Good-bye Mesaba! I'll miss you!

Today was an incredibly sad day for me and so many wonderful people in my life. Today marked the last "real" day of Mesaba Airlines. Small pieces will remain for a period of time, but the Mesaba that has been such a big part of my life(and so many others) will be done. I really could not put into words what that company meant to me. I started there, just a 20-year old kid and I left so incredibly rich. I was a wife, mom of two, and had a life full of amazing people that I had met over the 10+ years I worked there, one of whom was my husband.

I started as a ramp agent, loading planes for a living, while going to college to be a pilot. I owe Mesaba for my realization that I did not want to be a pilot at all! When I realized this, however, I also realized that this was absolutely the industry for me and where I wanted to be. People in the industry always talk about how there is nothing like the smell of jet fuel in the morning. So true! There is just something great about walking out on the tarmac in the morning and smelling that "airport smell." It gets in your blood and for some of us, never leaves! I worked at the airport for almost seven wonderful years and loved every minute of it. I deiced planes, worked in our ops department, and then managed in that same department. When I started our breakroom was a crappy triple-wide trailer out on the ramp. It was so disgusting, but so great. We were mixed right in with all the pilots and flight attendants and all got to know each other and had a great time. Today, those groups are very separate in a big new terminal. After so many years, I wanted to move up in the company, but it was a very small, senior group above me at the airport. So, when I was on maternity leave with N, I got a call to apply for a manager job at our general offices in Crew Scheduling. To say I knew nothing about that would be an understatement! The flight ops side of the airline was something I knew nothing about, but I do love a challenge, so I accepted when they offered. I then moved on to be the Manager of Training Scheduling shortly after and had the pleasure of working under two great bosses! After about three and a half years at the G.O., learning a side of the airline I had never known a thing about, and meeting some truly wonderful people, it was announced that Mesaba had been sold to Pinnacle Airlines. This was an airline that was our competitor and whom we had often watched struggle to perform. With this purchase, all of us were told that within the next couple years, we would be expected to move to Memphis if we wanted to keep our jobs. Most of us were shocked and heartbroken. We had been through many ups and downs as a company, but this was far worse than anything thrown at us in the past. We were a Minnesota company, full of people that had grown up with this company and put so much of ourselves into it. To be told we all had to move and to look around the room that day and realize that so many of us would not, that it would never be the same again, was just too sad. By some miracle a week or two later, I was called by my old manager at the airport to tell me that he was leaving and that he thought I should apply for his job. All of the jobs at the airport since I had left, had become part of another company, Regional Elite. This particular position had been "the job" for me for so many years that I had to try for it. Even when I worked at our G.O., people would tease me about missing the airport and the action. Luckily, so very luckily, I got that job and am back at the airport, in the environment I love, and with many of the people I had worked with years ago! Sadly, most of my friends, who had really become like family, were not that lucky. Many have since scattered and found new jobs, a few are moving to Memphis, and many more will not have jobs tomorrow, or shortly after. It pains my heart to see what was such an amazing company and group of people separated. The great thing about Mesaba was undoubtedly the people. Anyone there would tell you that. Most of us were there because we truly loved the industry and our jobs....and that is what made us all so successful. To have a company full of people that actually want to be there and like what they do is so rare. I wonder if I will ever work with such a group again.

The Saab 340

I am so thankful. So thankful for so many things related to Mesaba.

I am thankful for them taking me in, that 20-year old kid, and teaching and developing me into what I am today.

My favorite plane...the Avro

I am truly thankful for some incredible bosses that I had along the way! I can think of six and I gained so much from each of them and am forever grateful for their support and what they taught me.

CRJ-200

I am thankful for every person I met along the way. My life is better because of them. Some of my best friends in life, I met at Mesaba. I cannot believe the volume of wonderful friends I made there that are still in my life today, though some left the company years ago! We have all kept in touch and I hope we do forever. We have traveled the world together, been in each others weddings, let our babies play together.

CRJ-900

Some of the people I work with today at the airport always joke about the "Mesaba Love Machine." I have never seen so many couples come out of one company! I guess the love machine is what I am most thankful for! :) Mesaba is where I met Scott and I will be forever thankful for that.

Mesaba, you were good to me! Thank you for everything! You will always hold a special place in my heart and I wish the best to the whole family as we move on to new adventures!