Originally Posted by PontiusPilot

This is inaccurate. ExpressJet is growing now, and United will see to it that it does. The 145 fleet is based entirely on staffing. United wants all 126 up and running. When we have 126 145's, it means it's because we can staff 126 145's. Waiting until we grow to 126 before starting just means you let hundreds of new hires jump ahead of you in seniority.

The 175 will be senior for the first couple of monthly bid cycles, but there is little incentive for most of the senior FO's, who will be close to upgrade, to bid over to the 175 since all FO's are paid the same regardless of aircraft type. The result will likely be a mixture of senior, middle, and junior FO's flying the 175. I wouldn't be surprised if we are hiring directly into the 175 by the end of the year.

We are having a lot of top end movement, even without the 175's here yet, with 20+ leaving for United each month. With the additional flying, we are going to see a lot more movement. Upgrades are not linear, and the current junior upgrade does not reflect the upgrade time of someone starting now. This isn't simply wishful thinking. It's math.