Every regional has their problems and it's very easy to be all "doom and gloom" and the "grass is greener at XYZ regional" personally I don't think the ERJ side is going anywhere for the next couple of years as of right now we are still one of the larger pilot groups and I don't think the majors can afford another regional shutting down. IMO United seems to be preparing for the regional pilot apocalypse by distributing their flying relatively evenly across their carriers so we can possibly pick up the slack off one another when we have to. Good group of pilots here and alot of nice work rules that won't have you hate your life too too much. It's your choice my man!

in your opinion how long to hold iah?

Looking at the seniority list, I figure 1.5 years.

If you choose to put hard restrictions on which airline you will and won't work for due to the desire not to commute (which in some ways is a valid reason) you must be willing to live with the consequences that that decision might have on your career growth and access to future opportunities.

ExpressJet, either fleet, is a proud airline staffed with some incredible people who work under a fantastic contract. Unfortunately, the undeniable truth is that this is also an airline that has been shrinking steadily at an alarming rate over the past 5 years to the point where in 2-3 years the possibility of it ceasing to exist entirely is very real. I would highly recommend considering another regional that has growth and/or a more stable future, but if you choose XJT, you'll enjoy the training and operation and should something positive happen you'll be in a great position to ride that wave up; worst case scenario you start over at another regional should XJT shut down.

Best of luck, do what is right for you and your family and your quality of life, but do know that the future of ExpressJet is in serious doubt.

that's some solid advice. wife has a good job and have kids so iah is very important to me. if I don't stay local I won't quit my current day job. I think the risk with you is better then mesa. I can always go to mesa if something happens here. I just have a hard time believing they would disolve you guys. but what do I know. look at piedmont they were hung to die and now good things are happening there. if they do disolve you wouldn't SkyWest flow you into there system or even better ual give somekind of flow. may be wishful thinking just a thought. pilots are in demand so I think someone would want the assets.

Skywest would probably offer preferential interviews. And ALPA carriers may offer the same. Anything else would be wishful thinking.

Piedmont was in a far different place than ExpressJet and their circumstances were vastly different that allowed it "to be saved." Mesa's odds of being around are far greater than ExpressJet's simply due to the fact that they operate 76 seat RJs and have a far cheaper contract.

If XJT is shut down, SkyWest will likely offer preferential interviews and MAYBE 2nd-3rd year FO pay to former ExpressJet pilots, but being that they are not ALPA they could offer no incentives and probably won't simply to save money.

Do what is right for you and your family, that should always come first. But, please keep in mind that the future of ExpressJet is in very serious doubt. Any regional airline, no matter the size is expendable and can be shut down. ExpressJet is 50%-55% smaller today compared to late 2010 and the forecast is for it to shrink even further. If you simply want a flying job and want to live at home and you don't care about upgrading and money isn't an issue, then XJT might be just fine for you. However, if you are going to XJT with the hopes of one day going to a major airline and making a career as an airline pilot then ExpressJet might not be the best airline to start with because the opportunity to grow/upgrade etc there is severely, if not completely limited. Its all a gamble in the end, but why place a bet on a long shot when there are so many other and better options. Don't let the possibility of a commute limit your career.

ExpressJet
 

Just to emphasize this point even more, the high water make for XJT was in late 2008 with 274 aircraft and over 3,000 pilots. Now it is down to about 130 aircraft, scheduled to be down to 101 by the end of 2017 and half the pilots. And the CPA is scheduled to end at the end of 2018.

On the CRJ side at one point ASA had 130 CRJ-200s (2006-2007) alone. By the end of 2017 all CRJ-200s will be parked and they'll be left with between 75-80 CRJ-700s/CRJ-900s operating for AA and Delta. The AA CPA expires in 2019 and the Delta CPA expires in 2020. When the CRJ-200 is officially retired later this year, to hold Captain in ATL it will require approximately 17-18 years of service, or more...and that is to be the plug on reserve.

But big news coming May 8th!!! Just remember guys are mainline partners are "noticing"" 😉