Originally Posted by Itsajob

Be careful with waiting to get settled. The regionals are full of really experienced pilots who did the same thing and never got back to their degree. For companies like Delta, United, FedEx, etc. you will need the degree to even stand a chance. There are a few exceptions to that rule, but you are too close to completion and the odds of getting hired without one are too great to risk. It has to be an bachelor or higher degree as well. An associate degree doesn’t count. Also, be very careful listening to recruiters. They are like a guy in a bar trying to pick up a pretty girl. They will say what ever they think she wants to hear to get her to pick them. They look at you the same way. They will make promises about guaranteed quick upgrades, a direct path to a certain legacy, or anything else they need to say to get you in a class. The truth is that there are no guarantees in this business. Express Jet is as good as any other regional. Most of them are about the same. You will get good training, you will gain valuable experience, and eventually you will be competitive with other applicants looking to move on to something better. A few offer flow to AA, but someone else will have to tell you more about how those programs work. The results of some of these recruiting programs seem hit or miss. Some of the people who get shot down know why. They have skeletons in their closet, no degree, or treated the interview as a formality. There are also many examples of people with over 10,000 hours in jets, no skeletons, no issues, who paid for application reviews and interview prep, brought their A-game to the interview, and still get shot down. Don’t stay up late trying to figure out where the best place to go is. The legacies like to beat one regional with the other. The company that is the best choice today, could turn out to be the worst choice in five years. If this is something that you really want to do, then jump in with both feet and build a quality resume as fast as you can. If you think that you’re just going to go do a 2-3 year tour of the regionals before it’s upwards and onward, this may not be the business for you. It could happen, but it often doesn’t.

Originally Posted by UnitedExpress

E175 lines range from 110 hours of credit all the way to 75 hours of credit. 17 days off to 12 days off. Depends on what you want.

Originally Posted by XJTFO

It's just fine here. Good training, fair starting pay with bonus.

145 is the way to go, 175 should not be an option and if it is , should not be on your mind. You missed it by 6 months.

Originally Posted by Av8tor0773

DSPS: I’m looking at different regionals as well... the only thing I know is hat I read in here, get from recruiters, and the info from a handful of people in the industry... so, why is it that Mesa gets such a bad rap? For someone living in TX , they seem like a pretty good option?? IAH or DFW. You get to pick tour AC... pay sucks just like XJT or TSA, they have fast upgrades... what is it that I don’t know? Thanks!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by DoSomePilotStuf

If your goal is to get hours and move on to a place that doesn’t require the degree, Mesa will get you hours and a Texas base. I have met a few Mesa pilots and they all seem very happy there. I think if you are willing to fly the 145 ExpressJet is the better way to go, but if you think you want the 175 and that’s important to you just dig a little deeper on Mesa and decide for yourself. Go over to their MB and ask them how they like it.

Originally Posted by Monass74

Good evening,
I’ve just got the CJO last week from Xjet. I already have close friends working there and they’ve been all giving me good news about it. I wanted to have your opinion about it. Is it a good idea to start my airline career there ? Can’t lie to you but i have alittle bit of the shiny jet syndrome so i’ve always wanted to get the 175, but at this point, my priority is to get Houston as a base since, i assume, it’s going to be alot easier for me to commute to there from Florida, and i might decide in the near future to move there since it’s not that different regarding the weather and the cost of living. The WO have been tickling me recently, because of the flow, but i’m not really after that as my 4-5 year plan is to fly a heavy cargo bird.
So any thoughts you guys would have about this would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Originally Posted by Av8tor0773

Thanks... I am on the boards constantly. I definitely am not looking to stay at a regional - degree is not an issue for me, I have 3 masters degrees. I think I’m very competitive for Frontier/Spirit, and at the low end of competitive for legacies. My military background makes me ‘maybe competitive for legacies’. A lot will change before I can start working (November), so I’ll continue to monitor and apply/interview everywhere. XJT and Mesa are at top for me because of bases I’m TX... I don’t kind the 145, but all things being equal, I’d take the 175 if I could, but not at the expense of long reserve time and not flying as much - which is why I’m not so big in Republic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by molitvic13

"Shiny jet syndrome" aint gonna get you in the left seat faster nor to a major/ULCC faster. 121 flying is 121 flying no matter what aircraft you fly. You come to XJT now on the E175, you'll be on reserve for so long, by the time you get a line, your classmates that went the E145 route will be pretty close if not already upgrading to Captain. Reserve time at XJT with this next bid should be 2-3 months for guys to hold a line on the E145. Go over to Mesa. You'll be on reserve 6-8 months, plus your pay is absolutely ridiculous low as an FO. But hey you get to fly a new E175 from the lowest bidder in the industry.

Originally Posted by Monass74

By “so long” you mean a year or more on reserve for the 175 at Xjet right ?