Dj, Thanks for the info on Express Jet and how they're handling their new hires. I was really hoping that I'd be one of them soon, but it's been about 6 weeks since I sent the email with the 12 questions back and still no word, so I'm thinking I didn't make it to the interview stage. I am betting it's because the first question was could I attend training within 3 weeks of interviewing, and since I don't get off active duty until 30 June, it would have been more like 4 to 5 weeks. Oh well, maybe if they keep hiring I'll try again later. Do I have to wait six months before applying again? I think that's about the standard, right?

Also, I'd heard thru the grapevine that XJT was keeping the 69 planes. I think that's great news! I'm sure you guys will figure out a way to use them and keep going strong. (At least I'm really hoping since XJT may have been my best shot at an airline gig!)

I know the commuting would get old really fast, and that's the main reason I'm only applying to airlines where I might get domiciled near enough to Pensacola to make it worth my time. I want to be able to come home and see my family when I finally DO get a couple days off from sitting reserve!

Thanks again,

marinepilot

 

marinepilot,

I'm kinda in the same boat you are. I sent my reply to the questionnaire back to xjt less than an hour after they sent it on Apr. 18th and haven't heard back yet either. The only question I answered in the negative was whether I failed a checkride or not. I've got three friends that fly for them already, two FOs and one Captain, they are trying to pull some strings for me but haven't had any luck yet. I can't figure out xjt's selection process.

 

Believe me, I know the confusion over the hiring process. It has changed since I got hired a year ago, but when I applied, it took 6 months for them to call me back, and if you updated your resume (as I was told to do every 3-6 months) your application got put on the bottom of the pile, as if you submitted a new app...

As far as the 69 a/c, it seems to be great news that we are keeping the planes, but they are pretty tight lipped about what they will be doing. Name the rumor and we've pretty much heard it. Between SEC regulations for insider trading and not wanting the rest of the industry to get a leg up on what we're doing, I can see why they haven't said anything. They said we should know something in the next 60-90 days. Good luck!

 

I reapplied after one of my friends that is a captain for xjt e-mailed Angela and the chief of flight ops for me. They both said to totally reapply because of the website update, I possibly slipped though the cracks. I did so on monday and got the questionnaire e-mail again today but from an intern this time, not Angela Barron. Oh well, I gave them June 7th (a week from today) as my interview date, hopefully I will get it.

Dj, can you give me a heads up on what paperwork they will need, just trying to stay ahead of the curve. thanks

 

Does everyone who gets "the email" get invited for an interview?

Of course pending you dont put something in that message that disagrees with their plans; i.e. you state that you would not be available for training within 3 weeks of interview date.

 

BAPilot, Thanks for this post, it has convinced me that I need to just reapply to XJT since I never heard back after that 12 question email fiasco. Hopefully they won't be upset that I didn't wait something like 6 months, but if they truly did revamp the system, don't you think they would understand my reapplying so quickly?

marinepilot

 

I got "the email" after 4 months or so since I applied and thought I finally had the interview. A week later, they sent me another generic email about not having a position that matches my experience level. So then, I immediately put in another online application through their website and this time within a month got the same 12-13 question email. Replied with the same answers again, but this time I did get the interview.

Go figure.

 

when I went down, March 30, 2005 (things may have changed...) You needed to bring your logbook (if it is electronic, PRINT IT OUT... more on this later) several copies or your resume, cover letter, licences (Front AND back), medical, radio operator's permit, passport and flight time grid. I still have the original letter, so if you want hte flight time grid, email me at [email protected]. I don't know if its still the same, but it'll give you an idea.

As far as the logbooks go, there was someone in the interview class the week before mine (had a guy in my ground school that saw this) that had his logbook on his computer. When they came in to collect logbooks, he said, could you please wait while I load my computer. They gave him till they were done collecting paperwork, and when he didn't have it loaded, they asked him to leave. PRINT IT OUT BEFORE YOU GO (should be a DUH! statement, but i guess not.) Good luck

 

Thanks Dj, but it looks as if they don't want me, got the not qualified e-mail today. 1100tt, 130multi, 740x-country. don't get it. Pinnacle here I come.

 

Forwarded from a friend-

Barry Shiff’s article (The Glory Days are Over, June, 2006, AOPA) not only hit the mark, it blew it clean out of the water. It is a sad but truthful commentary about a formerly proud industry that has sunk under the weight of bad management, poor business decisions, plain bad timing of events and political neglect. I thank Captain Schiff for not agonizing too long over expressing his poignant views.

I too was an airline pilot for 33 years. After serving as a civil and military pilot I was hired by Northeast Air Lines in 1968. I made it through a turbulent beginning to relative stability after merging with Delta Air Lines in 1972. I retired in 2001, two months before 9-11. We pilots were proud to wear the airline uniform and gladly accepted the awesome responsibility it evoked. Our neighbors thought we were underworked and envied the time we seemed to have at home with our families. They didn’t see us leave for work in the wee hours of the morning or late at night and they couldn’t imagine the stress of long days or nights punching through the same weather system eight or nine times while shooting approach after approach. The commuter folks know this scenario better than I. My non-airline neighbors never knew the exhaustion of flying through the night to Europe, South America or Asia and then back home the following day and then doing the same a few days later (many of us commuted across several states to do this). And my wife and kids learned that the celebration of a holiday, birthday or anniversary was often days before or after the actual event due to the whims of crew scheduling. But we were rewarded with a good salary and benefits that we negotiated with the company throughout the years. At Delta, as is true with most airlines, we started as a flight engineer (second officer) and climbed the seniority ladder earning better trips and time off, then started again at the bottom as a copilot (first officer) climbing again until we finally became the exalted captain. And this ladder climbing and starting over happened again whenever we bid up to a better paying, more prestigious aircraft such as moving from the MD-80 to the B-757/767. But we loved our jobs and the wonderful like minded people people with whom we shared the sky.

Unfortunately, the airlines are faced with unprecedented costs these days and continue to sell their seats at prices based on the verge of loss. The greatest cost to the company is fuel and the second biggest chunk is labor. Management can’t do much about fuel cost ( just think of filling your own car) but they can, to some extent, control the cost of labor. Guess which cost the airlines focus on. It seems a shame that many commuter pilots are paid so little that they may qualify for food stamps. And even at the majors the salaries, benefits and work rules have been slashed abruptly and extensively by managements using the bankruptcy lever as a tool.

No, I would not recommend an airline pilot career to a youngster swimming up the stream of modern day commercial aviation. There are too many waterfalls to negotiate, the river is rising and moving too fast in the wrong direction and the safety net of a reasonable retirement pension with medical benefits has been badly holed and is on the verge of being ripped away entirely. The glory days are indeed over. The reward of wearing the uniform of an airline pilot has been sadly minimized and, as Barry says, should one insist in enduring the pitfalls of pursuing an airline career, he or she should have another vocation to fall back upon.

My son, Eric, almost followed in my footsteps. He attended and graduated from Comair Academy in the early ‘90s, became a flight instructor and nearly took a job as a feeder pilot. Thankfully for him, he settled on a career in real estate development and airport management. He still flies, but only when he wants to. And he has a pretty steady salary, sleeps in his own bed at night and has no fear of having to commute across several states to work.

Thanks again, Barry, for stating the unvarnished truth. It is my fervent hope that the careers of airline pilots can be enhanced to where they once were. But I’m not holding my breath.