another xjt post
 

Will this company survive? I'm interested to hear who thinks yes and who thinks no. Let’s hear your arguments. Still waiting on an interview with both XJT and RAH, but I've been following this for a long time. I want to know if the old ExpressJet that everyone knew and loved can be salvaged. Of course no one knows for sure, but worse case scenario, would they still be around? The stock price is getting insane. Are we going to see under $2 soon? I hope not for their sake. ExpressJet has always been my favorite regional from both their contract and management history. I remember just a few years ago there was no better place to work. This industry can be deceiving, and it makes the decision tough.

Sounds like you've already decided the sky is falling over here at Express:rolleyes:. Maybe you should just do yourself a favor and go to RAH and save yourself the anxiety. When I talk to friends around the industry, it amazes me how much better we are treated by the company and how much better our contract is vs. some others out there (RAH included). You guys put way too much emphasis on what the stock price is. You need to look at the underlying financial figures to determine how healthy a company is. Just looking at the stock price is like trying to determine someone's health my just taking their pulse.

Your post shows a significant amount of ignorance. I appreciate you seeking information but you should attempt to do so without prejudice and loaded questions. You ask if the "old ExpressJet" can still be salvaged. What makes you think it needs salvaging? You ask "worst case scenario, would they still be around?" If oil went to $150/barrel, terrorists blow up 15 airplanes simultaneously over the Pacific and a flu pandemic struck the human population then yes, XJT would have tough time, just like everyone else. If XJT did go down I am willing to bet there would be more than few carriers right there with us. The stock price is not "insane". In fact I can promise you that the stock price has never lost its mind nor could it due to the distinct lack of a mind. The stock price is a reflection of what analysts and institutional investors think of the value of a company. If you think you buying a couple thousand shares really has any influence then you are truly delusional. It was not that long ago that Continental Express (the forerunner of ExpressJet) was a PFT outfit with pay near the bottom for the aircraft type (our union was famous for running an ad stating that our pilots qualify for food stamps). You know Johnny O of Mesa fame, right? Also did a stint here at Continental Express. So I'm not sure what contract or management history you are referring to. I can only assume its the very recent past.

So if you do decide to come here, great. But do it with your eyes open. This is a great place to work with one of the best managements in the industry. But are upgrades still running at 2 years? No, we're not growing anymore. Is the company going through a monumental amount of change in the way we do business? Yes. Are there gonna be a few bumps and hiccups along the way? Absolutely. Are there unknowns and risks involved? You bet. Is there another company out there that could do what were doing as well as were doing it? Not a chance. Don't be one of the guys that gets here and then walks around spouting doom and gloom about how were all gonna be on the street this time next year. No one wants to hear it.

here we go again.......

Seriously! Guess its been a week...must be that time again:D

just think of a regional being a type of gambling in vegas and just go and find out if you get lucky or not. regionals are always iffy. just my 2 chips lol

VERY well put! Thank you for the reality check for all those thinking that stock price has anything to do with the real financial health of a company.

By the way, I'm constantly told by people (even at places such as RAH and SKW) that I made a good choice by coming to XJT. I stick by that.

Just think.............if you come to XJT and get based in EWR, you ever get in trouble, Ill be the man representing you :) haha. This place is great, the flying is great, the management is good, but it may change, for better or for worse, it wasnt too long ago when CAL flight crews were snickered at in the hotel vans, they were the laughing stock of the industry (probably why some of them have an inferiority complex) there not doing to bad now.................There was a time when COMAIR was hands down the place to be, not too much anymore, of no fault of their own. Colgan who runs a sloppy operation is growing like crazy, while we have airplanes taken away......... CHQ is doing well, but there pay rates aren't great on their 70 seat flying, and MESA is a disgrace to our industry, why pilots keep showing up to work there is beyond me. Eagle is Eagle, a good airline but nothing sadder then seeing a 40yr old 8 yr F/O............. This industry is too cyclical to know whats going to happen, I hear people bash guys who are going to NWA, why? I dunno? I think NWA is a great place to be, do they have an uphill battle? yes but why not be a part of that rebuilding of a once great airline. I would love to go to CAL, but everyday I see new F/Os there that I know of personally that shouldn't be anywhere near an airplane, but because they had their "Stuff walked in", they are in the C2 weather room plotting their course to some city in Europe. :confused: Not sure if I wanna work for an airline like that, sometimes I think SWA type of flying would best suit me, other times 2 legs in one day is 1 leg too many for me, things change! At this point I would say the most important decision is Corporate culture, contract and if they have a base where you live............

