Mesaba..CPTs Off The Street!

[Raskal]

Yeah, I'd be going for Captain. I'm a Captain now where I'm at, so I'd have absolutely no interest in being a Saab FO. Not to mention I couldn't live off FO pay for more than a few months. I'm still not sure if I want to work for the regionals at all, seems like an awful lot of people there really hate their jobs. Plus it'd be a pretty substantial pay cut from what I make now. But I'm thinking maybe the QOL is better, and maybe alot of these guys don't know how bad they could have it. Anyone have an idea how long you'd have to sit on reserve as a new hire captain?

Also I really have no idea what life is like at the regionals, I don't know anyone working for one. What's daily life like at Mesaba?

LOL, it's starting to get funny how many of us there are that are very similar applying for this...all with the same hopes in the QOL department.

I asked the same questions about reserve etc, take a look at this thread for pretty much everything.

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?t=104128

 

[Lear70]

*chuckle* Raskal, great car... I have an '02. Your "current position" got a laugh, too. Funny how that works once you get into a good corporate gig.

QOL at the regionals isn't going to be much better than at a good charter or corporate gig where you're home every other night. If you do a lot of international or overnights with your charter flying, the QOL *can* be better, IF you live in your base.

If you don't live in-domicile, I'd suggest staying away from a regional if you have a "GOOD" charter or corporate job and get into Netjets as soon as possible.

I've done all of it (except military flying), and am in a position to where I have to go back to the regionals or charter again for a year or two, and I chose a charter job with 10 guaranteed days off a month and the ability to eventually grab a local Lear gig here in town rather than go back to the regionals, even as a street Captain.

The pay, schedule, and days off just isn't worth it if you've got a family and/or a job that pays significantly better (which virtually ALL of your CA charter gigs will and just about any Corp gig I can think of). 1st year MSA Saab CA pay is $43 an hour, 85 hour average credit = $3,855 a month and my buddy said they were averaging 11-12 days off a month in MEM as junior CA's.

If you're young (under 30) and want to wait for the 10-year NWA flow-through carrot, then I guess it might be a decent trade-off. Compass is taking all the RJ growth for a while, so you might be in a Saab for quite some time...

Just a few thoughts, take it for what it's worth. :beer:

 

[RedGuy]

Well, I don't have a sweet Corporate gig, I fly on-demand freight. I'm sure I do get home alot more than anybody at the regionals, but I never really know when I will be home. I do have a pretty good job, it pays well, and advancements are fairly quick, but living life on a pager is really starting to wear on me. Never knowing when your going to work is really hard on both your body and personal life. I also only get 4 days scheduled off a month, though they're always on the weekend and I do always get holidays off, since all the plants are shut down over the holidays anyway.

 

[XJohXJ]

Hey bud can you tell me if they plan to pay us the 75hr guarantee at 23hr or the 43hr captain pay? Also how do the flight bennies work with you guys? do we (family and parents) get them from day one? Thanx

No idea at all if it's FO or CA pay. Please let everyone know if you find out! This is all new for us, here.

Flight benefits for you and family start on day one. However, someone's gotta process your info, so it actually takes a week or two, depending. Jumpseat in back starts for you on day one, but CASS for up front also takes a while to process.

 

[flap operator]

FYI - Compass is not getting all the growth here. Mesaba is taking delivery of CRJ900s (28 more) and 15 more CRJ200s transferred from Pinnacle. LOTS of movment at XJ right now. By next fall, Mesaba will be back to the size it was prior to Ch11... is it really growth?


FO

 

[Vegaspilot99]

I'm going through FO CRJ training at SKW right now, but more than meet the mins for an XJ CA slot. I'm kicking around the idea of putting an app in. The biggest downside for me is that I live out west and plan to stay out west....sooo it'd be a bit of a haul to any of XJ's bases. Just trying to decide whether I should stay put and wait (hopefully) for one of the majors I've applied to to call, or to give that CA (and about double the pay I'm at right now) a try. They keep saying that upgrade here is runing just over a year, but more realistically it's a year-ish on the Bro and 3-ish on the jet...for a good base anyway. Any thoughts or ideas you guys could throw out for me would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[wmuflyguy]

I'm going through FO CRJ training at SKW right now, but more than meet the mins for an XJ CA slot. I'm kicking around the idea of putting an app in. The biggest downside for me is that I live out west and plan to stay out west....sooo it'd be a bit of a haul to any of XJ's bases. Just trying to decide whether I should stay put and wait (hopefully) for one of the majors I've applied to to call, or to give that CA (and about double the pay I'm at right now) a try. They keep saying that upgrade here is runing just over a year, but more realistically it's a year-ish on the Bro and 3-ish on the jet...for a good base anyway. Any thoughts or ideas you guys could throw out for me would be much appreciated. Thanks.

The coomute from west coast to the east I hear is pretty tough on your body. I don't think I would be tough enough to stand it.

 

[OPECJet]

How is the reserve life at Mesaba? I imagine anyone going there as a street captain will be on reserve for a while.


I'm also wondering about commutability to MEM. It's almost drivable for me, although just a little over 4 hours each way. Still beats my current 2 legger.

 

[Lear70]

Well, I don't have a sweet Corporate gig, I fly on-demand freight. I'm sure I do get home alot more than anybody at the regionals, but I never really know when I will be home. I do have a pretty good job, it pays well, and advancements are fairly quick, but living life on a pager is really starting to wear on me. Never knowing when your going to work is really hard on both your body and personal life. I also only get 4 days scheduled off a month, though they're always on the weekend and I do always get holidays off, since all the plants are shut down over the holidays anyway.

I understand that. The job I'm training for right now is on-demand, live on the pager, mostly freight and air ambulance Lear command, so I'm going to be BACK in that environment, but at least it's 2 weeks on, one week off.

Personally, I'm just happy to have a flying job at the moment after the way I got hosed by my last carrier, but that's a longer story.

If that's how you're living then yes, the regionals would be a good jump up in quality of life, plus I'm comparing everything to Pinnacle which is, arguably, one of the worst regionals to work for in terms of quality of life, so Mesaba may be much better than I'm giving it credit for.

Flap Op, I didn't know MSA was getting that kind of growth. A lot of senior ex-Avro guys I'm sure are VERY happy about that.