Joseph

In the near future I plan on working for Expressjet, and after that I would really like to fly for Continental. I was just wondering if Continental hires from Expressjet? The reason I ask is because I heard that Continental does not like to hire from Expressjet, is there conflict between the two? One last thing, I am going to earn my college degree online once I get hired at a regional, will the major carriers except this, or do they look down on it?

Thank's ahead of time for your help.

BigBeerBelly

I hope this helps answer a few of your questions. Express Jet is Continental Express, as you know. It is less an issue of not getting along as getting along too well, between managements. Taking too many pilots from Express will cost a lot in training and slow down growth opportunities. Only so many can be hired and trained in a year. This is a common problem for pilots wanting to go to a certain airline. It happened to many pilots back when United was hiring a lot. It was more difficult, not impossible to get an interview if you came from Express. That being said, if you have very good connections, and can land an interview, it should not hurt your chances of getting hired. Generally it is harder to get the interview, but not harder to pass the interview if you come from the Express.

I assume your strong desire to work for CO is that you have relatives or family there. So, perhaps that would help you get in quicker. However, you could slow your career down considerably by tieing your dreams to one airline. I know guys that are flying as widebody captains in there early 30s because they took opportunities as they arose. You are probably pretty young and therefore will not have too much concern with the starting conditions at CO. That is a big advantage to you as many, myself included, could not afford the first year conditions offered at CO, but that is not what this thread is about.

You mentioned it in your post, so you are probably concerned about your decision to get an online degree. IMHO, that is not a good choice. Many friends have missed opportunities in their career because they chose to do what you are considering. In the regional world, you will not have time to study for school, work, have a family, and study for work. I would strongly recommend you to complete your education then pursue your career. As far as accepting or frowning upon an online degree, it depends. If it comes up, it will probably be frowned upon. Old grey haired captains that do interviews at major airlines, will probably not be as impressed as if you went the traditional route and got excellent grades. Usually, it will never even come up though in an interview. Very little time and if the box is checked they will just move on. I would not put on your resume XYZ "Online" University.

Well, good luck to you. Only you can decide what's best for you.

Cheers,
BBB

stickwiggler

IMHO, beer belly is half right.... I agree with all except the online education thing. I know more than one guy that got on a delta in the extra snobby pre 9/11 days with an online degree. Beside, you can always pick a reputable university that has an online program. Embry Riddle (although I heard the online thing was really tough) is one example.
St

JetMonkey

You're about 8 years too late. The last of the "flow-thru" guys were fall 98 hires at Continental Express (now ExpressJet). If Cal is your desire, then you're better off flying for another carrier, upgrading, then apply.

Good luck.

Ottopilot

CAL still hires from XJT, but there is no guaranttee. I worked for Express 9 years before going to Continental. There are over 1000 former Express pilots at Continental.

Eric Stratton

how many of them were because of the flow through though?

Free Flyer

To put things in perspective, when I went through class earlier this year, out of 16 new hires, 12 of them were XJT. They still hire a ton of those guys, however they said that they were slowing down that trend as they clean out the XJT pool.

Oscar13601

I spoke with a CAL check Airman and he told me that he likes XJT guys. They know the bases and the system, Ex: CCS (crew communication system), even the Ops manual is very close to CAL's. XJT is a copy of CAL. I'm with XJT currently and I love it.

Ottopilot

There have been various "flow throughs" over the years. There was a time when you got a CAL number when hired at Express, then the flow-through of 97-2001, then the "list" guys (almost flowed, but 9/11 changed the agreement), then the PIGS, etc. I think 400 pilots are from the last official 97-01 flow through. I've flown with CAL captains that were my Captains on the ATR at Express.

CargoBob

My bro got hired at Cal last year and his class was half filled w/ Xpress guys...he said most were good dudes.

In the classes just before him, he said there were 2 express guys that were severely questionable:

One guy who has pen striped highlighted hair w/ bangs below his eyebrows, also addorned w/ 4 large holes in his ear lobes from earings...they nicknamed the kid "California" or something?? This kid blew my bros mind...my bro is ex mil. The guy is very likable but looks like a clown--or a used car salesman.

And another one that got fired at CAL 5 months earlier for exploding during a CAL CRM class--he got his job back somehow and started 5 months later. How did he get his job back??