Yeah I noticed that too. Coincidentally I can't find that extension update anywhere on the co website or in my messages. I think they pulled it like it was never said. The filing doesn't make an extension sound concrete. I emailed Terry for clarification. Either they are lying to us or lying to shareholders.

I doubt they would lie to the SEC. There would be fines possible.

Click on "older" and search for "extension"

forgot to add. It was never a my message. Only the above posted statement on the company employee web site.

Ken,
Are you ignoring this question? Did the check airmen get something that the rest of us did not get? Or are you just blowing smoke?

I see the SEC Q3 filing that just came out and it appears to say the same thing about closing down that everyone else is preaching. Where is this magical info that you seem to have that says anything different than the closing date of 2017?

My take.. UA didn't want 100 ac droping offline all at once.. so the are doing a 1 year draw down.. there is a sneaky reason they didn't disclose any terms of the extension, other then it "covers" 100 aircraft..

I hadn't seen that. Do you have a reference or link to that news?


Yeah, same place. Just wanted to add some color to it. I bring up the CPA negotiations because it's convenient for Inc to say that they need to remove unprofitable aircraft when it was them who made it unprofitable to begin with. If they want to make XJT profitable, they need to give XJT profitable aircraft to operate. But they rather put those aircraft where they make a larger margin because of costs. And the only people who suffer are the XJT employees.

As for 50 seaters, UAL is trying to catch up to DAL. And DAL is going down to at least 125 fifty seat jets. UAL had a press release that was filed with the SEC that states they want to have less than 100 fifty seaters by 2019. Maybe they'll put out a press release changing their mind but I doubt it.

Commutair does not really publish anything in writing. Try to look for press releases and I am sure you will only find a handful. The company is a very close little family that is expanding very rapidly.

I remember their press release announcing the 40 145s and the CPP. It didn't say anything about 20 additional 145s. Are you with Commutair?

I'm now at the point of deciding which regional to go with. I'm a short drive from Atlanta so ExpressJet is very attractive from a commuting standpoint. Talking to the recruiter it sounds like getting an Atlanta domicile within 6 months is reasonably probability. This makes XJT very attractive from a standpoint of QOL but everything I read on this and some other forums is predicting doom and gloom for XJT.

Granted I'll admit I've really only been closely looking at the airlines for the last 6 months so I'm still trying to get a feel for this segment of aviation.

What I see in most predictions is SkyWest slowly shutting XJT down by the end of 2017. I realize this is all speculation and a guessing game but XJT seems to be putting a lot of effort into recruiting, surely they have a more optimistic outlook on the future of the company. From what I see I think the majors are going to be really ramping up their hiring starting in 2017. Anychance some of the senior guys at XJT will be moving on and decreasing the upgrade times? If Skywest really does close down XJT surely they'll put a domicile in ATL. Is there anychance XJT pilots will have any sort of priority hiring for SkyWest? Surely they won't just cut that many trained pilots when they also seem to be looking for staff as well.

I've been flying corporate for a number of years and the airlines are looking pretty attractive from the standpoint of benefits and salary. I'm taking a financial hit going to the regionals now but even a second year first officer at most of the major airlines is making as much as the director / chief pilot of most small flight departments.

It's a damn tough decision that I'm hoping will pay off in the end.

Any thoughts and input is appreciated.

FD,

This opinion is from an ex-Xjetter, take it for what its worth...

I don't think SKYW will be shuttering XJT by 2017, on either side.

There are two sides to XJT. L-ASA, which flies the CRJ, and L-XJT that flies the ERJ. This blurb is on L-ASA. ATL is L-ASA. L-ASA also has bases in DTW (for now) and DFW. L-ASA recently got a bunch of LGA flying. I don't think they will open a base there, but we do TDY a bunch of people up there every week. L-ASA is shutting down its maintenance base in DTW. That's a big deal. We had quite a bit of DTW flying (see base above), but that is slowly being taken over by SKYW. We paired down our DTW flying when we were "awarded" the LGA flying (not a good omen BTW). Over the year or so we have also seen our total awarded flying decrease on the Delta side (can't speak to the L-XJT as I didn't fly for them). Our flying seems to be going to SKYW and Endeavor (they can staff, L-ASA can't).

Now, back to the shuttering issue. There are many factors involved, but the common denominator is SKYW, being XJT owner, makes business decisions based on profitability. L-ASA can't staff, unlike SKYW, so with the positive manning, SKYW can handle more flying, and they get it - and they generate more profit for INC. Not to mention they are adding new aircraft. It is a nexus that is positive. L-ASA is struggling to staff, losing flying and is not getting any new metal. A nexus as well, but in the negative direction. SKYW can't shutter L-ASA/L-XJT in a year. There's simply too much lift to staff in a short period of time. So SKYW has to keep L-ASA/XJT around for as long as it takes for them to amp up staffing. Not sure about who owns L-ASA/XJT jets, that might be part of the equation as well. Perhaps someone with that knowledge can chime in here. But as you can see, SKYW can slowly wind down L-ASA/XJT as they continue to ramp up manning and airframes until they reach a favorable cross over point. It is at that cross over that I believe SKYW will begin to aggressively shutter L-ASA/XJT. This is just my opinion.

If you decide to enter the regional world, IMHO you should look elsewhere than XJT. You won't upgrade. You will be on reserve for a long time. If you were hired today, you will spend 18-24 months or longer on reserve. Those times will only increase as the staffing and stagnant seniority list drive that time frame.

The "senior" folks....many are there for the duration. It is a very senior pilot group. There are a few that leave, but the majority of movement out is coming from the midlevel FO group. Since there is little to no movement off the top, and hiring is not occurring at sufficient rates to stave off attrition, the seniority list is stagnated. Refer back to the unfavorable nexus I mentioned.

Where to look, well, that is something you need to decide. I certainly don't want to discourage you, L-ASA has a phenomenal training department and a great pilot corps with a very good PWA. Unfortunately at this point in time, they are stuck between a rock and hard place.

This is a fickle industry, today's gem is tomorrows dog. But depending on your time horizon, you may wish to consider going elsewhere. Again, just my opinion.

"Challenges". Lol.