BHopper88

who is to say that if Mesa Pilots did come over to skywest, they would go to the jet? The Brasilia has over 100 FOs waiting to transition to the jet.... Oh BRO FO 2nd yr pay is $28.47.

winglet

Update:

It's official; Judge Glenn signed the order today "Granting Motion Authorizing the Debtors to Enter into the Temporary Delta Connection Agreement By and Among Delta Air Lines, Inc., Freedom Airlines, Inc. and Mesa Air Group, Inc."

From the order:

"ORDERED that the Temporary Agreement, and all the terms and conditions thereof, are approved in all respects"

This is the temporary agreement between DAL and MAG for a two to three month wind down of operations vs. an immediate cessation of Delta Connection service (The termination of the Delta Connection Agreement is now retroactive to 2008).

The agreement automatically expires at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Aug. 31st (or on 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 31st if MAG provides notice).

Good Luck MAG Pilots...

winglet

BHopper88

Why would any airline including SkyWest buy Mesa now? If SKW bought Mesa, they would be responsible for their debt. And then there would be the "fun" of employee integration, which would cost more money and headaches for an airline taking over Mesa. Just doesn't make sense. If anything they would just buy aircraft from the debtors like bombardier if Mesa went Chp 7.

Nevets

The benefit to management is that they get a turnkey operation. No need to hire, or upgrade anyone...just a basic indoc course.

I'm not against industry wide pay and work rules. Both can be done and the FFD task force is working on both at the same time.

As if JO didn't have anything to do with anything and it was MAGALPA who deliberately screwed over pilots. But many pilots are naive enough to actually think that.

rickair7777

Historically, mesa (and other airline) jet pilots have always gone to the RJ as new hires.

But in the current climate the company would really tick off a bunch of bro drivers if they went with that model so who knows.

rickair7777

They would either buy them immediately after reorganization or make a deal with the creditors...give them a little bonus which they would not get if reorganization proceeds to it's conclusion.

Employee integration would be easy...

1. Offer them the entire SKW pay, benefit and workrule package if they ditch alpa by a certain date. I suspect they might get two thirds to go along with that.

2. If they decline, they get to operate separately under their current contract (or whatever is left of it after reorganization). Eventually they could merge lists with ASA, not sure what provisions exist with both alpa contracts for this situation.

IrishTiger

I can't keep up with all this stuff... so what does this all mean? How are the MAG pilots doing? I was furloughed in early Jan but I'm with another carrier now. I'm still very much attached to my former airline, and I think about you guys day in and day night. I almost miss Mesa. I'm very concerned for everyone's well-being.

When will the DAL flying stop, and have they made any new announcements as far as more furloughs go? I'm keeping you guys in my thoughts, and I'll never forget the good times I had flying with you all - and all that you folks taught me. You made me a better pilot, and more importantly, a better person - and for that I'm truly grateful.

The Duke

I think most people who have moved on from Mesa would agree with what you have stated here. Nonethelesss, thanks for your kind words. I have been at Mesa for 7 years now and I never intended to be here for this long. My goal had always been to get on with either Delta or American, whichever one would take me first. With that said, I still want Mesa to be around down the road, even if I'm not employed here at that time. If they are bought out by another carrier, great. That would be the best thing that could happen to Mesa in my opinion. This would be a surefire way of ditching the current senior management team that is responsible for the mess we are in currently.

I believe we'll be done flying for Delta at the end of August. There should be a phased draw-down in flying between now and then similar to what happened w/ United. Roughly 190 pilots on the Freedom side, so at the very least, 190 furloughs would have to be anticipated (I say at least because I suspect we get by w/ a smaller average crew ratio on the Mesa side compared to Freedom). I'm guessing we'll be down to about 750 to 800 pilots at that time. I can remember when we had 1800 and were growing still!

We'll see what will happen. I knew exactly what I was getting into and knew it was a calculated risk...I'm not surprised by anything that has transpired up to this point. I am one of the lucky ones and managed to have a great run; I achieved all the things I could have hoped for and then some. At this point, I hope the airline makes it so that I am able to maintain some currency and so friends and colleagues are able to pay off loans, mortagages, and other essential bills. The pilot workforce here, as any pilot here can attest, is horribly beaten down. With that said, I think if the company is no longer a debt-burden post Chapter 11 and is bought out by another carrier, at the very least the pilot workforce would make an excellent addition to any other airline. FWIW, I would gladly take a staple to someone like SkyWest knowing that I would have gained some stable employment with an organization with a better track-record of taking care of its employees. I think being bought, assuming we stayed and kept our jobs, would inject quite a bit of energy into our workforce, as strange as that may sound.

I think the fear that many may have here is that, given the fall that we've all witnessed up to this point, Chapter 7 liquidation is really the next logical step if the creditors don't like what they're seeing (my apologies in advance if this is a reflection of a lack of understanding of the Bankruptcy process). I don't know if betting the farm on US Airways renewing or even US Airways being around in a couple of years is necessarily a good idea. Delta is gone. United is all but gone w/ the exception of a few CRJ 700s. All the 200s on the Airways side are gone. We're down to CRJ 900s and Dash 8s (just 6 of these) on the Airways side...and Airways is clearly struggling. Our options are limited (I'm not hearing senior management discussing growth options w/ other carriers right now) and we're going to engage in a very costly process of retraining nearly 200 pilots from the ERJ.

So, congrats on getting on with another carrier. I have personally helped many colleagues get on at other regionals over the last several months and it has been a relief to see them move on and find meaningful employment flying for another carrier. I don't want a furlough at Mesa to stifle their dreams of having a fulfilling career as an airline pilot. Glad they got to have a good time while they were here, they learned a few things in the process too. Sad to see them go as we squandered some VERY good pilots with all these furloughs, but many have moved on and are taking what they learned here to their next carrier and will make those carriers better, more pleasant places to work. I think Mesa pilots have a strong track record of doing this. I think Mesa is a bit like the Marine Corps of the airlines in this regard. It's ****ty here in the trenches, but it sure produces some effective, gracious workers wherever they move on to!

minimwage4

That's what I meant.

Nevets

They "offered" this to XJT as well. I will never understand JA's aversion to unions. SWA is thee most heavily unionized airline in the US and they seem to be alright. I guess their management is smart enough to know how to work with their employees collectively.