Worst Contract Carrier

[Light Years]

Wow, this is an old-ass topic. Time for an update?

 

[JAXPax]

I'm not a Mesa fan, but have found myself on Air Midwest a lot this year. Outstanding cockpit crews on those B1900Ds who joke with passengers, show some enthusiasm for the job (despite being based in hell-holes like Massena, NY and making less than I pay my call center agents), and always are willing to help out. Also great ground personnel at some of their smaller stations where one guy does it all.

I typically avoid Express flights, as thankfully Jacksonville is primarily mainline except for Saturdays. I end up on PSA when I fly Express... gotta love flight attendants who say on the 55 minute flight to Charlotte "Due to the short duration of the flight, no service..." meanwhile mainline can do a beverage service to everybody on a full A321 on the same route and still have time to do a second and third round in First. Or the two PSA flights earlier this year JAX-DCA which was, again, apparently too short for a beverage service so the flight attendant could sit across the last row by the lavatory and read a book the entire flight.

Real professionals at Mid-Atlantic who know what real airline service is all about.... let's see what happens when Reshittletauqua starts flying those planes....

 

[AstroLounge]

From personal experience, Shuttle America was the worst operator I ever encountered (and we are talking over 40 years). It got so bad I elected to drive the 3.5 hour distance than subject myself to the experience. When I sat next to a SA pilot on his way to another interview and HE confirmed my suspicions, that was it and I contacted CCity. Like alot of others, I have heard very negative stories about Mesa but my personal experiences were fine. PSA and Piedmont usually do a great job and MDA was the Best

 

[US1YFARE]

PSA and Piedmont usually do a great job and MDA was the Best

Except 2 summers ago when the PSA flight crews didn't show up for flights.

 

[CruelSummer]

Wow, this is an old-ass topic. Time for an update?

I agree.... what's the result of the poll after all this time?

 

[Boeing4me]

Shuttle America flew out of my home port of LYH a few years back and let me tell you every time I was on Shutle America It felt like I was flying Aeroflot in the late 1940's. Never have I seen more filthy airplanes or slip-shod flight attendants.

Clearly the pilot crews must have been OK as I am here today posting on the web. 🙂

 

[Stuka Luva]

Except 2 summers ago when the PSA flight crews didn't show up for flights.

So...are you blaming PSA crews for not coming to work or PSA management for bungling the integration of new aircraft and training of crews? Just curious.

 

[SSRinPHX]

OK, admittedly I have only had to work side by side with Mesa, and I can tell some GOOD horror stories about my experiences with them. However, just reading what y'all have writted about SA SCARES me! lol. 99% of Mesa's customer service issues come from a LACK OF TRAINING. I spend just as much time helping out their 2 or 3 year employees as I do my own that have only been on the job a few months. YIKES.
As for uniforms, there are a LOT of them that usually look HORRIBLE. I have agents that have been sent home from owrk for showing up looking NOWHERE near as bad as some of their f/a, much less the gate agents. (I know, I know....one would think a lot of us wouldn't be picky about a shirt unbuttoned to the navel, but hey....I'm an old married lady and I don't appreicate the view! lol.)
I also know this is an OLD topic, but it's still pretty darned relevant. (Especially when you look at the fact that 100% of the express service for LCC out of PHX and LAS is Mesa!!! EEEK!)
I know it would stink for a lot of pilots and inflights, but I would sure like to see RJ's and anything else 50+ seats back into the scope of mainline, as it would preserve a LOT more of our hard earned jobs. Either that or shorten the routes they can fly. I myself have had enough with flying to AUS, PDX, DFW and SEA on the rj's!!! (Can you say NO legroom? Unless of course, you're lucky enough to get exit row or bulkhead.)

 

[Light Years]

I know it would stink for a lot of pilots and inflights, but I would sure like to see RJ's and anything else 50+ seats back into the scope of mainline, as it would preserve a LOT more of our hard earned jobs. Either that or shorten the routes they can fly. I myself have had enough with flying to AUS, PDX, DFW and SEA on the rj's!!! (Can you say NO legroom? Unless of course, you're lucky enough to get exit row or bulkhead.)

That would not stink at all... we have thousands of furloughed pilots and flight attendants that would love to come back to work on the RJs and EMBs. More airplanes at actual US Airways is good for everybody. But the company feels differently as they are in the process of outsourcing even the E170s as we speak.

 

[Filkster]

Except 2 summers ago when the PSA flight crews didn't show up for flights.

AS I recall here at PSA there were no crews being fired for noshowing trips. So that must mean that the min wage highschool drop out schedulers were not covering flights. In fact I have several stories of flights/trips not covered by sched until it was too late the position the pilots/fa's to cover anything.

Also at the time there was a lot of bs in sched with schedulers cancelling flights so they're buddys could get home early. Several times on my last flight of a trip they would try to get me to fly an extra day so they could replace me with a pilot wanting to get home early.

Sad but true, you get what you pay for.

 

[Stuka Luva]

That is basically correct. I just don't like the insinuation that it's the crew's fault that they just didn't show up for flights. For the most part, it's not the daily schedulers fault. They are small cog in a broken and inefficient system. Perhaps in the future, PSA scheduling will evolve into an effective crew/resource management department. Stranger things have happened. Keep hope alive!

 

[hula-flyguy]

it amazes me that a crew scheduler has the power to decide what flights operate, or not...

I think somebody has their story just a trifle confused.

 

[2clippedwings]

it amazes me that a crew scheduler has the power to decide what flights operate, or not...

I think somebody has their story just a trifle confused.

🙁 PSA is a wholly-owned subsidiary (as is Piedmont, US West, US East and another entity (not an airline) of the USAirways Group. Thus PSA is not a contract carrier. 😛

Now if you want to discuss poor planning...PSA has that market cornered. Perhaps having mainline handle PSA's planning and scheduling would enhance the dream of "seamless service". Trust me when I tell you that the crews keep PSA operating day to day, problem solving on the wing, despite management's efforts to stymie them every step along the way. <_<

 

[john john]

Trust me when I tell you that the crews keep PSA operating day to day, problem solving on the wing, despite management's efforts to stymie them every step along the way. <_<

Trust me when I tell you alot of times the crews don't

 

[Stuka Luva]

Trust me when I tell you

Nah

alot of times the crews don't

"alot"? How much is that?

You are not going to tell me that PSA crews call in sick/no show/go out of their way to screw the pax and/or company any more than anybody else are you? C'mon!