It is not over.


Lets no forget that CAL announced their plans to pull 51 aircraft from XJT, and to let their CPA expire in the next 4 years.


Because I have lots of friends still at Expressjet, I was hoping that the Skywest buyout would go through. XJT is losing money and their cash balance is starting to reach a critical phase.

I think the Skywest buyout could have been successful if done any one of several ways.

An all out merger of Skywest, ASA, and XJT

A merger of ASA/XJT and keeping non-union Skywest separate

What if XJT pilots traded the merge the seniority list scope for a scope clause that said "any and all future flying done by Skywest Inc on behalf of CAL will be done by XJT pilots."

There are plenty of ways this buyout could have been successful. I just wish a few of the XJT pilot APC members would have gone into this situation with an open mind.

Looking at the current scenarios, the best future for XJT pilots is to be bought by Skywest. Rather than trying to fight the buyout, XJT pilots should be negotiating with Skywest to ensure their future. If Skywest says no to an all-out merger, then come up with another offer. Offer XJT to be a separate company, but have them sign a LOA stating the XJT certificate cannot have less than 274 aircraft, or 25% of all Skywest Inc flying. There are plenty of solutions out there. Don't give up yet. I would hate to see XJT liquidate.


Honestly, the best thing for Skywest pilots is to see XJT fail and have SKW fly their 145's for CAL. But it sounds like most the Skywest pilots on this board (except Slaphappy) do want to see the XJT pilots treated better than that.