flight attendant

pilot

first officer

dispatcher

mechanic

Mesa Airlines

I came into this such a bright positive person. I read all the bad comments and thought "those people are probably just negative" "every job has its ups and downs". 
Seriously don't do it. Unless you live in Houston, Dallas, or D.C. Don't even consider it. The pay is bad but you know that going in. The people are not all they're cracked up to be. The people from my training class were amazing fun beautiful humans but this job is not so slowly wearing that away. The D.C. Crew room is a vortex of negativity. People are all just bonding over misery and hate for the company and it's depressing.  The flight benefits aren't even free you have to pay not just for your friends, family, and each of your children, but for your own! Our standby priority is the lowest in the industry. Crew tracking and management are a hot mess. They're condescending and will try and get you in trouble for mistakes they made, which you can usually get settled without any lasting repercussions but it's so annoying to have to fight to fix something you didn't even do.  They're decreasing the amount of lines offered now so people are staying on reserve for longer and line holders are going back to reserve. Reserve shifts are 6 days on with only 2 days off and then right back at it. Which barely leaves you enough time to even go to a grocery store and do laundry let alone travel. I was using this job to get experience to move to a bigger airline. I was raised by a flight attendant and have spent my whole life traveling and literally 4 months into this job and I never want to see another airport again.  Getting a line in phx can take nearly a decade so don't even think about it unless you want to be on reserve for forever. The union is garbage but of course like everything else here, you're forced to pay for it.  Most of he hotels are downright disgusting, bed bugs and late night cop calls galore. They're always in the middle of nowhere so to actually get out and explore any cities your paying for like 20$ each way Uber's before you even get out to do anything  or using hours of your already embarrassingly short overnights on public transport. Unless you actually live at base your work life balance is nonexistent. Also we only have a 1.5 hour call out for regular reserve which is literally not enough time to do anything. I don't even know if another airline that has less than 3hrs. You don't actually need previous experience to get on with another airline so just wait it out and in the mean time start a travel savings account and just buy a ticket. You could travel just as much as you can with this job without sacrificing your personal life, freedom, and dignity. Sorry for the rant but I've just literally never regretted anything more in my life. 
I do hear that it's a little better if you're based in Houston or senior in Phoenix, but at this point I'm so over this company I just want out. But I will say if you're trying to run away from your life and start over and you want to get away from everyone you know and you like binge watching Netflix and only having time to get drunk and pass out sounds like fun, this is probably ok for you but if you want a better quality of life than that and you don't hate your current life you're just looking to explore and have some adventures, this is not the way to do that.

There really isn't anything good to say about working as a Maintenance Controller in this organization. First off they are seriously short staffed and due to low pay, poor and/or no benefits they can't attract anyone to work in such a position. It's so bad that many maintenance controllers beg to return to being mechanics in the hangar. The shifts are 12 hours and you don't get any breaks or lunch. You are literally sitting at your desk answering phone call after phone call from pilots who want to talk to maintenance about nothing and mechanics who want to defer everything. Both lack the training to operate and fix their aircraft so they call maintenance control using it more as a 1-800 help line. Higher management truly thinks you do nothing that is why they don't do anything to make anything better, in fact they add to the work load by assigning more tasks and duties while expecting great results. The good part of working at Mesa is that you do get exposed to everything and can learn from that, something you can't get from many other employers. Which brings up another good point and that is training. "You don't get much" perhaps if any, and if you are able to get an GENFAM of any sort for any aircraft you will be considered lucky. Mesa offers in house training that is online and is useless. It's probably more for legal sake than training purposes. I personally have gotten better information and training from YouTube about our aircraft than what Mesa shares. Another thing to consider is that you are on the phone the entire shift, the phone(s) don't stop ringing and there is no end. Dealing with different people is a challenge unto it's own and it will be up to you to understand the various dialects, slang and lack of phone skills by many wanting you to help them. That's not withstanding the many sub-standard phone carriers and plans that pilots, mechanics, and on call maintenance uses. The Maintenance control department itself has no leadership. So you are on your own and at the mercy to a culture that views what you do as nothing, and that means no pay raises, better benefits or anything for what you do on a daily basis. Taking a day off and calling in sick is borderline crisis due to being short staffed, "they run on hopes and prayers" nobody will call in sick or even take vacation, which is another issue due to lack of people and from the looks of it Mesa doesn't want to hire any other maintenance controllers for a decent wage. It's been rumored that in order to hire more people they have offered more money to the new hires while doing nothing for those who have been working there. So just imagine the training you'll get.

I was a data analyst aka someone who scanned paper reports into the computer. Pay is minimum wage.  There is NO advancement. Lead, supervisor and manager are NOT about their employees and are not flexible with anything.  You are first hired on as a temp worker, even though it states "full time/permanent" online. You have to "earn" (LOL) becoming full time.  They over complicate every aspect of this job as there is SO MUCH power struggle with management.  There are four basic jobs: (1) receiving the maintenance reports, (2) tagging (aka assigning them a barcode and entering that number into the computer), (3) scanning the reports, (4) verifying the reports scanned properly via computer, sorting the needed pages from the reports, and filing the remainder of the report for one year before being destroyed.

