Who's a bigger bottom feeder, ASA or Mesa?

[Tomct]

Dick your name says it all! I can't believe that this post has gone on for almost 4 pages. All of us need to stop giving this numb nts the time of day. Have fun flying into the night.....oops....where did I put that manifest?

 

[bustinmins]

As a LAMA, I would have to say MESA blows much more. Don't get me wrong - the people I worked with at Mesa were tops but the company as a whole - blows!!!

 

[Shrek]

GoJet is the worst bottom feeder.............case closed

 

[belchfire]

All regionals are bottom feeders. They either suck hind tit off some "legacy carrier" getting fee for departure or government cheese from EAS. Corporate makes money off people working for crap pay when they have SJS and then get trapped as a CA and can't afford to take the pay cut to move on somewhere else.

It's a simplification of the whole picture but is factual as far as it goes...

Comair at one point raised the standard-it took a three month strike. I wonder if anyone understands that the aforementioned so called Legacy carriers will never again be what they once were and as a group will stand their ground and demand what they are worth. The places to advance to have gotten fewer and the end gains are far lower than they once were.

The next five years are going to be interesting...

 

["GO AROUND"]

No, I don't work for Cherry Air but those guys are a good group of freighters and always fun for a late night beer at the freight-hole.

Does it matter? They're all the same. So, because your friend at ASA is an idiot and can't bid, ASA is a bottom feeder? 2 years on the 200 can hold weekends off, not sure about the 700 or ATR. But I would think a line holder.

 

[Steve]

TSA is the biggest bottom feeder. After all they hired curtis malone with 44hours of multi time!! (Refer to my avitar)

 

[spitfire1500]

Its all bout 121 PIC Turbine... I dont care who you talk to or how much you make.. This industry is a roller coaster and we are starting to go back up the hill....

Flying your freight is probably a good job, but when you are 50 years old and you have your weekends off US 121 "gear jerkers" will have WEEKS off not just weekends.. you must pay your dues.. what goes around will come around if you are smart

I fly cargo and get 2 weeks off at a time.

 

[Skaff]

Sounds like Dick didn't get hired at ASA or MESA.

 

[JoeMerchant]

Yes, Joe. I can, without a doubt, say that the quality of the job at ASA is far better than it was at the handful of freight outfits I flew for. The flying here is probably not as rewarding in an, "I alone got the job done" kind of way, but the 121 airline gig is a better deal. Among other things, in the time I've been at ASA I have not yet been sent off to an airport that was closed due to a local militia uprising (Llano San Juan, outside of Ocozocoaulta during a bad time in the Chiapas rebellion... but that's another FAR more interesting story for another time), although every time I head down to Dothan I half expect Johnny Reb to have reclaimed the airport in the name of Dixie!

In all seriousness, Joe, I bitch because I know things here could be so much better, and I feel most of our woes can be blamed on management (we will have to agree to disagree on this one). However, there can and always will be far worse places to work. I want ASA to be the best work environment possible, just like you. However, we just have different opinions on how to achieve that.

For what it's worth, you and I are not as far apart as some of my remarks may lead you to believe. Just like you, I realize ALPA has dropped the ball in a monumental way. However, (and here's where we differ) we could have the most iron-clad scope in the world, but if our management continues to fail to perform on even the most remedial level, our clients (in this case, Delta) will find a way to send their business elsewhere. Scope has been abrogated in courtroom after courtroom. Thus, while I see it as an essential contract goal, I don't think it is the penultimate answer. I tend to think the best solution lies in providing a quality product at a reasonable price (yes.. I said it.. I think we are asking for too much, and I have made my opinion known). I also think our success hinges upon having a management team capable of transforming our operation, such that it is, into a functional airline. In that regard, my freight time was more rewarding than my airline time. Say what you will about Mx, pay, schedules, and whatnot, but the people that run the small freight operations in this country know how to run a business.

FmrFreightDog,

Good post, and I don't disagree with most of what you said. Your right that we aren't as far apart as it would appear.

However two things about the "performance" part of your post.

1. The recent 90 seat flying went to Pinnacle and Mesa. Both of these carriers are worse than ASA. This is about not allowing ALPA to ever get control again like it used to have. If this were about performance, then Pinnacle and Mesa wouldn't have gotten this flying.

2. As bad as ASA can be, and yes it can be bad, it is better than it used to be, it is improving, and it is better than other carriers that have been awarded Delta flying.

If even you admit we are asking for too much now, then why are we still asking for it?

Good post for what it is worth....

 

[dooork]

MESA/Freedoms performance is far better than ASA....get your sh#t straight.