Anyone know where a gouge for the new hire written test is? I promised an old student I'd help with his interviews.

If you were a true friend, you would help him fail the test. ExpressJet is not the place to go. They rate one step above trans-lates and mesa right now due to the low pay and QOL due to no upgrade and eternal reserve.

I agree, this place is in bad need of positive news and help.Just nothing at this time that makes it a good choice.

Are people like you and him from the same planet as the rest of us? Is there some kind of a paradox happening here? I mean, I have nothing against XJT cause I am sure it's a great place with a great pilot group but what I do have a problem with is the miseducation of a person who is just about to walk in there - and stagnate when there's a plethora of other regionals that will have you holding a line in a matter of months and getting the chance to get the $70/hour pay within 1.5-2 years. I just don't get it.

So 3 lazy opinions and zero help, thanks. He's a grown man and decide his furture for himself. You don't need to discourage others just to validate your own decision.

Make it 4 lazy opinions.

I am a FO that has been at L-XJT for 9 years. I have a good QOL and I am in the top 50 in the base for IAH. I make $44 an hour.

I am also a mentor for our new hires and one of the biggest things I hear about is the new hires wishing they had made another choice. It seems our recruiting dept makes it sound all rosy when they apply and they lie about 4 year upgrades and we have some great pay. They fail to mention that the pay is for fo's only. At other airlines, they would be on CA pay in a very short time, if not immediately. We are now approaching the 10 year mark for upgrades. There is no way around that number because it takes months to put someone thru the upgrade class and we don't have any planned. When we hit April, it will be 10 year upgrades at XJT.

Our recruiters will also tell you that more FO's and CA's get hired from XJT than any other regional airline. They fail to mention that we also had more pilots than any other regional airline until Skywest moved our flying into their operation and out of ours. Percentage wise, when you have the most, you can lose the most. I would rather see the percentage of pilots taken from our airline compared to other regional airlines. I bet that number doesn't look as good when compared to a company that only has 100 on their pilot list instead of one that has over 2000.

We have a base in IAH that most new hires seem to want. It may be a very long time before anyone gets that base. Even when they are awarded IAH or ORD, there is a very good possibility they are going to be forced back to EWR or CLE when we close down our DFW operation. (yes we are still closing bases).

We still have over 50 planes to park this year on the L-XJT side alone. Less planes mean less pilots.

I will very openly tell everyone that I work with or those thinking about coming to XJT to go somewhere else.

Sounds like you received a lot of help. You just don't want to hear it?

XJT recruiters wake up and hate their lives. Why? Because they have to wake up and tell lies to new hires and new guys who don't do any research like myself before coming here. When I came here they told me reserve in ATL was 6-8 months. Now im a year in and no end to reserve in sight, not even LCR. This place is reserve city. The young guys like myself are doing the old guys a favor by being on reserve so the old, grumpy senior guys don't have to.

Coming here for a base is not a good reason anymore. You won't make enough to survive and will regret it. Being on reserve cuts your pay dramatically. Unless you have a side business and don't mind sitting reserve for years because you're making money attending your other job, then don't come here. This place was one of the biggest mistakes I made in my life for that very reason. Not doing research and being lied to by recruiters. This website can have a lot of negative nasty people but it's also meant to let people know what is happening in the industry and in their airline. Not everyone is here to bash people.

But like you said, he is grown man and everyone makes their own choice. He can find all the gouges for interview on aviationinterviews.com

Lazy 5 opinion...

Then go already.

Gojet might be a better option right now over xjt.You can upgrade quickly and move your career forward. Seems like the fo's at XJT are forced to make a lateral move in order to move their career forward, if they aren't lucky enough to get picked up by an LLC.Being A 9 or 10 year rj fo in this environment would be a hard pill to swallow.