Originally Posted by
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.
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.