DoSomePilotStuf

Just curious what the peanut gallery has to say now that the MEC has said that we do qualify for the stimulus grants and that our jobs are indeed protected through September.

So many experts on here. I love it when they join in their chorus of negativity only to be shot down hours later.

Itsajob

I’m not being negative, just realistic. United has announced even deeper reductions to the schedule in May and June are to be expected and that they expect the effects of the virus on passenger demand to last possibly into next year. The grants just kick the can down the road a few months and give the airlines time to figure out what is left. By October hopefully things will not still be in free fall and they can slowly put the pieces back together. XJT, like every other airline, will have an idea of staffing demands and can therefore have a better idea of how many people to furlough, and how many aircraft to either put into storage or retire. We’re all going to come out of this smaller.

HighWingingIt

We’re already small as it is...once the transitions are over from the 175->145 you don’t think UA/XJT will want to staff most, if not all of the 145’s? Assuming we make it out.

Itsajob

You could get smaller too. They could decide that 50 seat jets are needed to bring back markets and you guys would be in better shape, or they could decide that now is the time to draw that fleet down and you’d be in trouble. This is unprecedented and all bets are off. I don’t know what they are going to do, but the bottom 1/3 of every airline’s seniority list should be very nervous right now.

airlinepilot50

Expressjet is in a better position than United. We have no debt and no payments on new aircraft leases.

Itsajob

Being totally dependent on United for routes doesn’t really put you guys in a better position. United could build you up, or take everything away. I seriously doubt that either will occur. The reductions are big enough that Expressjet will share in the pain and end up with a furlough and a smaller fleet at the end of the day just like everyone else. Some airlines will take bigger hits than others, but we’re all going to get beat up in this deal.

flynd94

Spoken like all the lifers I knew at Xjet in my 12 years

DoSomePilotStuf

Wish I could bet you a grand on this. My take is that October is plenty of time for travel demand to recover at least somewhat. We were already so short staffed we could park about 1/3 of our planes without furloughing anyone. Your assertions may apply to many airlines, but XJT is in the unique position of having just been given more planes to fly with no staffing to fly the planes we already had. Obviously we didn’t get in this position by being a fantastic place to work, yet here we are. If XJT furloughs this entire industry is in dire straits. We have already been declared “too big to fail” as a whole. It won’t happen. Not to mention any plan to phase out 50 seat flying absolutely requires a reasonable plan to replace the lift to the markets that aircraft serves. Due to scope limits UA would end up having to use mainline aircraft to do some of it. I guess anything is possible but I don’t see it happening in such a short time frame when as you said, no one has a clue what travel demand will be in 6 months.

Perhaps you just have no idea what the current situation is at XJT, but your assertions are certainly on the extreme negative side. Not really what I would call “realistic.” At a minimum highly speculative.

Southern Fried

Being qualified for stimulus grants and having them in hand are two different things. We'll see what XJT does here in the near future. I can't say at this time how this will play out. I will wait for positive news before I count my chickens. For all I know we could get a firm answer to the stimulus sometime this week. Your assumption of being shot down is premature. If we get relief funds, I will be relieved to know that we won't furlough before October.

Even Subodh has a boss. Where we end up on September 30th has yet to be determined. One thing I know for sure is that all legacy airlines want to keep some level of whipsaw in place amongst their regionals. Our block hours are changing for the worse as each day goes by (and with each email from the company). A flight that I would have used for my commute was canceled one day prior, yesterday. I have multiple legs on each pairing next month that are tagged for cancellation but without notification from the company. So, our fate is far from determined at this time.

I am fortunate so far, in that I am closer to the top of the seniority list than the bottom. If we are made smaller, I should have a job for a while. I am thankful for that. Now is not the time for bragging or a lack of humility.

Southern Fried

During the time I wrote my last reply you posted this. Classic.