bored

So you fly the saab in Alaska and want to come to Mesaba for jet experience? You're going to take a paycut to any regional airline regardless of what equip you're on. Having flown the jets and prop at XJ, in the end it's all the same. Maybe a little more cush on the jet, but at the end of the day, it's the same job. I wouldn't let equipment dictate your choice in airline, especially when the pickings are slim. On the brightside, we have more jets than props now, so the odds of a jet are higher. If you got hired on the jet at Mesaba, you'll be logging SIC anyhow, so it wouldn't matter if you're so conserned about getting hired at DL. As for T-prop PIC, it's turbine PIC just like a jet. Don't let the misinformed fools at the all jet regionals try to tell you that you'll never make it to a major if you fly a t-prop.

Don't let the folks with "tons of experience" discourage you from looking into Mesaba. As I said before, we can't hire everyone and we're being deluged with applications, the odds of getting an interview and even the job are small. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

aviatorhi

Well... have you ever had to manifest, fuel, load and de-ice your own airplane when it's -40 and a 60 knot wind before?

Like I said, there are a few reasons.

Those are some good thoughts though, I don't buy into that Jet is better logic, just from a personal standpoint if I do go somewhere it would be to do that sort of flying, flying the turboprops up here is way more fun, than anything I can begin to imagine in the lower 48, but there are some other "reasons" that I'm seriously looking into moving on, ones that I don't want to delve into here, but let's just say that I would rather disappear into a seniority list and have union reps more often than the opposite lately.

bored

Haha... understood.

Another brightside - IF you came to Mesaba, regardless of equipment you'd never have to worry about deicing your own plane, doing manual w&b (except in training and if the auto system is down) and all the gory stuff it sounds like you get to deal with now. You still have to roll your own bag though.

aviatorhi

I can handle that.

Blackwing

I never said it made sense, it's just what people who have gotten the call have reported here. People have said guys with as little as 350/50 have been hired within the last month, while guys with >1000 hrs and 121 time have been getting the "no thanks" email.

Maybe Mesaba thinks low-time guys are more trainable, I don't know. It's difficult to reconcile against conventional wisdom, which says more experienced = better. Not to mention the overwhelming number of experienced 121 guys who all say 400 hr pilots have no business flying an airliner.

WIFlyer

If you are happy in Alaska doing the job now I would say stay with it. Are you left seat or right seat?(apologies if you said that and I missed it) I would say PIC time in a T-Prop is worth 100% more than SIC Jet time to the majors. If you came to Mesaba now you might get the 900 but your time to upgrade would be long. I have no idea what the upgrade status will be next spring but right now we have almost 1200 pilots and the most junior upgrades (which are Saab right now) are going in the mid 600s. There are many captains below that (street caps and people who had the time last year) but you are still looking at a long time in the right seat with a not so great schedule and less pay than you make now with a 2000 mile commute.

Lighteningspeed

It is not true that all prior 121 people are getting the no thanks letters. I am hearing a lot more people from other regionals are getting the yes nod. Go to the Aviationinterviews.com for gouges and the feedback on what types of experiences are prevalent amongst Mesaba interviewees.

By all means apply to Compass and Pinnacle also. I don't know if this is important to you but consider this at Mesaba you get single occupancy hotel room paid for your entire training process including ground school and sim training and you get paid per diem plus 75 hours per month. At Mesaba you get the NonRev travel privilege from day one of training. Find out for yourself if either Compass or Pinnacle does the same.

As far as upgrade time, no one here knows what that might be by the time you get hired. We can only tell what it's been in the past. It changes constantly so do not make your decision on upgrade time alone. Come to Mesaba only if you think it is a good fit for you because you might be at Mesaba longer than you intend to now.

flyingreasemnky

mesaba is definitely hiring a mix of low timers and high timers...my old instructor who was recently laid off from xj just got picked up with over 2,500 hours and around 1200 sic on crj's. i also have friends that are getting hired with between 300-500 hours

Boomer

You might want to sit tight until next spring and see who's still standing after the merger settles out. If you want to jump now, Mesaba would be the best bet (just another pilot's opinion) with Compass a close second.

With today's trends, it looks like some of the NWA/Delta feeders will not get you any 121 jet PIC for many years (like 2016, if ever) so don't rush to place your wager. Err, I mean don't rush to pick your next regional.

vtx531

No per diem during training for new hires but the rest is accurate.