Skyler02

Agreed that has been the strategy. And it worked to fill classes when there were plenty of pilots to fill classes. Now that the pool has dried up and there are much better options for pilots (the differential between the Mesa contract and other contracts has grown substantially over the past few months - you can pretty much double your salary by going ANYWHERE else), that strategy won't continue to work.

Majors will be giving the contracts (i.e. Growth) to the carriers they believe can staff them. They have analysts looking at all of this stuff. The analysts know the more attractive carriers, from a pilot's perspective, are going to be the ones that can recruit going forward. The less attractive carriers are very concerning to them. Their number one question is - What are you doing to recruit pilots?

When awarding contracts that will be in place going forward, they have to be forward thinking. The new landscape looks nothing like the last decade. They know this. They get paid to be forward thinkers.

RV5M

Yes, but pilots are still showing up at Mesa. We aren't hurting yet. How they're doing this, I don't know, but we seem to be staffing just fine.

24/48

You guys make some valid points for bailing to another regional, but you may actually be doing more harm than good....

1) When looking at applicants who have gone from regional to regional recruiters begin to wonder if its the applicant or the regional. We all know what a crap operation MAG is, nonetheless it is an indicator that it may not be the employer but rather the employee.

2) Many come on boards like this complaining about their QOL at their regional. Most of that stems from little to no work rules, and even worse reserve rules. If the ultimate goal is to get your time and get out, then why bounce around spending a month or two in training each year? All to go to the bottom of a seniority list to live a crap reserve life? Granted, reserve life is short and most hold lines at a regional within months of getting hired, but they are junior lines with no QOL. Again, why? Get senior, get a decent schedule, and focus on the ultimate goal of moving on.

Now if the regional airline industry is the pinnacle of your career, then definitely focus on the one with the best pay, benefits, etc. But for the kid coming out of the "pilot factory" hoping to fly heavies across the ocean then jumping from regional to regional does more harm than good.

Skyler02

Good points for sure. If you are already at Mesa, it may or may not be beneficial for you to move on. Each individual has their own circumstances. The less time you have invested, the better position you may be in to make a change now. Or it might be better to just tough it out, and wait for the opportunity for a step up. Who knows. Every situation is different.

The bigger issue, or just as big of an issue, for Mesa, is enticing new pilots to come in.

Incidentally, there aren't many "kids" coming out of the "pilot factories" anymore. Actually, there are very, very few. Look at the new hire classes at most of the regionals. Usually less than 1/3 of each class are people under 30. And there are fewer and fewer "pilot factory" pilots everyday. The younger people coming out of those places are heading back to their own countries to work where they will be appropriately compensated for what they do. They have no desire to work in the U.S. for the wages the regionals pay.

BeatNavy

People are still showing up, but we aren't hiring as many as we want/need. In fact, last month we had a net loss. Attrition is picking up. Perhaps it'll slow temporarily because of the new planes, but things aren't as gravy in the recruiting department as they used to be. And major/cargo hiring is just beginning.

xjtgrunt

Space has been allocated for ships 331-350

Skyler02

BTW, Mesa is most definitely NOT filling classes. Check you sources.

word302

Which, if true, is a good thing for all of you.

chrisreedrules

Leverage <filler>

24/48

By less time do you mean just starting out, or less time before age 65?

If it's the former, then I would caution a lateral move for the reasons I've already stated. 99% chance that things will suck just as bad at the other regional, but things always suck when you're at the bottom of the list. It also raises a flag for recruiters since there are so many laws against slander, etc that it leaves those recruiters to draw conclusions about folks who jump from company to company when no apparent reason is evident.

If it's the latter, then certainly a lateral move may be better.

I would agree that the "pilot factories" aren't pumping out the numbers like they used to, but there are still plenty of students willing to pony up the dough. The real issue is when they graduate with all their rating but only a few hundred hours. The FAR's have made it a lot more difficult to walk across stage and in to a 121 ground school. Some are even by-passing the regionals all together and going to a 135 operation and getting on at Frontier, etc. Why not bomb around the islands in a 414, or something similar, and then get hired to fly an Airbus? Better than dealing with the regional BS and being one of many with an RJ rating trying to get to UA or DL.