Management micro manages SO much.  You can't go to the bathroom for 5 minutes without being questioned where you were. You do not get holidays off, you do not get holiday pay, and you additionally are told no if you request PTO for a holiday. Also, you cannot earn PTO or any days off as a temp worker (you are offered benefits though).  If you are sick with no PTO, it is the manager's right to fire you. It is the manager's choice to allow these "perks", but they are denied.  Same with hours.  You can either work 9 hours and take an hour for lunch, or "work through lunch" and still be stuck for 9 hours.  There is ZERO flexibility.  Weekend overtime is pressured weekly.  Daily overtime is also pressured and basically expected. Other departments have the option to work a normal 8 hour day, work 9 hours, or work 10 and have a three day weekend. Not in the Records Department.  It appears management thinks they are doing everyone a favor by "offering an hour of overtime everyday" regardless if you want it or not.

The only saving grace are the employees.  The team here is SO dedicated, friendly, and helpful.  They bust their butts for management that never appears to be happy.  They deserve better than this company.  Mesa wonders why they can never hold employees and why they're tanking. The entire company as whole does not care about their employees.

as a new hire, days are long and often unrewarding. you sit at home on call, you’re unpaid. you sit in the crew room on call, you’re paid for only half the hours you were there. when you do fly, your pay starts when the door closes and stops when the door opens. no boarding or deplaning pay. crew scheduling is inconsistent and not you’re ally. sometimes you’ll be notified of your flights, sometimes they won’t call at all and if you had flights, the penalization falls on you. almost all reasons for missing a flight or tardiness will result in a probation extension of 3 months on top of your new hire 6 month probation. no exceptions for prior engagements like doctors appointments or sicknesses. the one and only exception to this rule is bereavement, that only extends to certain family members. be careful and be punctual. think of being at your gate at least 20 min before your actual show time to avoid probation extensions. workplace culture is also pretty inconsistent. some days you’ll have amazing cabin crew who all work together to get stuff done. some days you’ll have lazy, rude, or more senior cabin crew that still follow the old rules and will argue with you on them. the same for pilots. some are great and understand you have a job and procedures to do, some are rude and want to board and close the door as soon as possible and don’t view your job as important as theirs. take advantage of your union, they’re there as, really, you’re only ally. bidding is a whole other ball game as well that you’re thrusted into wholly unprepared for. all that being said, they’re the only company (as of 8/19/25) hiring young (18) and inexperienced people, but the hiring age is changing soon as well. still, it’s good to get experience under your belt and to see if this wildly chaotic career is meant for you. 

Good story. Hired by Mesa. I worked all the time, never really complained. The airline will use you up and they don’t care about you. They will honestly try to destroy your life day by day. They will call you up and tell you to work a flight, and you have to do it. Which happened to me a lot. I got tired of working all the time. I was working more hours than most employees. I would literally only get a day off a week. That’s 4 days off in a month. So yes, I was getting treated very badly and I called them up to see why. They didn’t care and they tried to control me to the best of their ability. I even was very sick with a 103 degree fever and they told me to work it or I would get fired. So I literally worked the flight sick. The pilots literally told me to go home and I told them I can’t. I called them up weeks later and told them I’m quitting right now. I did nothing wrong in Mesa. I was tired of being treated so badly. I have never experienced this in my life. So I quit. Next thing I know, I was going to another employer and they asked me if I was ever fired from any jobs, I said no (that’s the truth). They bring up Mesa Airlines and they said that “they fired you”. I said no, I quit because they treat their employees badly and I couldn’t take the negativity in the company. And now every employer I go to now will ask the same thing because Mesa Airlines lies to keep their destroyed reputation intact. I don’t understand why they did this to me. Like I said, I did nothing wrong in the company. 

My friends wanted me to share this because they experienced similar things with Mesa airlines management treating their employees very badly. It isn’t just me. It’s happening to a lot of these employees. 

Should be a good sign to not get employed by them.

For the ones who do not have friends or family to lean on financially… I’m sorry. It’s definitely hard to cope with this schedule lifestyle. Reserve days are rigorously long. 10 hours… & you’re only getting paid half of your hourly rate for each hour at the airport on call (ready reserve). If you’re on regular reserve (on call but not at the airport) you’re not getting paid. Most days you’re not getting called and at times when you are it feels like a decade has gone by and you feel like you gotta dive into what was jammed into your head during your training. The people you work with are great. It’s like a family atmosphere. Work life balance is well… hard… to say the least. Most flight attendants get there probation extended due to being sick. Its easy to get it. Kindergarten teachers get sick a lot during there first year of teaching. Think of it the same for us. The turnover rate is high. Most go to mainline or other higher paying regionals. Speaking of pay… it’s low. Hard to survive for most, let alone save. You pay for your own vacation through your paychecks. The company does not provide pto for flight attendants. Also, training. You get a small dividend each week after the first week. This covers food and if you have extra… anything else you might need. It’s not for the faint of heart. Teaming up to study and do the emergency drills is highly recommended in my personal opinion. You will struggle if you try to do this on your own. Getting on the crj900 and ejet for the time is very exciting. The ioe trainers seem to either be great or terrible. Seems like most are trying to get out of Mesa Airlines… which isn’t what you want to hear when starting out with a company. 

