Originally Posted by Nevjets

Even if L-XJT is going out of business 12/31/17, they still need to recruit in order to complete flights until that day. So of course they won't tell anyone when the doors are closing, assuming they knew the date certain. They'll recruit until they furlough. As for your other questions, the senior pilots may leave via the CPP since that is a seniority based program. But if Skywest does shutter XJT, I wouldn't count on anything other than a preferential interview at Skywest. They may save a little money on taking any CRJ type rated pilot so maybe that helps your chances of being hired over at Skywest. But I'm solely speaking of the ERJ side.





















Skywest made a mistake when they bought XJT. The mistake wasn't the actual purchase. The mistake was in having negotiated a previous CPA with a 16% pilot concession cost savings built into it. That's the same CPA Skywest got stuck with when they finally pulled the trigger in buying XJT. So there were stuck with a money losing CPA they negotiated. Luckily for them, they were able to shorten that money losing CPA that they negotiated by 3 years. That's three less years of being stuck with their money losing CPA. I'm sure that if they can convince UAL or anyone else to pay them a rate that would be profitable to operate the 145s, they'd go for it. But until then, they are stuck with losing money on their CPA so they are slowly and methodically decreasing those loses by letting the aircraft expire. It is true that they can easily make XJT profitable if they gave them some of the profitable 175 CPA flying. But you are right that it would also cost more simply by pilot compensation costs. So it makes sense not to do that from an upper management (non-front line employee) point of view. And by the way, the TA that was voted down was a MAJOR concessionary TA, more so on the ERJ side but also on the CRJ side.

As for the rehiring and retaining of XJT people by Skywest, they would need people anyway. The cost of hiring people will still be there regardless of XJT being shuttered. So there is no additional incurred costs associated with that.

Anyway, it may be in Inc's interest to show a loss on the XJT side as a convenient reason to continue the draw down of the money losing CPA. That's if you are the cynical type But I'm not saying that is happening because I don't know. The CPA is probably unprofitable enough to not need to do that anyway, if that's what Inc wanted to do.

One last thing, it's a little disingenuous to say they have been trying to say that are trying to cut costs when it costs millions to run to sets of middle and lower management, two sets of staff, two maintenance departments, two dispatch departments, two scheduling departments, two payroll departments, etc. If they can save money (and charging XJT) by having one IT and one benefits department, they can save money on all the other duplicated departments. It is all smoke and mirrors designed to make you think that they treat all their employees fairly and equally.