Mesaba street captain q's to ask

[Raskal]

Hey all, I rarely venture to the 121 side of the boards, but I am curious about the street captain position Mesaba is listing. Let's just say I were to accept an interview, being completely unfamiliar with regionals/contracts/unions etc...what are the questions I would need to ask? Like is this a good gig?

For example, I would think the current contract would address something like street captains-how does it work? The guys in the right seats obviously aren't going to lose seniority to new hires, so what happens down the road?

What else needs to be asked?

Being familiar with only corporate, I'm a bit out of my element here and would appreciate any explanations you could offer.

 

[Turtlesfly]

hahahahahahahahaha

Sorry, you have a great question, just your "being completely unfamiliar with regionals/contracts/unions etc" will give some great answers on this board.

Incoming!!!

 

[sopdan]

Well, you'll be on reserve for a long time, as you'll have a few hundred senior pilots upgrading after you.

 

[shamrock]

For example, I would think the current contract would address something like street captains-how does it work? The guys in the right seats obviously aren't going to lose seniority to new hires, so what happens down the road?

Not sure if this is what you're asking but you would indeed be junior to anyone hired before you and would remain at the bottom of the CA seniority for a while. Every FO already on the property when you are hired as a street CA would move in ahead of you as they upgrade and you wouldn't move off the bottom of the list until people junior to you start to upgrade. You'll get the PIC time and $$ but you're QOL wouldn't be all that great.

 

[Raskal]

The only reason I'd be interested in the position is for QOL alone, it sure as hell isn't the money. So, if the QOL sucks than I guess there isn't much of a point.

 

[shamrock]

Yeah, sounds like it wouldn't be for you then.

 

[Raskal]

Yeah, sounds like it wouldn't be for you then.

LOL, I suppose I should follow up on my remarks with this, I currently have no schedule and my QOL is pretty crappy. So, maybe I should ask the following: What exactly is being on reserve? Are there hard days off, or is it like my schedule is now-pretty much on call? If reserve is still scheduled, and I can get DTW as a base then maybe it's worth looking at a little harder.

Thanks for the responses so far.

 

[sopdan]

On reserve as a junior CA, you'd probably have 11-12 hard days off a month.

 

[BoilerUP]

If you live in a Mesaba domicile, I'd imagine your QOL would still be decent even if on perma-reserve.

Commute? Fuggitaboutit...

 

[Raskal]

On reserve as a junior CA, you'd probably have 11-12 hard days off a month.

Really? Hmmm. In September at my current position I actually got 6 days off...none hard, we were short-staffed and I've pretty much reached the end of my tolerance for this lifestyle.

So, on reserve at Mesaba, does one sit at the airport all day? If not, what's the call-out time?

 

[XJohXJ]

Here's the scoop. You would certainly want to live in your domicile. You will get 11 hard days off each month. You could technically get junior manned into 10 days of, but the likelihood of that happening is very remote. You are allowed to trade your days off with other pilots if you need to get a particular day off (not particularly easy to do, but it is an option.)

There is a provision for ready reserve, sitting at the airport, but it is rarely used on pilots. You sit reserve at home, with a 1.5 hour call out followed by a one-hour show time. Technically, that means you have 2.5 hours from the phone call to door close.

Reserve tends to go in waves. Some months you are used all the time, some months you barely ever go to the airport.

From what I have heard about 135 on-call, 121 reserve gives you much better QOL as long as you live in base.

No matter what, the company will do their best to limit you to below 75 hours credit on reserve, which could be OK for QOL, but you'll always know the size of your paycheck (not counting per-diem).

 

[Raskal]

Thanks, that actually does explain a lot. I think I'll at least go and talk to them, can't hurt.

 

[rhino3040]

Quick question in regards to the payscale and base selection.......If a street captain, detroit or MSP would be the like base and what is the first year payscale like?

 

[Simon Says]

payscales are on airlinepilotcentral.com.

QOL of a street captain will increase dramatically if you live in domicile. I would say that you would have at least 11 days off. The days you sit on reserve and don't get called is another day off if you live in domicile, if you live out of domicile it is just another day stuck in a crashpad....at least that is how I see it.

 

[OzBushWhacker]

Training contract?