Should I leave Mesa and go to Pinnacle?

[A-V-8]

I have searched Pinnacle on this board and have read virtually all that there is to read. I know; I shouldn’t have gone to Mesa in the first place. I am on the CRJ and they are only letting CRJ F.O.s upgrade on the CRJ. I was awarded a class date back in October. They canceled all upgrades along with all vacations and anything else that they could cancel to torture us.

If I get sent to upgrade I am facing reserve in ORD. I will be single digits from the bottom of the roster. At Mesa it is 8 days off in 28 (9 per month) for who knows how long. Our contract is amendable now but not in negotiations at all because management will not meet with or release our negotiating committee.

I have a friend who is a former Mesa pilot and he is in training. They awarded him captain almost immediately. He says that he thinks that the instant upgrade will continue at least for a few more months into the foreseeable future. With the Delta CRJ’s still coming and only 2 on property this could be an opportunity for me to go get the PIC time that I have been short changed out of at Mesa because they will not award me the ERJ (Clearly in violation of our contract. Folks a year to my junior are on it a PIC).

Everyone in the last new hire class recorded at least one failure on a checking event, some had two failures and a few had three. A single failure in initial new hire generaly won't hurt you when you interview for another job. The last upgrade class had a failure rate of 80% on their intial type rides. Prior to that the rate had been running 30 to 50 percent. A type ride failure takes a lot of explaining in an interview. After all, the interview process at a major is designed to do two things. Find the applicants that will complete training on schedule and be good employees.

After speaking with my friend at Pinnacle he said he did not think that the failure rate is that high and most of the failures were folks who did not have a lot of CRJ time. I have 3000 Hrs. Is that the case?

Pay sucks ($55/hr), work rules suck, QOL sucks, and reserve extremely sucks (and 2+ years of it probably)

One more day off and roughly the same pay as Mesa. Pulling reserve in DTW or pulling reserve at ORD. My buddy also told me that they have Ready Reserve but they don’t use it. 90 min callout at both companies. Commute to DTW just as easy as ORD. One more day off and no ready reserve. If they block my days off at two 3’s and two 2’s that will be a considerable improvement over Mesa. Do they block all of the reserve lines like this? What are the reserve schedules like? At Mesa I will be facing 6 on 1 off 1 -2 times per bid and plenty of Ready Reserve to go with it.
How much flight time could I expect to fly on reserve?

don't come to pinnacle!!!!!!!!!! its a waste of time. unless you like to be treated like crap on a daily basis!!!!!!!!

I don’t like being treated like crap but I can’t see it being any worse that the way I am going to be treated at Mesa.

We lost 69 pilots last month. We had to turn away about 2000 Hrs. of flying in ORD because we can’t staff it. SkyWest received that flying. We can’t get folks through IOE because we have about half the number of IOE Check Airmen that we started the year with. Add in that they are now scheduling IOE students for a whole bid with Check Airmen because the average time to get through IOE is over 80 Hrs. Add that to no new hires and it all equals BAD BAD BAD. They owe me nearly 15,000 in backed wages over the ERJ holdback and another 3K or so from the Harris Award. That along with 80M for Hawaii and Aloha has yet to stake their claim. Most of my friends at Mesa think that we have lost a code share or will pull completely out of United and send the planes to our new China operation. That is the system that I was awarded Captain. So where does that leave me? Applying to Pinnacle. Preparing my Resume today.

If I send it they may not interview me.

If they interview me they may not hire me.

If they hire me I may not go.

Just frustrated with this company because I have been short changed so much and that PIC time is so precious. Leaving the regional’s without PIC is playing roulette and I am older so I am playing with 3 bullets instead of one.

 

[norskman2]

I have searched Pinnacle on this board and have read virtually all that there is to read. I know; I shouldn’t have gone to Mesa in the first place. I am on the CRJ and they are only letting CRJ F.O.s upgrade on the CRJ. I was awarded a class date back in October. They canceled all upgrades along with all vacations and anything else that they could cancel to torture us.

If I get sent to upgrade I am facing reserve in ORD. I will be single digits from the bottom of the roster. At Mesa it is 8 days off in 28 (9 per month) for who knows how long. Our contract is amendable now but not in negotiations at all because management will not meet with or release our negotiating committee.

