WIFlyer

RJ has been a great help to me so far. Clear, consice answers and good insight to all my questions. I don't know what more to ask for! I haven't started yet and no one can know what will really happen down the road but everything he has said thus far has been spot on.

sigep_nm

Bases for the new hires has been bouncing back between DET and MEM (SAAB) The newest hire class is about 60 or seniority numbers away from holding MSP. Your first bid will probably not be the place your will end up by the time you get out of training unless you want it to be. Sim training is tight as well as oral schedules. There is talk of St. Louis for some saab new hires. There are 15 hard CRJ200 lines in MSP with two back up aircraft. By June 4th there will be four classes running at the center (2 saab classes, 1 200, and 1 900) There is no guarantee on aircraft, but if you want a jet you could certainly request it, however it will probably delay your arrival here. At last word the projected hiring for this year was approx 600, correct me if I am wrong RJ85. Disregard the pay scale on this site, as it is a little misleading, and tends to be a little complicated based on the amount of aircraft we will eventually have on property. First year is 22.81, however that increases in Jan, and on your hire date (around 28.60 or so). Upgrades are proposed to be around 14 months, however there are a million variables that will go into that.

xjsaab

No ill will to you lost boy, Just trying to help you out. FO's are seatlocked for three years unless they can upgrade. Current word on the 200's is that they will all be based in MSP. I was just trying to help out and suggest something (ask before your actual class date) to get back to DTW sooner. Quality of life with family is #1 on all of our lists. Plus being based in DTW, you tend to get better schedules.

Welcome aboard.

raress

I disagree....the Mesaba guys on here have been a great deal of help. Be open minded to any insight and advice they give. They're here to help!

muushin

Question!!
If you really wanted to fly for Mesaba, in earnest, you liked what you saw at the interview, and you were offered a spot at Mesaba, but did not have a class date. But, YOU DID have a class date at :
Mesa,
Go Jets,
Ex Jet & Peidmont,
all offering a class date way before July, & still wanted to fly with Mesaba, could one interpret that no class date, might equivocate to the possibility that Mesaba HR might drop you as July approaches?
What I am getting at is these are all real offers, the July thing, well, , I kind of feel that I am in a Pool because of the lack of a class date.

Ftrooppilot

Think of the problem from an HR and training perspective.

36 CRJ900s to train (transition of Captains / FOs and new hire FOs.
17 CRJ200s to train (transition of Captains / FOs and new hire FOs.
SAAB FO upgrades to Captain and new hire FOs to train

It takes everything from licking the stamps (mail packages) to arranging hotel rooms, scheduling instructors, simulator time, etc., etc. - oh by the way there is also an airline to run. They are busier then a "one legged man in an a** kicking contest.

The biggest limltation is probably simulator time. How much they can purchase, when and where, will probably determine most class dates. I believe the MSP SAAB sim section can train about thirty pilots a month. CRJ sim time is probably in demand by numerous regionals.

RJ85FO and/or XJSAAB can give a more accurate interpretation.

Stick with it (Mesaba) . You will be glad you did.

muushin

I will , most definitely !! Thanks for the objective insight

xjsaab

Forget Go Jets, do a search on them. I wouldn't do it even if it was straight to the left seat.

Tinpusher007

Can you clarify that? How does the seatlock work if you can upgrade. I will probably have around 700 hrs by the time I get to training. Im guessing upgrade ability is based on a certain number of hours total time as well as time in type with the comapny, so what kind of timeframe would I be looking at for upgrade with 700 hrs at the beginning of training?

340Driver

The SAAB is the junior airframe so I would guess that is where you would upgrade