United looking at ExpressJet article...
 

FYI,
Best of luck to the remaining ExpressJet employees. Hang in there...
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United Explores Investing in Regional Airline ExpressJet.

Michael Sasso 4 hours ago

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United Continental Holdings Inc. is exploring a deal to invest in regional airline ExpressJet to boost its pipeline of pilots and expand service in the eastern and midwestern U.S., people familiar with the matter said.

The Chicago-based carrier is looking at acquiring an ownership stake in ExpressJet among other options in negotiations that are still developing, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. There’s no guarantee the discussions will lead to a deal with ExpressJet, an unprofitable subsidiary of SkyWest Inc. that already flies for United.

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The tie-up would help United beef up the domestic network that feeds travelers to other flights, as the No. 3 U.S. carrier works to close a profit gap with Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. United has been adding dozens of flights between smaller cities and its largest airports, trips that can be more lucrative than the heavily-trafficked routes between big hubs.

Financial details of the potential transaction couldn’t be determined. United declined to comment. SkyWest and ExpressJet didn’t respond to requests for comment.

SkyWest jumped on news of the talks, climbing as much as 3.5 percent in intraday trading. The shares rose 1.8 percent to $52.60 at 2:26 p.m. in New York, while United climbed less than 1 percent to $64.12.

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Pilot Recruiting

United, which has a minority stake in CommutAir, is the only one of the three largest U.S. carriers that doesn’t own a regional airline outright. That can put United at a disadvantage in recruiting pilots.

Delta’s Endeavor Air offers pilots a guaranteed interview at the mainline airline after a certain period. American’s wholly-owned regional units have “flow-through agreements” that enable pilot hires to advance straight to a job at the major carrier without an additional interview.

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United is treading carefully to avoid the labor turmoil that would come with acquiring a regional airline carrier outright, the people said. United management and leaders of the pilots union are already taking steps toward opening contract talks ahead of schedule, with a goal of forging a new agreement by early 2019, Captain Todd Insler, chairman of the United Airlines Pilots Master Executive Council, said in an Oct. 20 letter to pilots.

One of the issues expected to loom large in the talks are the restrictions on the scope of United’s Express unit, which subcontracts flying to commuter carriers. While United would like to add more Embraer SA E-175s to expand its reach to smaller markets, the regional operation has reached the maximum number of 76-seat aircraft allowed under the current pilot contract.

Annual Losses

ExpressJet, based in Atlanta, had about $1 billion in sales last year, with an operating loss of $300 million that was widened by special items. The unit posted losses of $34.2 million in 2015 and $118 million in 2014, according to regulatory filings by SkyWest.

The carrier agreed in August to end a carriage deal with Delta earlier than expected. ExpressJet also serves American.

Until it was spun off in 2002, ExpressJet had been a unit of Continental Airlines, which merged with United in 2010. The main airports served by the regional carrier include Atlanta, Cleveland, Chicago, Houston and Newark, New Jersey.

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All this tells us is that it isn't a rumor. stINC has been rejecting bids from United and Delta for a while now. Perhaps they can't reject it now seeing as we can't staff either side in 2018 and will cease operations at some point. L-ASA has not had anything good to experience in the last nine years. I'm not getting my hopes up for this one either.

I agree, it's a ruse to keep people on property. Until there's a true flow, my advice to anyone at XJT is to get as far from this mess as possible. United and stInc made pizza so cheap, that no one will eat it (it's a Gordon Bethune reference, for those who never heard the quote), so let them both enjoy the fecal parade they both so masterfully orchestrated.

Yes, you should all run to GoJet for that flow to Spirit lol.

CommutAir operates as United Express and is majority owned by Champlain Enterprises, Inc. and 40% owned by United Airlines.

That's directly from the APC Commutair page. United already owns nearly half of Commutair, has for some time, yet no flow?
Just the same worthless POS CPP Expressjet has.

Other thing to consider is if UA owns a portion of XJT. Then that will lock them into only flying for United. No more AA flying l, no bidding on DL/AS, ect... is that the basket you want to have all your eggs in...

The AAL flying is too small. It will be assimilated by The Borg soon anyway.

It's worked well for 9E, OH, MQ, PT...

Yes, it is.

Exactly. SkyWest can keep their "diversified" flying, 1% pay raise, and zero pathways to a major.

They can have DFW for all I care, if this means XJT will become 100% wholly owned.