LOL......Ok :D:D

I'm at C5. Two comments:

1) Airport reserve at C5 does suck, but

• it's a trade-off (8 hours vs 14 hours duty for short call)
• you won't be on reserve long here (maybe a month at EWR and two at IAD)
• you will actually be used on reserve so it's not like you're going to the airport simply to sit on your ass.

2) I can't speak to XJET's training but, having experienced training at a top tier regional that had more money to throw at the training department than C5 and XJET combined, I have come away from C5's training feeling far more competent in my responsibilities as both an FO and future CA.

Going in I was admittedly concerned about having only three GFS lessons utilizing trainers which lack visuals and realistic controls, but I found the lessons far more rewarding mostly because the instructors were extremely competent, patient, and even fun to work with. I felt confident going into sims. Of course, I had prior experience so that obviously helped, but my sim partner did not, yet he did equally well.

Where C5 training excels beyond many carriers IMO is that they now provide 13 sims to all students out of the gate and ultimately more if you need them.

Additionally, the current sim schedule consists of groups of 3-4 sims, followed by 1 or 2 days off, depending on whether you use the last sim in each group (officially declared as an "additional sim"). This results in a bit more than 3 weeks in sims but this is a much more tolerable schedule because it allows you to decompress, absorb what's been learned, and brush up on any weaknesses.

The current training footprint is:

1 week indoc (IAD)
2 week systems (IAD)
1 week sit (IAD)
1 day oral (IAD)**
3 weeks GFS & sims (CVG or HOU)

** Your oral wil be in IAD and prior to sims if you have 1500 hours required for the ATP (or you have your ATP already). This is preferential to having your oral after you get the required time via sims because you can focus exclusively on flying the airplane vs studying for the oral.

Thanks a lot.. XJT makes a big deal about AQP and the quality of training but all the C5 pilots ive heard from say that the training at C5 is good.


Some side questions:
- can Commutair pilots park their car at EWR as long as they want for free? I may want to keep my car there instead of the city.
- can pilots on reserve at C5 choose their trips for the reserve period If they want to fly? For example, if my 4 day reserve period starts tomorrow, can I log onto the scheduling website and sign up for specific trips that I want? Or do you always just show up at the airport and wait until you’re assigned?

I’m at C5. Don’t know about parking but training is excellent. Great ground and sim instructors, positive learning environment great overall experience.

In general airlines give you free parking in your domicile. There are several employee parking lots at EWR. Some airports such as LGA have time limits but I have never heard of it being strictly enforced.

Reference training. There are probably some former XJT pilots at C5 who may give you an honest comparison. Not having experienced both I won’t try to compare them. I do think an advantage XJT has over other regional airlines is the experience level of the instructors. Almost all (if not all), the instructors and LCAs will have 20+ years experience at XJT. I’ve heard of pilots at other regionals being hired with a year on line and no prior jet, turboprop or 121 experience. ��
Maybe because of this XJT will often train things before they are mandated by the FAA. High altitude stalls and dual engine failures/engine relights are two that come to mind and were trained before being mandated.
Again, this is not to disparage C5 training. I have not heard anything bad about it recently.

On reserve you can request short call or airport reserve or indicate no preference. You can also request am or pm shifts. They will honor the request based on need and seniority. You are also able to request trips from open time 48hrs prior. They wait to see if a line pilot will pick it up bit if not it gets assigned. Again the request is based on seniority. When i was on reserve they always gave me the shift i wanted but not always the open time.

So if you bid on a productive open trip 48 hours before it starts, how soon before the trip will they assign it to you if a line flyer doesn’t pick it up?

What’s left in open time is usually the scraps, what nobody wanted. It’s unlikely a productive/desirable trip would be left over.

With that said, just about any trip is better than sitting reserve. Unless it gets in the way of commuting home on the last day or forces you to commute a day early prior to your first.

Edit: I’m not at commutair just giving general pointers.

There is one exception.

FO: "Wow. Look at this high credit trip in open time. And 28 hours in EYW to boot!"
Me: "Let me see it." After looking at the captain. "Yeah, I wouldn't if I were you."
FO: "For 28 hours in Key West, how bad could it be?"

Two weeks later.
Me: "How was that Key West trip?"
FO: "Never again. I knew it would be bad when the captain said I was the first non-reserve FO he had flown with in months."
Every airline has them.

What did you do when you were in Key West? 😉