Originally Posted by
FlightDirector
I'm now at the point of deciding which regional to go with. I'm a short drive from Atlanta so ExpressJet is very attractive from a commuting standpoint. Talking to the recruiter it sounds like getting an Atlanta domicile within 6 months is reasonably probability. This makes XJT very attractive from a standpoint of QOL but everything I read on this and some other forums is predicting doom and gloom for XJT.
Granted I'll admit I've really only been closely looking at the airlines for the last 6 months so I'm still trying to get a feel for this segment of aviation.
What I see in most predictions is SkyWest slowly shutting XJT down by the end of 2017. I realize this is all speculation and a guessing game but XJT seems to be putting a lot of effort into recruiting, surely they have a more optimistic outlook on the future of the company. From what I see I think the majors are going to be really ramping up their hiring starting in 2017. Anychance some of the senior guys at XJT will be moving on and decreasing the upgrade times? If Skywest really does close down XJT surely they'll put a domicile in ATL. Is there anychance XJT pilots will have any sort of priority hiring for SkyWest? Surely they won't just cut that many trained pilots when they also seem to be looking for staff as well.
I've been flying corporate for a number of years and the airlines are looking pretty attractive from the standpoint of benefits and salary. I'm taking a financial hit going to the regionals now but even a second year first officer at most of the major airlines is making as much as the director / chief pilot of most small flight departments.
It's a damn tough decision that I'm hoping will pay off in the end.
Any thoughts and input is appreciated.
Stay away from xjt. Don't listen to the recruiters lies either. I recently left and it was the smartest move I did. There is no future at xjt. I was on reserve the entire time I was there. Each month the reserve got longer and longer. The possibilities of holding a line became slimmer and slimmer. Scheduling manipulates the trips. They hide the ones in open time so reserve guys won't be able to pick them up. I've tracked trips and seen them do it. There were multiple trips I was wanting to pick up and when I called to pick them up, scheduling told me they were already picked up by someone else. Not true. I later saw a reserve guy schedule and it had been awarded to him.
XJT is the defnintion of stagnant. Don't waste years of your life at a place like this. Even though you have the chance of driving, commuting to a different domicile will be worth it in the long run. OO is taking everything and will continue to take everything. The matter of staffing is always the excuse at xjt. Every email you receive from company is the same story about how they working hard to recruiter pilots.
I feel bad for them. They DO work hard but it's nearly impossible to convince someone to come here and spend 2 plus years on reserve. That is not even mentioning the upgrade time of 10 years. Once you upgrade, if you ever do, you'll end up back on reserve for an additional 6 plus years. It's happening right now!
Look at another place that's relatively stable and can provide career progression. You don't want to be at the bottom of the seniority list till you retire. That's what is happening at XJT.