Major carriers are just as iffy if not more so, but you get paid more.

Surely you can't be serious.


:confused:

Personally I think any airline could be a crap shoot.. you just never know. Had I told guys I know who went to DAL in 1990 that they would furlough thousands and go thru a bankruptcy they would have locked me up. I think XJT, RAH and SKW ( incl ASA ) seem to be trying set the bar in various areas of this business. Before anyone flames.... yes there are other equally good JET carriers.

As for the stock price.....while I agree with the above sentiments that stock price does not ALWAYS reflect the true financial status of a company...... it can certainly be a drag on the company.

and finally... instead of always cutting at each other wouldnt it be a novel idea of the JET/REGIONAL pilot groups out there showed a bit of support for each other so that we can all raise the bar......

Beech2jet is at one end of the extreme and you are at the other. I can tell you that the XJT of today is not the XJT of 5 years ago. The only 2 quarters in history to lose money were the last two. The stock price is at a point that the risk of takeover is significant. I'd bet that if management doesn't find a way to go private from public, someone will buy XJT and I wouldn't want to be there when that happens. If XJT can get CAL to let them fly some of the jets for other carriers under a CPA, then XJT will be fine in the future. I know that Delta would probably throw more jets in the mix with XJT, but XJT is limited on what CAL will let them do. They have to fly the jets at risk for Delta or else they have to charge the same price to CAL that they do at Delta. I also don't think they can codeshare with the branded stuff due to restrictions from CAL. With that said, I'd go to XJT over most regionals. They have the best pay, retirement, vacation, work rules, and the relationship with pilots is great. You do have to admit that it is not the same XJT of years past, and that there are some significant risks of coming to work for XJT right now.

stock price doesnt determine if a company is a good candidate for a buy out. buy outs dont work like that. They need to offer a fair value (i think thats the wording used in the regulation) based on the companies balance sheet. We are valued more then our stock price and that hasnt changed much even with posting 2 quarters of loss. We shall see but i dont know if a buy out would be a bad thing. Sure they could sell off part of us or furlough if they wanted to but there are also regionals hiring street captains right now or with only 6 months seniority... If this ship tanks we can very easily find work and move onto a major in the next couple years. Sure it is less stable then republic or skywest but I really dont think this is a bad place to be.

This is part of the problem....this nonsense that we will be bought out because of the stock price. CAL will not let that happen. As the former parent company, they negotiated the option to buy back the company if an outside suitor attempted to buy us or merge...there's no way CAL would allow us to be purchased when the price is so low, CAL would make a profit buying us back at these prices...and XJT getting bought back buy CAL would fix the whole "stability" issue now wouldn't it? The more likely scenario is XJT buying back its own stock and going Privately Owned for a few years, then re-issuing Common Stock, again at a profit.

I'm not sure how you can equate 2 quarters of losses to mean the party is over here at XJT. If you are an employee here then I sincerely hope you listen to the voice mails. Any time you launch a new airline, especially in the current economic environment, you can't expect to make money hand over fist immediately.

Everyone likes to bash the branded flying but what were we supposed to do? Were we supposed to roll over and let CAL ream us with their proposed rates? Were we supposed to just hand the airplanes over to CHQ with a sh!t-toothed grin on our face and wish them the best while we turn around and furlough 700 pilots and allow our competition to nearly double the size of its fleet? Absolutely not. I'm glad we have a management that is smart enough and has the balls to slap away Mamma CAL's tit when she tries to give us sour milk. So y'all can say what you want about how stupid the branded flying is and keep ducking as the sky falls over here but I believe this company took the best course of action available to it at the time. And in the end, if this place is destined for the scrap pile of airline history, I would rather go down with our contract than eek by with someone else's.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Of course he's serious. And don't call him Shirley. ;)

A little rude don't you think? Where's the ignorance in his post? All he did was state that he loved the company and asks about it's future. Do I need to dig and show you how many people working there have stated they are a little worried about the place? You say he puts too much into the stock price and needs to look at the underlying financials. So after looking at the falling stock price AND the fact the company is reporting a loss is it then ignorant for him to ask these questions or ignorant for you to still believe there are no issues?

All I can say is... WOW. Losing money during some of the most profitable times in history could say there might already be tough times.

What do you call diving 300% in less than a year?
The only one that's delusional is the one who apparently skipped economics. I mean why would a bunch of people with WAY more experience and credientials have any validity??? Lets see who's really showing ignorance on the subject. Don't bash a guy for asking.

