Domicile? Let me step out on a limb here and guess JB guys have 2 or 3 times as many days off as the typical very senior now junior assigned ready reserve vacation cancelled Mesa Jet Captain.

rubbish!

More nonsense...

Don't let facts get in the way here. BTW you used to work at Mesa so why even go there with BS you know isn't true.

JB guys that I have spoken with get, on average, 1 day off per month than I do.

I get about 13 days off per bid (13 per year), which divided out is 14 and change off per month.

 

[Taco Rocket]

It's much more than pay that makes Mesa a f**ked up piss poor place to work. Quality of life and work rules are huge. I've met numerous Mesa crews on 6 day trips. Eights off in a 28 day period; are you kidding me? Would you guys be singing the same tune if some other airline offered Yonited to fly their routes for cheaper because their pilots were getting 6 days off in a 28 day period thus decreasing total operational costs?

If this is true this describes the most junior crews working reserve lines.

If United went with another carrier could this possibly be because they offer a better product at an attractive price? Imagine that! (BTW Mesa has lost the UA business before, but I'm sure you knew that.)

And finally I'll now suggest that our quality of life is not much different than USAir's: I hear their guys b!tching and moaning all the time about their horrible their four + day trips are, junior manning on the Airbus, blah blah blah.

I don't purport to be Mesa cheerleader, but I'm tired of hearing all this garbage about how horrible it is (read "we" are) and being scapegoated for being the cause of this industry's malaise. But then again if you are enough of a simpleton to believe that so be it.........

 

[Taco Rocket]

I've got a good lead on a crashpad in Honolulu:

One bedroom condo on the estate of a secretive book author. Caretaker is a Brit with a Hitler mustache who owns two Doberman Pincher hounds. Rent includes access to cool 1980s Ferrari, gorgeous private beach and endless murder/disappearance investigations. Must wear super-tight shorts, Detroit Tigers hat, blue and white Hawaiian shirt, and groomed mustache. Former Navy Intelligence officers with time in Hughes 500 preferred.

Too funny dude! I'll post this in the crew room.

 

[islandhopper]

More nonsense...

Don't let facts get in the way here. BTW you used to work at Mesa so why even go there with BS you know isn't true.

JB guys that I have spoken with get, on average, 1 day off per month than I do.

I get about 13 days off per bid (13 per year), which divided out is 14 and change off per month.

BS I know isnt true? OK fine, I can see your trying to corner the market on BS here so its all yours.

 

[Heavy Set]

I've got a good lead on a crashpad in Honolulu:

One bedroom condo on the estate of a secretive book author. Caretaker is a Brit with a Hitler mustache who owns two Doberman Pincher hounds. Rent includes access to cool 1980s Ferrari, gorgeous private beach and endless murder/disappearance investigations. Must wear super-tight shorts, Detroit Tigers hat, blue and white Hawaiian shirt, and groomed mustache. Former Navy Intelligence officers with time in Hughes 500 preferred.

General,

That is one of the funniest things I have read in a long time on these boards - hilarious. I remeber those Magnum P.I. TV shows - they were pretty entertaining and I always enjoyed the island shots.

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

re: days off per month and other BS from this thread

My last schedule had 13 days off of 28 and the current one has 14 days off of 28. I could bid a line with 14 or maybe 15 days (15 might be a stretch) off of 28, but I am picky about equipment (900 vs 200...900 pays better) that I want to fly and the trips I will accept.

Guys that are way junior and/or on reserve might have 8-10 days off per 28. It does happen, but someone made it sound like we all have crappy schedules. Not true. Believe what you want. SIX day trips?!? WTF? Again, probably waay junior reserve guy that worked six days in a row.

Hey, our works rule do bite the big one, no doubt. There is a LOT of room for improvement there. No one knows this better than us.

Regarding the HI operation, because of the scope clause in our contract, the flying will be performed by Mesa Air Group (MAG) pilots (Mesa, AirMidwest, and Freedom pilots on one list now)...most likely. The only way JO might get around this is if MAG does not have "operational control." Limited partner or something his lawyers dream up? Who knows? Press release says that it will be a new "airline". Maybe a new name, but not necessarily a separate certificate. Key thing is does MAG have "operational control" over the flying and aircraft.

In the old days Mesa operated three separate "airlines" on the YV certificate. You had the Mesa guys (independent and United Exp((did I forget anyone else here?)) ), the FloridaGulf guys (USAir Exp) and the Liberty guys (also USAir Exp). All three "airlines" operated on the YV certificate with different pay and work rules (there were no rules) and separate pilot seniority lists. This is all pre-union stuff, though.

I want to agree with another poster who said that this must be a fee per departure deal with US Airways/America West, because if not, then this is a quick way to lose a LOT of money. Does not sound like something JO would do - go it alone, that is. Mesa nearly went under back in '97-'98 when we tried to go it alone at Fort Worth Meacham(sp?) - FTW with CRJ 200s. JO is the one that saved Mesa from doom back then by shutting that operation down and switching CRJs to code-share deals.

Press release says 200s first, then mixture of 700s and 900s. JO would not go with the E170, unless he got a real sweetheart deal. I think he regrets going with the E145s.

As someone else posted - it's adios to the Do328Jet leases now that Delta is in bankruptcy. I have not seen it in writing, but this is most likely going to happen.

Delta service from MCO and wherever else? on the Freedom certificate will be with all E145s. I think that about 5 E145s will do some flying in the United code share on the Mesa certificate (?). Well, not sure which certificate, but it sounds like a real mess either way.

 

[RJP]

I thought I read in one article that they're looking for local investment. Everything makes it sound as if he'll find a way to make it completely separate from Mesa if he can.

So, since everyone there at Mesa likes there job and is defending it vigorously, I'm just curious how many hours of block time you average a day on a typical month.

It may not be a bad deal you've got going in a CRJ-900 flying "long-haul" but it will be an eye-opener when the 10-leg OGG-HNL-OGG days start.