Mesa?

Hawks said:
Haven't heard a lot about them one way or another.
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I flew there for a year and half. My only legitimate complaint about Mesa is the paycheck. Everything else was OK (not always great but not terrible like the bad old days). Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend anyone going there unless you had exhausted all other options.

The good,
Training department was great and they are willing to give guys a lot more chances than other companies.
No -200s (the only one is a MX spare that you will likely never see)
Great CPs who will back you up unless you do something truly stupid.

The bad,
Stagnating growth due to inability to recruit new FOs.
You likely won't upgrade quickly, and even then reserve CAs are flying a lot of right seat trips.
Insurance is really expensive.
Nickle and Dime stuff will drive you up the wall sometimes. KCM is only a couple of bucks, but the company won't pay for it.
Inexpeirenced FAs, The average FA only lasts about 6 months. Some are good, but there are quite a few in their "first big girl job"

The ugly,
The paycheck.
Pay is half of what the other regionals are giving their pilots. The union has rejected several contracts that were well below market rates.

Unless and until Mesa raises their payscale to market average, I would look elsewhere.
 
USMCmech said:
I flew there for a year and half. My only legitimate complaint about Mesa is the paycheck. Everything else was OK (not always great but not terrible like the bad old days). Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend anyone going there unless you had exhausted all other options.

The good,
Training department was great and they are willing to give guys a lot more chances than other companies.
No -200s (the only one is a MX spare that you will likely never see)
Great CPs who will back you up unless you do something truly stupid.

The bad,
Stagnating growth due to inability to recruit new FOs.
You likely won't upgrade quickly, and even then reserve CAs are flying a lot of right seat trips.
Insurance is really expensive.
Nickle and Dime stuff will drive you up the wall sometimes. KCM is only a couple of bucks, but the company won't pay for it.
Inexpeirenced FAs, The average FA only lasts about 6 months. Some are good, but there are quite a few in their "first big girl job"

The ugly,
The paycheck.
Pay is half of what the other regionals are giving their pilots. The union has rejected several contracts that were well below market rates.

Unless and until Mesa raises their payscale to market average, I would look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Mesa pilots don't have KCM?
 
USMCmech said:
I flew there for a year and half. My only legitimate complaint about Mesa is the paycheck. Everything else was OK (not always great but not terrible like the bad old days). Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend anyone going there unless you had exhausted all other options.

The good,
Training department was great and they are willing to give guys a lot more chances than other companies.
No -200s (the only one is a MX spare that you will likely never see)
Great CPs who will back you up unless you do something truly stupid.

The bad,
Stagnating growth due to inability to recruit new FOs.
You likely won't upgrade quickly, and even then reserve CAs are flying a lot of right seat trips.
Insurance is really expensive.
Nickle and Dime stuff will drive you up the wall sometimes. KCM is only a couple of bucks, but the company won't pay for it.
Inexpeirenced FAs, The average FA only lasts about 6 months. Some are good, but there are quite a few in their "first big girl job"

The ugly,
The paycheck.
Pay is half of what the other regionals are giving their pilots. The union has rejected several contracts that were well below market rates.

Unless and until Mesa raises their payscale to market average, I would look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the write up. Semper Fi
 
USMCmech said:
I flew there for a year and half. My only legitimate complaint about Mesa is the paycheck. Everything else was OK (not always great but not terrible like the bad old days). Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend anyone going there unless you had exhausted all other options.

The good,
Training department was great and they are willing to give guys a lot more chances than other companies.
No -200s (the only one is a MX spare that you will likely never see)
Great CPs who will back you up unless you do something truly stupid.

The bad,
Stagnating growth due to inability to recruit new FOs.
You likely won't upgrade quickly, and even then reserve CAs are flying a lot of right seat trips.
Insurance is really expensive.
Nickle and Dime stuff will drive you up the wall sometimes. KCM is only a couple of bucks, but the company won't pay for it.
Inexpeirenced FAs, The average FA only lasts about 6 months. Some are good, but there are quite a few in their "first big girl job"

The ugly,
The paycheck.
Pay is half of what the other regionals are giving their pilots. The union has rejected several contracts that were well below market rates.

Unless and until Mesa raises their payscale to market average, I would look elsewhere.
Click to expand...

