Mesa Airlines (YV, Phoenix Sky Harbor) will furlough 53 pilots, citing a significant and unexpected reduction in flight crew attrition levels. First reported by Airline Geeks, the carrier operating as United Express on behalf of United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare) has since sent an announcement to more junior first officers via email.
Mesa Airlines’ pilots are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA).
In its 2023 Annual Report, Mesa Airlines said it had entered into a Letter of Agreement with ALPA in August 2022, which provided for increased overall hourly pay rises of nearly 118% for captains and 172% for new-hire first officers, which improved the carrier’s ability to attract, hire, and retain pilots in the 2023 fiscal year. “Attrition levels have dropped to a pre-Covid level,” it said.
ch-aviation has reached out to Mesa Airlines and ALPA for comment. In its annual report, the carrier said it employed about 2,303 staff, including 807 pilots or pilot recruits.
Additionally, Mesa Airlines pointed out that the shortage of pilots, led in part by the US Federal Aviation Administration’s qualification standards, had driven up its pilot salaries and sign-on bonuses, resulting in an increase in its labour costs.
Moreover, Mesa relies exclusively on United Airlines and has warned that it has “no guarantee that in the future United will choose to enter into contracts with us, or renew their existing agreements with us, instead of operating their own regional jets, allocating flying to their captive regional airlines, or entering into relationships with competing regional airlines.” It added that a decision by United to phase out or limit the CPA would impact its bottom line.
In April 2023, American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) and Mesa Airlines ended their American Eagle partnership. In March 2024, Mesa suspended its cargo operations on behalf of DHL Express.
The ch-aviation fleets module shows Mesa’s fleet comprises 122 aircraft, including two inactive B737-400(SF)s, fifty CRJ900s, and seventy E175s.