A typical day at work consisted of reporting to the airport 1 hour prior to departure of a flight. Getting preliminary reports from gate agents, preflighting the aircraft and putting commissory away, preboarding special needs passengers, then regular passengers, making all mandatory announcements, checking for passenger compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations for flight, Maintaining Passenger safety and comfort during all phases of flight. Customer service during flight and preparing the cabin for all phases of flight including taxi, take off and landing.
Management in this company leaves a little to be desired,. Co workers were great to work with. Friendly and team players for the most part. The hardest part of the job was the long days. Being on duty 14 to 17 hours a day when there were circumstances. Rarely worked less than 12 hours in a day. Sometimes not getting enough rest. Was only paid for flight time hours and perdium when away from base. Maximum flight time in a day was 8 hours. If in base no pay on the ground.
Employee benefits were great as far as flying priviledges and discounts.
The most enjoyable part of the job was working with alot of wonderful people and seeing different places.

Best part about Mesa Airlines as a mechanic is the amount of work and oportunities to learn.  The worst part is an imbalance of leadership, one shift where be it overnight maintenance and line maintenance have leadership that literally has no understanding of how to lead as a lead mechanic which is crucial for mechanic developement to the opposite shift where there is little to no interaction of work on the aircraft.  The best part about my shift is the comraderie among the mechanics and the inspectors.  The negative part is the high turn over rate of mechanics due to lack of pay and benefits to disgruntal satisfaction of leadership.  The hardest and most challenging part of the job is accepting and understanding some Engineering Orders that Mesa had to comply with.  The mechanics overall could of used a lot more support overall, more computer terminals, less time of reduntant paperwork such as changing a tire you had to hand fill out the task card even though it follows the maintance manual verbatim and sign off the actual job card wiith the reference.  I learned from my military experience you lead from the front by example, all aspects I could tell of Mesa did not follow that other than two to three individuals.

A+P AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE/ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
US Airways Express PSA Airlines. A+P Mechanic.  Maintenance Technician on CRJ 200 and CRJ 700.  Line Maintenance, Scheduled and non-scheduled inspections. 
Aircraft Mechanic.  Mesa Airlines.  Perform Scheduled and Unscheduled Inspections of EMB-145 / CRJ-200 / CRJ-700/900 / DASH-8 Aircraft.  Maintain Aircraft, and ensure documents are performed correctly. Ordering the proper parts that are effective to specific aircraft. 

I have many training certificates from manufactures and training schools, for aircraft maintenance.   I've had Bombardier factory training for CRJ 200  and systems analysis for flight controls.  Training of CRJ 200 Allied Signal APU.  CRJ 200's engine GE CF34-3A1/3B1 at the factory.  I've had Embaer 145 Fight Safety training with Primus Honeywell avionics course, and  Parker fuel and flight systems.  Rolls Royce AE3007 factory training.   ERJ 145 APU Hamilton Sunstrand factory training.  I'm run/taxi qualified for CRJ-200 and EMB 145.  FCC license acquired.

USAF F-16C Crew Chief.  13th and 78th Fighter Squadron.  Performed daily launch and recovery duties.  Performed repair work from minor to extensive.  Maintained Aircraft log books, and performed heavy Phase Inspections. 

Training Completion Certificates, and Honorable Discharge.  Did a couple of overseas tours.

I’ve been here for more than Five years and right off the bat I’ll say the CRJ planes are AWFUL! So many delays you’re exhausted (and not earning a dime) before you even FLY anywhere. The EJETS are so much nicer and so are the crews. I can see how being in old, smelly planes can make someone bitter but that’s no excuse to be lazy and unprofessional. 95% of the crews in IAH and IAD, SDF seem great, 25% of PHX and DFW need more hobbies than being junior or senior mommas or poppas” with weird attitudes. Management could do a bit better with EMPATHY they demand we give passengers, don’t just treat us like a number and maybe people will stop quitting like flies. Starting pay and overall max pay is awful, we deserve more and grateful for the AFA so long as shady business stays to a minimum with all the fees they collect. Payroll also makes a lot of errors and it’s insane and infuriating when that happens! Hotels are ok but some are absolutely terrible. Overall United and AA flight benefits along with some good bases and great people are the only reason to work here, it’s a great entry point or part time aviation job if you can survive on the “salary” here. Reserve life is usually short too. Consider all the pros and cons and have your own upgrade plane ready if you want a lifelong career in this industry.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Flight attendant 6 salaries reported	$16.67 per hour
Pilot 3 salaries reported	$100 per hour
First officer 5 salaries reported	$100 per hour
Dispatcher 4 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour
Mechanic 4 salaries reported	$19.89 per hour

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