Nevets

Domicile? I just don't think so when comparing us to other places that have higher first year pay already, faster upgrade times, bonuses, and or career progression. We will have to agree to disagree.

Generalaviator1

Domicile can be pretty important, depending on whether or not you want to commute on reserve.

Then again with pay like Endeavor's one could easily afford a decent crashpad and reserve is shorter anyway. But who knows, maybe ExpressJet will start to see some faster movement in the coming year or two

Nevets

Ok, I wasn't sure what you meant by that. But that was the point I made earlier. Just increasing first year pay isn't going to convince more new hires to come here that weren't already wanting to come here, because of commuting.

Tacos

Going to have to agree with the Nevets. Upgrade time is consideration number 1 for regionals. No one is going to choose to come here with a 9 yr upgrade even if we have the best first year pay. Nobody comes here to make this a career. They may end up here but it is not their goal.

Look at GoJet. The place was flooded when their upgrade times plummeted. Despite the horrible pay and work rules. TSA, PSA, ... I mean how else did Great Lakes survive? It's all about upgrade time. That's it.

After that, all things equal, it's domicile, and then FIRST year pay. Nobody ever really looks into the other parts of contract when getting a regional job. They should but don't.

Tomcat0232

I worked at Transstates and came to Expressjet to not have to commute, bc I live in domicile, which to me is priority number 1. You saying horrible work rules and pay there, I think you are very misinformed. You certainly don't know what your talking about, TSA's contract matches ours and in some areas especially reserve rules it's much better. Pay for FO's exceeds Express jet. Great Lakes now has higher first year pay. Upgrade is important but it's not even in my top 3 of concerns, you don't need an upgrade to get to the majors but you do have to be alive and not starve to death on low pay. I got a 3 year plan here and don't plan on leaving at least to that mark (no lateral move). I do like the company (Expressjet) it is a better place to work in many ways, but don't drink the "our contract is the greatest ever" kool aid bc honestly it's average now and when you take pay into account were woefully behind.

Leroy Smith

This AJC series about Carollton hasn't been up in its original location for a while, but the magic of the interwebs is astounding- a little poking around and........

9 Minutes 20 Seconds


Good read, some heavy stuff, although a little touchy-feely in spots. I always have Robin in the back of my mind when it comes to my interaction with the FAs.

Nevets

You must be a CRJ guy because the TSA contract is not better in most respects and equals some items. There are a couple of things that are better. But on balance, it doesn't come close.

As for upgrade time, maybe it's not a a requirement anymore to move on. But the perception among perspective new hires still puts number one emphasis on upgrade time. And like I said, increasing first year pay is not going to attract guys to come here who weren't already considering it, commuters like yourself. The fact of the matter, whether it makes sense or not, new hires look at upgrade time as their first priority. And that also takes care of pay as well since the faster you upgrade, the less time you spend on FO pay. It's just the reality right now.

Generalaviator1

Agreed. To be honest, if I had to choose TODAY, I would go to Endeavor. The new TA just seems to not be matched by anybody all things considered. I'll take a commute for an extra $25k+ first year and getting off of reserve (and upgrading) in a reasonably short period of time. Of course, the upgrade isn't the most materially important thing to get to mainline these days.

Maingear

I found this line in the article: "With them was a crew of three: a divorced 37-year-old flight attendant working long hours for $20,000 a year"

So pay for FAs has dramatically decreased since then not even taking inflation into account? What's FA pay now? Starting 16k and up to 40k?

Der Meister

XJT is a failure plain and simple. The sooner people see that skywest only has plans to keep them alive long enough for them not to incur a huge penalty from United the sooner everyone will be happier. One can only be told you are too expensive for so long, and while that might have been true prior to 2015, 2015 has seen XJT go from leading the pack in most regards to bottom of the pack. Yet they, management, still says they are too expensive.

There is a reason over 950 pilots have left this year. The only reason the attrition rates have been skewed thus far is because of the 60 day MOU... My guess for attrition this year for both LXJT and LASA is well over 1100 pilots.

9-8 years is the current upgrade for both sides. There is no moment other then people bailing out on the low end. Despite what they, the recruiters say, 40 upgrades a month is more like 4 upgrades every 3-4 months. Downgrades will happen soon, it can already hapen.

Unless something drastically changes LXJT will be out of flying at then end of 2017 and with the talk of a 1 or 2 year extension on the 50 seat flying it's over...United has already said it want to get rid of its 50 seat flying. With 40 airplanes at TSA and 40 at Commuteaire that leaves about 30-40 airframes at XJT.

XJT is a sinking ship that Skywest ran into an iceberg and has not intention of saving, get out while you can. If you are thinking of coming to XJT save yourself the time and go somewhere else. Unless you live in Cleveland there are many better regionals to go to. If you do live in Cleveland still consider going to another regional and commuting you will thank me later...