Flight Instructor Information - Mesa Pilot Development

Join Mesa Pilot Development (MPD), a Part 141 flight school conducting two specialized training programs.

Primary Program:

The first is the Primary Program, a 17-month ab initio course in which we train no-time/low-time students to be first officers for Mesa Air Group. We have a fleet of eight Beechcraft A-36 Bonanzas and two Frasca 142 flight training devices for the private, instrument, and commercial semesters and two Beechcraft B-58 Barons and one Frasca 242 flight training device for the multiengine semester. In the final semester, the students receive 40 hours of training in an Ascent Jet flight training device.

PACE Program:

The second program is the Professional Airline Career Enhancement (PACE) program which trains 200+ hour pilots (with existing ratings with at least Commercial/single-engine) in the Baron and Jet FTD and prepares them for an interview with Mesa.

MPD is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Mesa Air Group, Inc. Mesa flies as US Airways Express, United Express, Delta Connection, and go! Equipment operated includes a DeHavilland DHC-8 200, and the Canadair and Embraer Regional Jets.

General Flight Instructor Information

1. First year pay is $18.00 per hour for all time while acting as an instructor: flight, ground, or simulator. After the first year, pay increases 5% per year. Instructors with significant hours dual given can be paid up to $20 per hour to start depending on experience. MPD instructors average 30-40 hours per week of billable time, and overtime is paid for hours over 40 per week.

2. Each instructor has two consecutive days off each week. Days-off requests are made each semester and are granted by seniority.

3. MPD teaches in trimesters, running from January to April, April to August, and August to December. The breaks between trimesters are one to three weeks long; however, most instructors and students choose to continue training during the breaks.

4. Vacation days may only be taken during the breaks between trimesters except in the case of a bona fide emergency.

5. MPD flight instructors are Mesa employees and therefore qualify for health/dental/vision/life/disability insurance (after 60 days), a cafeteria plan, buddy passes (after 6 months), 401K participation (after one year), and non-revenue/stand-by travel (after 14 days) on Mesa and USAirways. Instructors do not qualify for jumpseat privileges.

6. All Bonanza training costs and 5 hours of the Baron upgrade costs are paid by Mesa (must have 5 hours PIC in B58 to instruct).

7. You may be interested in working later as a flight officer for Mesa Air Group. If so:
• You must instruct with MPD for at least 12 months before you may interview for a pilot position.
• You will be granted an interview with the company, and, if successful, preferential hiring.
• Your instructor performance at MPD will be considered in the hiring process.

Getting to the interview

The applicants successfully completing our initial screening will be provided space-available, non-revenue travel from the closest USAirways city to Farmington, New Mexico for an interview when we have flight instructor positions to be filled.

Flight Instructor Hiring

In addition to the standard job interview, the flight instructor interview at MPD seeks to evaluate the teaching ability, instrument skill, and aeronautical knowledge of each applicant through oral questioning, a written exam, and a simulator flight. An instructor who is hired may be given an immediate employment opportunity or may be placed into an instructor pool to be called when a position opens.

MAPD Instructor Qualifications

A well-qualified applicant should have the following:
• Commercial Pilot Certificate and Flight Instructor Certificate, both with ASEL, AMEL, and Instrument
• Current Second Class Medical Certificate
• 500 hours PIC time including 200 hours flight instruction given.

Nonetheless, these qualifications are not our minimums. Under some circumstances, we may hire someone who, for example, has less PIC experience or who has not yet earned the MEI.

All interested pilots are encouraged to apply and update their application files often.

Please click “Request More Info” below to send us your information and get started today!