175's are done
 

2019 was an incredible year of transformation and growth at ExpressJet, and 2020 will be no exception. Today we announced we are finalizing a multi-year extension of our Capacity Purchase Agreement (CPA) with United. Additionally, we will be acquiring 36 ERJ145s over the next 12 months that are currently being operated by another airline. This will make us the world’s largest operator of ERJ145 aircraft.

All of this is being driven by United’s decision to make a long-term commitment to the ERJ145 with a multi-million-dollar investment in refreshing the interiors of our ERJ145 aircraft – seats, lights, even adding personal device entertainment. This will create an improved and contemporary passenger experience on the refreshed ERJ145s. All of this points to a long-term commitment from our partner United and indicates they are confident in our ability to grow our fleet and be successful for the long-term. United is committed to the ERJ145 fleet type, and the extension and investment in the customer and employee experience speaks volumes to the importance of our flying in their network.

An additional component of this agreement involves United transitioning our E175 aircraft off of our certificate and transferring them to another United Express carrier. We are incredibly grateful to the entire team for your work making our E175 program such a success this past year. Together we accomplished amazing things! As a regional carrier, we must stay relevant to our mainline partner by providing them the product that is most applicable to the needs of their network. United is confident in our ability to grow our ERJ145 operation to become United’s largest operator of 50 seat aircraft, allowing for simplification and a more reliable, efficient operation. We will also be able to expand our flying footprint, which includes adding additional destinations and bases, starting with Denver later this year.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of your leaders.



Fly safely,

Subodh

The dumpster fire is still burning strong here.

Also:
"United will transition our E175s to another UAX flying partner."
"At this time, a Denver crew domicile appears fairly certain."

If this is the "awful news" that was supposed to be coming / rumored, this isn't really nearly as bad as closing EWR or some of the other rumors that were spreading around.

Company is expanding to another base, adding more aircraft, consolidating fleet. Sounds like positive news.

This makes absolutely no sense.

Why go through all the costs of delivery/training associated with the 175 just to dump it?

(If those 175s wind up at SKYW, Imma throw things.)

Those 145s would have to come from either Commutair or TSA right? Considering the Denver base as part of the announcement, doesn’t sound too good for TSA

Looks like we’re taking over TSA’s flying out of Denver. 36 airplanes.

Major reshuffle at UAX.

werent the 175 sim hours free given by Embraer ?

It sounds like a united strategy decision heavily influenced by what’s going on at TSA Holdings while we all operate in a pilot shortage environment. Way above and beyond us. We did a flawless introduction of the 175 to our fleet and took delivery of all 25 in just one year. Hats off to our training department for that exceptional feat.

Mostly, I think the number I heard was 6 crew training slots per airframe.


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SkyWest just announced 25 new 175’s in IAH/ORD.

We should congratulate them, like we did Mesa

Damn I feel for you folks. Going through all that effort just to get it swapped around. Those 175s were going to do great things for you guys.

175's are done
 

Depend on what you who you are, what you fly, and where you live.

If your L-ASA on the 175 your getting the shaft again. All 175 drivers get to go back to training for re-typing/training. If your on the 145 depending on where you are on the list you could be stagnate for a while till the new planes come in. If you are have a CJO with hopes of flying the 175. Your not coming here. If you want a DEN base you might come here.





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Do we still get to keep the sim?

Union update for those potential new hires: 24 February 2020

Fellow Pilots,

We expect the news the company shared today came with a variety of questions and emotions. Just a month ago your MEC was prioritizing our efforts towards strategic planning and concluding Letter 2 negotiations. About a week later your MEC met with management and received the news that United planned to transfer 36 EMB145 aircraft to ExpressJet Airlines, positioning us to be the world's largest operator of the E145. Since receiving this information, your MEC has been diligently working to capitalize on this opportunity that identifies ExpressJet as the premier United Express carrier and establishes ExpressJet as a platform for consolidation within the UAX system.


The decision to remove the E175 aircraft from our fleet was made by United Airlines. Your MEC spent a great deal of time trying to determine how to keep the 175 at our airline, but the decision had already been made. While this is certainly disappointing to our airline and pilot group, we have decided to focus on the silver lining, which is this growth opportunity that will fill the void. Our ability to adapt to United's larger growth plan in this environment of consolidation is key to our resiliency and our ability to position ExpressJet pilots for long-term stability and growth.


In order to facilitate bringing 36 additional aircraft into our operation, the Association and management collaborated on a plan that carefully considered all of the moving parts and potential pitfalls. This included addressing pilot retention, positioning XJT to be an attractive airline for new hires, and resolving a number of issues that been lingering in Letter 2 negotiations. The collaborative approach also provided the Association an opportunity to be a part of the decision-making process in how our training center would be setup to handle the influx of training that will be integral to the success of this transition. It was also important for both the company and the Association to make XJT an attractive place to work for flight instructors in order to retain the great ones we have and attract more into the training department. While we welcome the growth to our fleet through these additional aircraft, we understand that aircraft without pilots would just be an exacerbation to our current staffing conundrum. For this reason, we also developed a plan to accommodate the pilots from the airline impacted by this announcement. We will announce that plan after we've had a chance to address the pilot leaders at that airline.