Were you on the CRJ or E-Jet? Did one airplane have a better QOL than the other?
 
cmhumphr said:
Were you on the CRJ or E-Jet? Did one airplane have a better QOL than the other?
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I was on the CRJ. Opinions vary whether the CRJ or E-jet had better QOL and will be different from person to person.

The general consensus was that the schedules were more productive on the 175.
 
USMCmech said:
I flew there for a year and half. My only legitimate complaint about Mesa is the paycheck. Everything else was OK (not always great but not terrible like the bad old days). Having said all that, I wouldn't recommend anyone going there unless you had exhausted all other options.

The good,
Training department was great and they are willing to give guys a lot more chances than other companies.
No -200s (the only one is a MX spare that you will likely never see)
Great CPs who will back you up unless you do something truly stupid.

The bad,
Stagnating growth due to inability to recruit new FOs.
You likely won't upgrade quickly, and even then reserve CAs are flying a lot of right seat trips.
Insurance is really expensive.
Nickle and Dime stuff will drive you up the wall sometimes. KCM is only a couple of bucks, but the company won't pay for it.
Inexpeirenced FAs, The average FA only lasts about 6 months. Some are good, but there are quite a few in their "first big girl job"

The ugly,
The paycheck.
Pay is half of what the other regionals are giving their pilots. The union has rejected several contracts that were well below market rates.

Unless and until Mesa raises their payscale to market average, I would look elsewhere.
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Hehe...I've sorta noticed that riding on Mesa ;)
 
A150K said:
The pay sucks.
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Another part of the crappy pay that I just remembered,

The bonuses at Mesa are structured to only pay out a fraction of whats advertised, and only over several years. New hire bonuses are paid out over 4 years, but once you become eligible for upgrade (24 month mark) you forfeit them whether you upgrade or not.


OTOH, PSA gives you a check for 15 grand after passing your checkride, Envoy gives you one the first day of class.
 
USMCmech said:
Another part of the crappy pay that I just remembered,

The bonuses at Mesa are structured to only pay out a fraction of whats advertised, and only over several years. New hire bonuses are paid out over 4 years, but once you become eligible for upgrade (24 month mark) you forfeit them whether you upgrade or not.


OTOH, PSA gives you a check for 15 grand after passing your checkride, Envoy gives you one the first day of class.
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So the real question is...Who goes there in this current hiring environment? I feel like I know someone at every regional these days except for Mesa....(well I do know one guy, but he's a captain who's been there forever).
 
A150K said:
So the real question is...Who goes there in this current hiring environment? I feel like I know someone at every regional these days except for Mesa....(well I do know one guy, but he's a captain who's been there forever).
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Guys who haven't done any research about the current job market and/or believe the BS that Mesa recruiters tell them.

Guys who want to be based in PHX at all costs (PHX is senior on the FO side, but you can get there after a few months).

Guys who had trouble getting through training at other regionals. The training dept will seriously go the extra mile to get guys through. If you wash out at Mesa, then this job is not for you.
 
USMCmech said:
Guys who haven't done any research about the current job market and/or believe the BS that Mesa recruiters tell them.

Guys who want to be based in PHX at all costs (PHX is senior on the FO side, but you can get there after a few months).

Guys who had trouble getting through training at other regionals. The training dept will seriously go the extra mile to get guys through. If you wash out at Mesa, then this job is not for you.
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Not all that long ago, I was considering going to a regional...Mesa had a lot of positives for me (bases etc..), I just could not stomach the pay. I made more than Mesa first year pay as a CFI...Not much more, but still more. Not to mention at the time I was looking I had a freight gig that paid nearly double.
 
A150K said:
Not all that long ago, I was considering going to a regional...Mesa had a lot of positives for me (bases etc..), I just could not stomach the pay. I made more than Mesa first year pay as a CFI...Not much more, but still more.
Click to expand...

When I went to Mesa, Envoy was imploding, Mesa's pay was only slightly less than average, upgrade times were forecast at 24 months (turned out to be true), and I could be based close to home.

I'd go back if the paycheck was close to industry average.
 
Mesas top out FO pay (which takes 8 years) is less than first year starting pay at a lot of other regionals...
 
A lot of guys who have stuff on their records (aviation related or not) can land a spot at Mesa. From guys I know, it's been from DUI's/arrests to aviation crashes and they all landed at Mesa.

Much better options around.....even if you wanted PHX base.....
 
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