Grumpyaviator

My vote is no.

av8rdavid

Can anyone from Express give me the skinny about the company and its current position / outlook for the future?
I hear a lot of mixed information outside express that says they are shrinking, don't apply, etc...
Would they guarantee someone Houston base? I believe they had an open house last Friday and Saturday in Houston and I missed it.
PM me if you feel more comfortable.

IDIOTPILOT

The situation is a little bit of good and bad depending on what you want from ExpressJet. It looks like you're interested in the ERJ side and right now there's not much new bad news. We anticipate losing 80ish planes this year out of an original 220 from a year ago. This is obviously a big percentage but we keep losing CAs and FOs consistently so no downgrades or furloughs. We're actually losing more pilots than planes, so there's the need to hire. The company keeps bidding on new flying, but the 15 planes for AA has been the only new thing for the ERJ side.

With that said, we are not seeing a whole lot of quick movement. Plan on reserve for a while if you come here. We're losing about an equal number of FOs and CAs. This is both good and bad. The good is that a lot of FOs are not going to other regionals because the majors are picking up our FOs so everyone sees some kind of hope even if they don't upgrade. The bad is that we need FOs to replace people to upgrade, so it's making it harder to create any actual movement.

I think the company plans to stay around for a good amount of time. They're spending money on new EFBs and little improvements to our contract. The contract is still pretty decent but I wouldn't expect a new one soon. If you've been reading this thread, I'm sure you've seen the 2017 CPA expiration. Technically yes, at the end of 2017 either United or Skywest Inc could say they don't want these planes flown anymore. That's about 120 planes suddenly not flying from one day to the next. Skywest's bet is that in 2017, United will offer a better rate to operate those planes. The 2017 date isn't meant as the last day of ExpressJet, but for a new rate.

IAH has grown a lot over the years and it's now been shrinking little by little lately. That base grows and shrinks but right now it's on a shrink slope and there's no way to tell when the growth slope is coming back.

If you're coming here and OK with no quick upgrade but a better contract then I think it's a good choice.

Flogger

All that being said, if you desire to fly for a major someday, go to a regional with quicker upgrades, get your left seat time and you will most likely move on a lot quicker. You will be giving up Houston as a base and quality of life while at the quick-upgrade regional, but quality of life while on a five year right seat reserve assignment at XJT will suck even more.

tothebigblue

left seat time does not equal fast movement to a major....obviously this character didnt read what idiot pilot said above, majors are pulling CAs AND FOs. So clearly left seat time is not so much of a requirement these days. While yes it is still important and looks better for you to have the CA time, clearly from our attrition that is appearing to be a fallacy. Also the pay is better in the left seat ....reserve is not too bad if you live in base (i was home 19 of 31 days in january but now starting to get busy now that the summer is here). the company is hiring and in order to upgrade and get movement you have to replace an FO thats being upgraded. People that say "don't come here" are only making their time in the right seat or reserve in the left seat that much longer because the company can't upgrade without hiring. Take a look at our contract and see EVERYTHING not just the shiny jet and upgrade. Cancellation pay (100% of credit) and deadhead pay (100% of credit) is important, especially with t-storm season in TX and winter time in canada and the northeast. this company is being ran like an actual business now and its refreshing to see some investment go into the company (EFBs, ATP CTP). And we outperform our parent company it doesn't matter what regional airplane you fly because a regional is a regional if you chase the shiny jet, you're only hurting the entire profession because you'll fly the 175 at mesa for 21 dollars an hour vs. our 50 seater for 23 dollars an hour. its your choice to shop around in this day-in-age because every airline is hiring. do your research and make an educated decision. Good luck

av8rdavid

Both of you have very good points. In my situation; priority is IAH base. Period.... I stated that to regional X when I was offered the position and they didnt seem to think it was a priority.
I dont mind rsv if im at home base and the pay is also digestable if based in IAH.
Upgrade for me will come at its given time and since my goal is to get my feet wet with a 121 flying job I dont mind gaining a few years experience in the right seat. Don't care what airplane... Anything beats flying a single engine piston thats older than I am.
Who is to say XJT wont get the 175 to replace the 145 in the future?
Does anyone have the number to a recruiter before i fill out the entire app on airline apps? PM...
Atp written, 1500+ hours, no skeletons in the closet. Did I mention Houston based? haha.

amcnd

Wouldnt count on the 175 at xjt. It cost the company 2x what they thought to get it on SKW certificate.. I would say SkyWest or Mesa if you want IAH.. I would lean towards Mesa..

tothebigblue

you fly for mesa don't ya?

ThreeStripe

I must echo this statement because it is true. Look at everything in our contract. I came from a bottom feeder that had none of these perks and could not believe everything that is in our current contract. You never know if you are going to get stuck at your current airline for life. I can live with being stuck here as opposed to most of the other regionals.

Hou757

XJT is a good choice for you. Please avoid the bottom feeders such as Mesa..