chase

Well said.. return to sanity post. Will expand on why some sources/posters should be placed on "do not read/believe" list.

ASACapt

I believe he was referring to Trans States Airlines. I think they flew ATR’s Jetstream 3100’s and 4100’s in the 90’s for TWA out of STL.


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CaptYoda

I think the poster was referring to Trans States Airlines, perhaps from the 90's.

chase

To the readers and lurkers,

Do your homework with persons actually working at XO, visit an FBO and speak to an XOJ pilot (visit Flightaware to see where flights are departing to or flying from ) in order to get your questions answered by someone who actually works at XO. Persons who post opinions disguised as facts who don't work at that company on multiple forum boards should be viewed as suspect sources for accurate info.

Illustrating my point on why the premise of this thread title s false is the following numbers for just one fleet type at XO:

1. Approximately 240+ Challenger checktides a year.. roughly 20 a month.. A 40% failure rate would equate to 8 busts a month!🤪 I suspect no 135 operations anywhere is experiencing 40% failure rates!

The number is not zero but total number of failures since going in house is low single digits. What one would expect in any training department with the number of evaluations performed.

This is indicative on the GL and X side also.

The only complaint has been some late night sims periods by some..a question of our fair share. CAE is VERY busy these days and XO is hiring a lot! Nice dilemma compared to a year ago.

BTW, the original poster in a previous post claimed CAE is a "××it-hole". XO didn't find it that way,, they simply wanted XO pilots to be trained as much as possible by XO Pilots.

I urge those readers who are thinking of applying to any 135/121 company to do your homework.

What not to do though,: Using the valuable time one has in an interview with any company HR person to confirm or deny something posted on this forum or any forum, particularly opinions disguised as facts, is a sure way of get a TBNT letter in the mail. You have only yourself and the source/poster to blame for your failure.

I won't reply to all of the other nonsense proported to be suspect training practices, checkride performances, etc. by XO.

I would hope readers would ignore those as being nontrustworthy and look for better sources.. My opinions are but one and please don't use mine as gospel. Search out other credible sources. Your career will be more fulfilling if you do.
______
Suggestion for those trying to assess a posters credibility particularly for those thinking of applying to said company;

1. Click on the posters "Handle/Forum name"; see that takes you to Member Profile

2. Click on Find All Posts

3. Look at their posts, judge the tone and tenor of their posts. If you are thinking of taking career advice, at least know who is giving it..

Ask yourself:
1. "would you want to be stuck on a 7 day rotation with this person?" Good or bad.

2. Are they making themselves out to be knowledgeable about a company based on what their friends tell them, old work experiences at the company, disgruntled ex-employee (fired, quit under unusual circumstances) or what they know from their own experiences who work at the company presently?

3. How long did they work there? Some posters reveal a lot, others not so much. Do they praise their new employers only to get hired, and when they depart bad mouth them?

4. How long have they been posting? Have they recently entered into the forums with claims that bring rebuke from others or are more humble in nature? We've all seen that person holding court in the FBO or lounge or the quiet person who becomes a "keyboard warrior" because they get their egos boosted by stirring the pot.

Look for unemotional, balanced sources of info...fake news started on forums!

Search on LinkedIn for XOJET Pilots (current) and message them to ask if you could speak to them and explain why.

Employment in the aviation world is not a straight line, lots of twists and turns that are unforeseen and we all know how important timing is.

That being said, where and from whom you get your advice from and how honest you are about what your priorities and life goals are have a lot to do with possibly straightening out the zigs and zags.

______ Back to our regular programming.

XO flt ops and pilots are generally pleased to have XO Pilots conducting in-house training and I think any new hire will find it professional and thorough.

Any training department can be improved and our training department is always working toward making it "best in industry".

If you want to know about XO, PM me or visit with those who work here. I'm not a company shill, just a line pilot. No company is without challenges and XO is right there with those.

My aviation career has more runway behind me than in front of me and I have no motivation to give you a one sided picture.

Take my drivel for what you paid for it. Fly safe and choose wisely grasshopper. 😀

motojet

Solid post Chase. For what it's worth, I went through the full week recurrent recently and thought the in-house training a definite improvement. The instructors were professional and fair as well as being a good group of people in my opinion.

Anchorman

Thanks for an injection of reality, Chase and sound advice - words of wisdom for all aspects of life!

chase

Thanks for posting motojet. I head to CAE in 10 days for the drive by and expect the same level of professionalism I've seen in the past. past post is solid also, based upon facts, not opinions from non-XOers.

chase

Anchorman,

Reality can be hard to find on forums...lots of good info many times, but one has to sort out hearsay from the truth.

Sound advice for all aspects of life...thks..I'm working on peace in the Middle East next..will let you know how that goes! 😉

Kurat

Chase,
Well said! Appreciate your candor and advice for anyone seeking information about a potential employer.

Interestingly, at Flexjet we've gone in the opposite direction with sim training. Now using vendors (Sim Com, Flight Safety, CAE etc) that will train with our procedures and SOP's. I think one of the reasons for this has to do with the large variety of airplanes that we operate. It may also make more sense to staff airplanes vs simulators in a high demand environment. All Flex simulator training will eventually be consolidated in Orlando with a Sim Com partnership. We've bought simulators for the vast majority of the fleet (Phenom, G650, Challenger 350, Praetor).

I think "in house" training is usually better but if the vendors use company profiles and are monitored it can also work well.

chase

Different philosophies to training for sure. Downsides to each. Personally, if anyone had asked (they didn’t and I’d didn’t volunteer it) I think a combination of both would be a good working solution and fix some Manning issues at the same time. Here is how

1. Reward the sim instructors identified as the best with an opportunity to fly the line 135 operator…require attendance of applicable portions of IOE to understand the internal ops.

2. No sim training required obviously. Send them out for a rotation or 2 and then sign them off to fly with experienced PICs.

3. Guarantee them one rotation every 2-3 months when things are busy, when things slow down, 1 rotation every 6 months.

4 pay would be a flat $1500 a rotation. Most sim instructors I think would jump at that opportunity.

Pluses

1. Companies get a quick checkout for SICs, in 1/2 the time

2. Fills much needed slots with bodies when the company needs them and gives them a flex capacity when business picks up but can retract when business slows

3. No benefits required to be paid out but u get qualified pilots

4. Sim instructors now know what flying the line for said company is really like, fa,Iliad with the procedures.

5. Allows CAE, Sim Con, FS to have a carrot to offer to the best performing sim instructors

Loads of reasons whynthis hasn’t been done before I assume but if I was king for a day, I’d push for it.

Hope things are going well for you at FJ..fly safe and have a great Thanksgiving.