Originally Posted by DirkDiggler

I see nobody took the liberty to post this email from the union today. It's important for the potential new hires to have all the facts.

2 December 2019

In the ExpressJet Weekly Activity Report published on October 23, the company touted the fact that they had met their yearly goal of issuing 600+ conditional job offers. While that number, when presented out of context, paints a rosy picture of our airline, the facts support a much different reality.

System Bid 19-06
The results of System Bid 19-06 were posted last week. While the company originally planned for 44 ERJ captain upgrades in Houston (plus 10 offline pilot upgrades), they were only able to award 31 (plus 7 offline pilot upgrades) at least in part due to the lack of first officers who want to upgrade and have the required 1,000 hours of Part 121 time. Conditional job offers simply can't fill those vacancies. It is worth noting that first officers who have Part 121 time from other carriers, or who have military time, should fill out and submit the Pilot Flight Time Form (which was attached to the System Bid 19-06 results MyMessage last week) so that Pilot Manpower will be aware of all your qualifying flight time.

Staffing
The company's apparent inability to staff the left seat is just a part of an overall bleak staffing situation. As of last week, 410 pilots have started class at ExpressJet in 2019. This compares to 407 pilots who have resigned this year. Of the 410 pilots who have started class this year, only 169 have completed training so far, for a net loss of 238 pilots flying the line in 2019.

Fleet Size
While the company is prioritizing staffing on the E175, the huge net loss in pilots on the line is reflected in a large reduction of E145 flying. ExpressJet currently has 95 E145s on property; however, only 65 are currently flying.

Life on the Line
There is no question that life on the line has improved since the summer months (although conditions still leave much to be desired). While this also gives the impression of an improving operation, the reduction in rolled days off and reassignments is due primarily to the fact that block hours have dropped to levels more suitable to our meager staffing; not exactly a sign of a thriving operation. While block hours will remain low through the Winter months, the increase we historically see in the Spring and Summer will likely be accompanied by conditions similar to those we experienced throughout 2019 so long as the company remains uncompetitive in the regional hiring market. Rolling days off was the company's creative answer to their staffing woes in the Summer and, absent a negotiated solution, we expect the same next year.

Letter 2
Since the ratification of Contract 2018, and during the time the company has drug its feet on Letter 2 negotiations, Envoy, PSA, Piedmont and, most recently, Air Wisconsin have all ratified new agreements with pay and work rule improvements. As other properties continue to improve their CBAs, ExpressJet continues to drift back, which in turn makes it all the more difficult to compete for the pilots we desperately need. While we continue to press the company to place ExpressJet in a viable position via Letter 2 negotiations, their latest proposal (as described in the November 23 Letter 2 Negotiations Update) does not indicate their willingness to make ExpressJet a competitive airline capable of both arresting attrition and attracting the pilots we need to fix the blatant problems that exist with our operation.

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the signing of Contract 2018 and the purchase of ExpressJet, it's past time for management to get serious about investing in our pilots. We are already behind the power curve and fall further behind every passing day.

The Deal is Not Done.