I have a friend who is a former Mesa pilot and he is in training. They awarded him captain almost immediately. He says that he thinks that the instant upgrade will continue at least for a few more months into the foreseeable future. With the Delta CRJ’s still coming and only 2 on property this could be an opportunity for me to go get the PIC time that I have been short changed out of at Mesa because they will not award me the ERJ (Clearly in violation of our contract. Folks a year to my junior are on it a PIC).



After speaking with my friend at Pinnacle he said he did not think that the failure rate is that high and most of the failures were folks who did not have a lot of CRJ time. I have 3000 Hrs. Is that the case?



One more day off and roughly the same pay as Mesa. Pulling reserve in DTW or pulling reserve at ORD. My buddy also told me that they have Ready Reserve but they don’t use it. 90 min callout at both companies. Commute to DTW just as easy as ORD. One more day off and no ready reserve. If they block my days off at two 3’s and two 2’s that will be a considerable improvement over Mesa. Do they block all of the reserve lines like this? What are the reserve schedules like? At Mesa I will be facing 6 on 1 off 1 -2 times per bid and plenty of Ready Reserve to go with it.
How much flight time could I expect to fly on reserve?


I don’t like being treated like crap but I can’t see it being any worse that the way I am going to be treated at Mesa.

We lost 69 pilots last month. We had to turn away about 2000 Hrs. of flying in ORD because we can’t staff it. SkyWest received that flying. We can’t get folks through IOE because we have about half the number of IOE Check Airmen that we started the year with. Add in that they are now scheduling IOE students for a whole bid with Check Airmen because the average time to get through IOE is over 80 Hrs. Add that to no new hires and it all equals BAD BAD BAD. They owe me nearly 15,000 in backed wages over the ERJ holdback and another 3K or so from the Harris Award. That along with 80M for Hawaii and Aloha has yet to stake their claim. Most of my friends at Mesa think that we have lost a code share or will pull completely out of United and send the planes to our new China operation. That is the system that I was awarded Captain. So where does that leave me? Applying to Pinnacle. Preparing my Resume today.

If I send it they may not interview me.

If they interview me they may not hire me.

If they hire me I may not go.

Just frustrated with this company because I have been short changed so much and that PIC time is so precious. Leaving the regional’s without PIC is playing roulette and I am older so I am playing with 3 bullets instead of one.

There are other places hiring street captains as well, like XJ and Big Sky. Why not try those also?

 

[Inconceivable]

The vast majority (I am told) of PCL recent upgrade failures are due to JUDGEMENT.

Do you know your FOM? Are you ready to be a captain, not just a pilot in the left seat? A lot of people don't realize the difference--and, to the credit of the APDs, don't make it.

 

[viper548]

If I were in your shoes I'd make the move

 

[FlyFastLiveSlow]

A-V-8, Sounds like you don't have a lot to lose by giving it a shot.

 

[XJohXJ]

Maybe take a look at Mesaba, also?

 

[scarlet]

Leave !!

 

[GOULET!]

Only reason I would be hesitant is are they going to pay you all of your back pay that you are entitled when you leave? If my company owed me almost $18k I would slap a lawsuit on them before I even showed up for work again. MESA truely is the scum of the industry.

 

[rightseatjocky]

Go to Sky west, they are better than any of what you are asking.

 

[A-V-8]

The vast majority (I am told) of PCL recent upgrade failures are due to JUDGEMENT.

The majority of captains that I fly with as a 3.5 year F.O. at Mesa have 15+ at this company. Without crossing a line of professionalism I have had to be the captain on more than one occasion for the whole bid. I really enjoyed flying here when I was new. I really enjoy flying with new captains but the ones that hold lines that I hold often have very good reasons to be here for 15+. I am certain that I am ready to be a Captain on the CRJ.

Do you know your FOM? Are you ready to be a captain, not just a pilot in the left seat? A lot of people don't realize the difference--and, to the credit of the APDs, don't make it.

FOM? APD's? What are they. We may call that something else.

Also maintenance at Mesa is a huge task for a Captain. I can’t imagine the processes being that much different but the forms and paperwork will be different. What do you guys think of that?

Thank you all for your responses so far. I am really pleased that the usual crap rhetoric is not here at least for now.