Wait and see

The VP of flight ops said pretty clearly that upgrade time will drop to 1000 hours. He asked FOs to fly as much as possible so they will be ready, in anticipation of a captain shortage. If he wasn't pretty sure, I doubt he would have put that out.

Pilots are going to be leaving for majors quickly and the upgrade time will be dropping to mins. There has never been a better time to be starting in this profession.

More are leaving then they can hire. Your in a bad place. Keep parking aircraft. It isn’t cheap. They still have to be maintained. Exjet hasn’t made a profit since the Continental days, that’s why you keep getting sold/ drawn down. You’re a shrinking airline that has been a disappointment to the stake holders. How long until they pull the plug? You’re costing them money NOT making it! Now go cook your turkey!

XJT was what it was because CAL wanted it to be that way. It was later decided to use multiple vendors, the flying was spread out, and XJT suffered as a result of what followed. United is starting to invest in select companies again. I don’t expect them to flat out purchase regional airlines, but I do expect to see them shift flying to those that they are investing in. XJT isn’t going away. My bet is that in the next 5-10 years you see United flying more routes that are currently flown by regionals using 737/319’s, the flying will increase at companies who exclusively serve United such as XJT, and reduce those that don’t like Skywest.

He isn’t telling a fabrication. This place still has a small net loss of pilots every month.

Total pilot count
1/1/2019 - 1502
2/1/19 - 1470
3/1/19 - 1458
4/1/19 -1448
5/1/19 - 1432
6/1/19 - 1431
7/1/19 - 1442
8/1/19 - 1408
9/1/19- 1394
10/1/19 - 1388
11/1/19 - 1378

United has to do something. XJT can’t staff what they have. Do you believe XJT will get the next round of 175’s just to park 145’s that are most likely paid for? You invest to make money not lose it. Do you think United will keep hiring pilots from XJT to continue the bleeding??

Yes..this next bid will see under three years on upgrade on the 145

My guess is that United putting money into XJT and offering a shortcut to an interview with United will increase people wanting to work for XJT. Their classes are already growing. As far as parking the 145, I’d be more worried if I flew for someone like Skywest than XJT. As the 50 seaters age out and go away, United will most likely concentrate flying in the regionals that exclusively feed United. The 145’s are paid for and renting someone else’s makes less sense. A company like Skywest will most likely continue to fly the 175, but will lose the 50 seat flying as it goes away. And yes, United will continue to take pilots from XJT and others as well. You act like XJT is some kind of poison pill. They are just another regional like Skywest or Republic, and United is just another legacy. There is no gold standard in this business.

It’s way less than that today. Most JR captain is a 12/17 hire. It will go to 1000 hrs on the next bid. 18 months.

50 seat flying will be around for a long time. There will always be a need for it. Unless oil goes to 155 bucks a barrel again. CummutAir is still putting 145’s in service aren’t they?

You are right. For once.