Mesaba

[saabservant]

Valid points about nwa "eating their young" and 9e being most vulnerable.

It reminds me of a conversation with a recently furloughed american fo a year and a half ago. She was talking about how rough it was to be furloughed. All I could think of was how I would be happy to trade places for a seniority number at a mainline. Wonder how many airlink folks would brave unemployment or a different job for a few years, in exchange for better pay, lifestyle, and retirement in the long run?
Most of our fo's could do better on the outside today, which is why they have nothing to lose in this contract battle.

Perhaps a poll by the mec's would be interesting....all who volunteer to hit the street for a seniority number, raise your hands!!!!

 

[T-handle]

>>>>Mesaba is interviewing/hiring<<<<

It is official. Mesaba is hiring. How many? Not sure. 15-20 is the number going around the crew room these days. All furloughs were called back too or at least the ones that wanted to come back. And apparently they are only accepting resumes through current pilots. interviews are being conducted next week.

Word of caution. With Mesaba's current situation (contract negotiations and Saab retirements later this year), do not quit your current job if you get on here. If you can somehow go part time and convince your boss that you will be back, I'd recommend it. Everyone is speculating that all these furlough callbacks are just for summer flying (which is evident of last summer), which includes the new hires. Once summer is done and the Saab A-models go away this Fall, you will get furloughed.

Lets do the math. All furloughs are called back. And you interview next week. You get a class. Ok, groundschool for a couple of weeks. Then sim training. By then it's early August. Then your IOE. Now it's mid to late August. Guess what? Summer flying is nearly done. September rolls around. Everyone is back to school and parents back to work. NWA dramatically reduces its flying and we start losing the rest of our Saab A models = ..........

As for "Ksu Aviator"'s post. Some of us may know who he is from our Mesaba ALPA msg board. Blaming Mesaba for setting you back 2 years is not fair. This industry is all about timing and a little luck. Mesaba was a great place to work until recently. But guess what??!??! ALL airlines go through this crap. And putting Mesaba below Great Lakes is almost insulting. Just because YOU didn't get off reserve and YOU didn't upgrade and YOU got furloughed twice doesn't mean XJ is a lousy place to work. We've got furloughs from the Sept 4 2001 class that are still hanging around! Talk about dedication.

I commute to work every week and I can't stress how many pilots(including mainline) are supporting us. Most of us XJ pilots are just riding this out. There's really not a whole lot we can do at this point, except stand together and not give into ANY concessions. Just save what we can for a possible strike and continue to do our job day in and day out. Once we get a new contract, things will improve.

 

[Gator1999]

T-Handle,
I couldn't agree more. You obviously talk like the true professionals that we have working here at MSA. I like so many of those close to the bottom have gotten used to the fact that we aren't going anywhere, anytime soon, and to just make the most of the time that we do have here. I personally like to stay away from the crew room talk, but every now and then it's good to hear that people are passionate about this company and the committment that they have made to Mesaba in the long run. I don't know much about Great Lakes, but I'm not about to go and say that they are a bad outfit, I never flew there and don't know anyone flying for them. Sure, we're going through a bad time, but I think that once this new contract is signed, sealed and delivered, Mesaba will shine as it once did, the airline of choice for the aviation professional.

 

[cl-65link]

We all may as well buy Powerball tickets right now, because there is just as good a chance of one of us winning that as there is with a one-list for red-tailers.

 

[Mkay?]

We've got furloughs from the Sept 4 2001 class that are still hanging around! Talk about dedication.

Just for clarification ...

I was in that class. There were 4 saab guys and 4 jet guys. I don't know about the avro crew, but I know that none of the saab guys are coming back. 2 are at skywest, one at ACA and one has left aviation.

Good luck with the new contract.

MKAY!!

 

[SpocksBeard]

hiring

I can confirm they are hiring as well. My interview is next week and I am more than a little nervous about possibly getting hired and furloughed immediately after. There is probably no way I can go part time at my current job (I just started freight dogging last week) but if XJ offers me a job I don't think I could turn it down. An airline is what I've been waiting for, and Mesaba is the only airline to call me in about 10 months of trying (not suprising considering the industry of course). I'm curious if other XJ pilots out there have the same grim prognosis as T-handle did. I heard XJ has been short of pilots for awhile so maybe they won't have to furlough a bunch in the fall. Anybody else know anything or have any predictions???