During the transition of pilots from L-ASA to L-XJT we faced many challenges and learned many lessons that come with the blending of operations and cultures. As we worked through this new transition, we were able to take these challenges into consideration with our plan. Your Training Department leadership has been working around the clock to make sure the transition of these new pilots is carried out as safely and as thoroughly as possible.


The announcement of these new aircraft and the new 10-year agreement with United Airlines has put both ExpressJet management and your MEC on a new trajectory. The former focus on obtaining gains through Letter 2 negotiations has been brought into this transition process. To better position the airline for a successful future, management is keenly aware that changes need to be made in order to attract —and also retain— as many pilots as possible. While the final details of these contractual gains are still being finalized, there has been significant progress on, not only topics that were originally proposed in Letter 2, but others as well. With management's cooperation, we look forward to concluding the Letter 2 campaign. We plan on addressing any unresolved issues, on both the Association and management's side, in Section 6 negotiations that start in October of this year.


Expect more communication as we continue to make progress on this transition in the coming weeks. We thank you for your patience over the past several weeks and we hope to have more very soon as we move forward with this new growth opportunity.

It was never ours to begin with I guess. Seems others were on to something when they stated that fact.

I'm sure these guys will be jumping for joy going back to a 50-seat rate.

well, I wonder what kinda things we can expect to see

Is it just me, or did the MEC letter make it seem like a merger is imminent?

The union has stated significant advances in letter 2 negotiations.

“While the final details of these contractual gains are still being finalized, there has been significant progress on, not only topics that were originally proposed in Letter 2, but others as well. With management's cooperation, we look forward to concluding the Letter 2 campaign. We plan on addressing any unresolved issues, on both the Association and management's side, in Section 6 negotiations that start in October of this year.”

Let's hope they move quickly, or MASS EXODUS 2.0 is about to begin.

not sure how you got that from the email, at all tbh

No merger. Bringing them on with longevity and other perks most likely.

Trans States forum has their company announcement posted asking them to go to GoJet.

No merger. The influx of training is from 175 pilots to the 145.

I assume TSA pilots will now move over to Gojets. In my opinion, this could be what caused this entire reshuffle. No one wants to lose a large pilot group. Not when hiring is difficult and expensive.

nope. Most are den based and gojet just shutdown den ops

I hope the training department can keep up with the retypes and new hires at the same
time. Last year this similar scenario created quite the backlog.

Part of the letter sent out to Trans States employees:
"While we believe the Embraer 145 will be the most sustainable traditional 50-seater in the marketplace, in the medium to long term, the traditional 50-seat segment (CRJ200 and EMB145) has had some of the more significant market pressures among regional aircraft. With the tight pilot resource environment, coupled with increased unit cost due to reduced productivity and general cost increases on most line items, the last 18 months have proven to be tough for Trans States Airlines. Last year was an exceptionally challenging financial year, and early indications point to 2020 continuing down the same path. At a time when we need to fly each of our airframes to their fullest potential, we are facing a Captain shortage that will result in an inability to meet our increased productivity objectives and even our current contractual flying obligations. The imbalance between Captains and First Officers is so extreme that earlier this month, the company took the unprecedented action of canceling a First Officer class already in session, while delaying others. Reducing our flying or operating a smaller fleet only makes the economic equation more challenging.
We have explored numerous other options, looking for a solution that would allow us to reduce costs while maintaining efficiency, but none are achievable in a realistic timeframe. In short, our expenses continue to rise, resulting in a balance sheet that is neither profitable nor sustainable.
During our discussions with United regarding possible contingencies and actions to be considered to address these challenges, United relayed a desire to simplify the Embraer 145 program by consolidating flying. Given the reality of our challenges outlined above, coupled with United’s desire to simplify and create critical mass, we have come to the extremely difficult decision that an organized and well-planned wind-down of the Trans States operation is the most viable course of action."

The new hires are coming here because of SJS and to fly the nice shiny 175. Without that, becoming the next Trans States is inevitable without some major contract gains. Endeavor + 1 or NO DEAL.

Instead of this “Letter 2” junk, the MEC should be focused on a “Friends don’t let friends fly for Skywest” campaign.

Mesa didn’t swoop in and take your 175’s like SkyPest

Every single ALPA carrier should do this.

+100

Completely agree

Where is MELIT?! This announcement must make him so so happy.

It sounds like this one came straight from UAL.

They better move quickly because I’m not sticking around much longer just to have to go back to training again for another type rating without substantial improvements. If I go back to training for a new type it’s to fly heavier metal for more pay not the opposite.

Dateline: December 18, 2018

”The transaction also includes certain protections around existing SkyWest Airlines flying, as well as priority position to add 25 new dual-cabin aircraft with United should those opportunities arise.”

planned all along?

That's what I'm wondering. I know they (skywest) were "owed"/ "contractually entitled"/whatever you wanna call it in terms of getting airplanes, but I didn't figure they meant the 25 specific XJT ones. I just don't see why/how it would make sense to do it this way