I just found out I’m going back to ground school. It’s like I’ve been told to repeat the 10th grade.

I’m not really sure I know what’s going on. What I do know is that last week I got an email that consisted entirely of an Excel attachment. I get one of these every week or so, and I open it to see if my name is in it, and it never is. Until last week, when the spreadsheet included these lines:

37395 Nachzen,Berck E 1488 F8 JFK CRJ FO YV IAD CRJ FO 2/11/08

The sum total of the information in there is that I am being transferred from Dulles (IAD) to JFK, and in so doing, would be transferring from Mesa Airlines (YV) to Freedom Airlines (F8). The distinction is technical and appellatory–I’m still working for Mesa Air Group. Assuming that I make it out to JFK as a pilot, I’ll be flying under Delta colors instead of United like I would from IAD. To further muddy the waters, ORD is at the top of my standing bid list, which for all I know, means I could get transferred to Chicago before I’m done with this ground school. The real kicker is that bit on the end there. “2/11/08”. The title of that column is, “Class Date,” and I sent an email Thursday both to the person who sent out this email as well as to the pilot training scheduler to ask if that meant I would actually have to be somewhere on that date. The reason I figured it didn’t really apply to me is that 75% of the folks with that class date on the email are already out there on the line, working in another airplane or in another base.

No one responded, and so I called the person who sent the email this morning. She answered that I would, in fact, be going to class that day. Finally, about an hour ago, I got an email that announced some more specifics of the training. It’ll be in Phoenix (well, actually just south of Phoenix). Since I was there last, Mesa has moved their training operations to, well, Mesa, AZ. The only other real information in the post was what I needed to bring to the training (everything), what I needed to wear (business casual), and when it started, 8am. Lodging information is still TBA. No indication of anything else.

So I responded, asking how long the class is. The answer?

3 weeks.

As far as I can tell, I’ll be going through a complete CRJ systems class… again. In some ways, this isn’t bad, since I’m having a hard time remembering everything I knew the first time around. In other ways, I’ve just been told to repeat a grade, because it’s been too long since I passed it.

3 weeks in Arizona, again. I want to go bang my head against a wall. I’ve been there, done that.

Fortunately, 3 weeks is better than 4. And, it makes me more likely to actually get through and out flying.

Oddly, only 3 other people from my class are listed on the documents concerning this class. It appears to only be those of us who have JFK listed on our bid sheets higher than IAD. The other 12 folks in the class appear to be current Mesa or Air Midwest pilots, who are transferring. So, it’s better than a total new-hire class, but it’s still insane that it’s going to be 3 weeks.

Initial thoughts are that it’s good that I’ll get a forced refresher. I suspect I won’t have a roommate. Also, Jonah has travel benefits and can come visit me on the weekends. I think I’ll drive down there this time. Maybe we’ll drive down together and she’ll fly back.

In any case… sheesh.