 

[xjcaptain]

I may be totally wrong (wouldn't be the first time), but with our current contract negotiations, I believe that the company would do ANYTIHING they could short of hiring in order to leverage their bargaining position. It's hard to plead poverty at the negotiating table when you are hiring new pilots because we cant keep staffing high enough to cover all the flying. If they were planning on furloughing more in the short term, I would think that they would rather continue to cancel vacations and possibly some flights rather than go through the time and expense required to get new pilots on line only to furlough in a few months. Now with that said furloughs are a possiblity at nearly ALL airlines during the current economic times. Will XJ furlough again? Maybe, maybe not. I don't think anybody knows for sure. It's a decision you will have to make for yourself. You will hear a lot of whining about the current contract situation, but contract times are always difficult. Same crap during the 95-96 contract negotiations. I think the people who are complaining the loudest have never seen negotiations before, and expected that after flight instructing for 9 months and acquiring a vast 1000/100 that they were GUARANTEED an airline job and would then be GUARANTEED to move on to the majors in a year or two. Many had never seen a downturn in the airline industry, and reality bites sometimes. Wasn't too long ago that 3000/1000 MIGHT get you an interview with a regional, and no hope for a major yet. So maybe it's time for a reality check and talk to instructors who are stuck at that level now for a while, and see where they would rather be building time, in a 152 or a CRJ or turboprop. Should you come to XJ? That's a personal decision, but here's something to consider. Will you be more marketable in 6 mos or a year if you continue to fly your current position or have 6 mos or a year experence in a Saab or Avro operated under 121? Good luck on your interview!

 

[SpocksBeard]

That makes alot of sense and thanks for the input. That is pretty much what I am thinking - even if furlough is a possibility (which it almost invariably is, especially now) that experience would be more marketable if I was furloughed. Oh well, I've got to get myself hired first! On another subject- anybody know if they will be hiring into the avro this time around?? When I worked the ramp there I heard the schedules were worse on the jet but it would still be pretty cool to fly one.

 

[skyvike]

XJ Captain is right. XJ is a great place to work in spite of the current NWA appointed management team.

I'm sorry that some might think coming to XJ put their careers behind. People who think in terms of getting on with a major airline in the next five years might think that way. I don't think the "big four" majors will be hiring any new pilots (vs. recalling furloughs) for seven or more years. The trend is toward having regionals do the flying. We simple do it just as well for as much as 80% less than mainline. They don't charge less for tickets on flights flown by "Airlink" so the advantage of increased margins is clear.

The worse the economy gets, the more flying NWA will give to the "Airlinks".

As for Mesaba hiring now, I think if they could have, they would have avoided recalling pilots from furlough until they could squeeze us into signing another concessionary contract (not gonna happen). Somebody, probably at Northwest, decided that the "cost" of having to hire more pilots in terms of contract negotiations was a lot less than the cost of NOT having us do the increased flying.

These guys (management) look more like "The Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight" every day but even they can figure out that it will be September before any of the newhires (this batch of 20) will fly the line. They say it's around $40,000 to train a new hire in the Avro. That's $800,000 in training pilots they're not going to use if you assume they'll get furloughed in September. (It seems to be jet FO's they're short of). To me that indicates they believe the increased levels of flying will continue into September and through the winter. I don't think this batch has as much to worry about furloughs as the earlier (pre-9/11) classes did.

Nothing is certain but that's what I think.

I think we are poised for some growth after we sign a new contract so this could end up a really good time to get on the seniority list....

Good luck to everyone applying!

S

 

[Gator1999]

Spocksbeard,
I wouldn't call T-handle's prognosis grim. Just listen to what he and xjcaptain are saying and take it for what it's worth. These are the cold hard facts that they are telling you. It's up to you to decide. Yeah, it's not all rose's and cute little bunnies here at Mesaba right now...but then again, where is it? JetBlue? Forget that unless you are a furloughed mainline from United or US Airways with at least 5000 PIC in the bus. I think that it's great that you are interviewing with Mesaba, however, you are the one that needs to make the final decision on whether or not you want to be here. Hiring at this point in our negotiations will be to our advantage and your's should you be hired. I can tell you this...the greatest thing about working at Mesaba are the people that work here. They are passionate, hard working, professionals that anyone would love to work with. When all is said and done, it's a great job, even if there are some bumps along the career path. Good luck.