Eagle or ExpressJet?
 

Hello all, I'm a (now former) corporate pilot looking to give the 121 world a shot. I'm in my 30s, no kids and don't have the time for a Legacy just yet. I've interviewed at both Eagle and ExpressJet since they have the bases closest to my home and the flight benefits would be nice for the wife and I.

What would you say would be the better choice?



If it matters...

3900TT
~3000 turbine (2000 as PIC in a Citation)

Eagle or ExpressJet?
 

I hear ya man, I just got out of the corporate side myself as an FO on same citations/falcons I've been doing for the last few years. I got hired at Skywest more recently and thought about expressjet as well. Every regional would love to have you I'm sure, just talk to the people working at those companies and think of you'd get along with them! I know at express company moral is kinda grim in my opinion from the multiple capts and fo's I've talked to. I don't know about Eagle but if you scan the regional forums for an hour or two you can get a feel for what's up at each airline. Good luck with your search man!

Former corporate guy here too, now at SkyWest (going on almost three years). I've enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, and am now quite convinced that 121 is for me. This despite having ZERO interest in the airlines a few years ago. Funny how things change!

I agree with Droops that morale seems to be an issue at ExpressJet (and a few others). Where are you hoping to be based? Are you open to other possibilities? If I were starting over again at the regionals, I'd probably be looking hard at Compass...

Get yourself another 100 hours and you've got the minimums for Spirit.

How about jetBlue? Apply there?

Not saying don't go to the regionals, not by any means. But your time and experience would likely make you an excellent candidate for the next level...

JetBlue Window is closed

Yes it is, currently anyway. But that's not the point.

The point I was making is simple; with 3000 hours one's options are quite limited, but with 4000 hours suddenly one becomes fairly competitive at the National level.

All I'm saying is don't limit your choices to just two regionals. Take a look at Spirit, Virgin America, Frontier, jetBlue, Allegiant...

You have a lot more opportunities available to you with 4000 hours and a boatload of turbine PIC, even if it is part 91, than if you had 3000 hours.

You have just a good a chance making your entry into the 121 world starting at the National level rather than the Regional level.

Eagle and XJET could both be in rough seas for the near future. I would check out some of the threads covering each to get a good idea.

Yeah I just got done reading pages and pages of those threads...my only question is given the size of both companies and the staffing issues that seem to be happening, who else would ever be able to cover that amount of flying these days? I can't imagine they both go TU, nobody else is any better off it seems.

I was looking at these 2 as I live halfway between Dfw and Iah.

From what I can tell, the junior FO in DFW for Eagle was hired in June 2013. You should see if you can find out what the junior FO for IAH and DFW at XJET is. I think that would probably impact at least part of your decision-making process.

Wow that's helpful! My friend that just finished new hire at Xjet said new hires are going to all bases so basically IAH is available right out of training. At least it was for him about a month ago. No clue on the CRJ side though, I guess they can't view that?