My god princess stop taking things so personal. People work where they want for their own reasons. Don't jump a guy because he's unsure about the place you work. Everyone here can say RAH sucks for this and that and not many of us would really care. We came here for our own reasons. Doesn't mean we aren't happy. If you're happy then more power to you scooter. No reason to get your panties in a wad because someone questions the places future. They aren't poking at you personally about anything, he's making a genuine inquiry. Comair, ASA, RAH, SKW, XJT, Air Whisky, Eagle, Pinnacle... They all have something in common. They all have issues. Big ones. Comair could be bought. ASA has to deal with SKW. Skw has no union and could be screwed any time. RAH has less FO pay coupled with no rigs, constant base changes, and crappy union council. XJT is losing money during a booming time, has stopped expansion, and some people there are questioning longivity of the current QOL. Air Whisky has long upgrades and a website about "doIhaveafuturehere.com". Eagle has long upgrades. Pinnacle is getting yanked by management and on the edge of striking...

The one thing everyone mentioned has in common is they all suck in some form or fashion. Another thing they all have in common is NONE of the above statements have anything to do with the pilot groups. People made a personal choice by going somewhere and when that place ends up not being perfect they take it as someone saying "YOU MADE A BAD CHOICE AND YOU'RE AN IDIOT" when that's not the case. Stop letting it get to you when someone says something about your company. It's almost sad seeing someone get so worked up over an honest inquiry.

See now there is someone who's honest with himself. Shows the good and the bad. XJT is a great place to work and no reason not to promote it but there's no reason to deny that there are issues at hand or degrade someone for bringing them up.
What's the phrase? "Pride before fall"? You'd rather go down, lose your job, and start all over as an FO somewhere else rather then shed a couple bucks an hour if needed, not wanted but actually needed... Once again WOW. I can't wait to see you run around and call someone else ignorant.

Majors are relatively risky. I can't remember the last regional that actually just shut the doors. Usually they get swallowed up by another company.

Majors on the other hand.... TWA, PanAm, Eastern, Braniff to name a few

Toilet, its not so much a "loss" its more of a "cost". Sounds silly, but we didnt just lose money, it when into something. Ever hear the expression, "costs money to make money"

Everyone is so quick to look at how much money we "lost", I mean Jesus if your going to go down, might as well go down in flames........ Have to try and make something of a bad situation not roll over to CAL, "of which in the past has been one of the most poorly run airlines" and to your comment of maybe we should just "take a few dollars less per hr and keep our job" maybe thats why our industry is in the shape that its in..............

One of the reasons I got involved in the union is because when contract time comes along, you can bet your "Ear-Muffs" that I will do everything in my power to get what we deserve..........

SAAB don't get me wrong I think it took a lot of balls to stand up to CAL the way XJT did and I couldn't be any more proud of a company for doing what they did. I'm not here bashing anyone I'm saying people ask questions and others take them as personal threats. Or appear to act as if they do. As far as taking a few dollars less per hour to keep a job. It's not something we want but if your company is going under then yes sometimes you have to do it. I was simply pointing at one individuals actual ignorance and irony in being the first to shout at someone else about it.

nah, I agree way to emotional sometimes..............

we might be the ugly girl at the dance for awhile as far as finding flying that is within the limits of the CPA with Continental but its go big or go home. The whole idea of business and capitalism is to innovate and to take things to the next level. Well it might not be the next level but it might tide us over until something good happens overs here. If nay sayers were always right then no business would succeed. It is always a silly idea until it works.

ToiletDuck, you're always piping up on XJT threads, making statements like you're in the know here. In fact, you're one of the bigger XJT bashers on this board. What's your beef?

Personally, I'm glad we gave CAL the middle finger instead of turning over all of our aircraft. From now on CAL has to realize that if they were to cut off more of our flying, we'd take our aircraft elsewhere. And considering what a bang-up job CHQ has done out of IAH with XJT's former flying, what are the chances more of our flying going elsewhere anytime soon?

ACA/Independence Air. Lost flying from a major partner, and attempted a branded operation which failed spectacularly.

This is a big quarter for the XJet branded operation. Last quarter they got the load factors where they want them, now they need to show that they are gaining pricing power and will be able to raise yields to a profitable level.

It'd be nice if pilots at CHQ AND XJT would realize this:

"If you don't work there, you probably don't know what's really going on."

This includes, but is not limited to how well a branded operation is going and performance numbers you hear from gate agents. Of course, I never hear any CHQ bashing coming from XJTers. :rolleyes:

Branded pilot here, just flew the California Express. SAN-FAT-SAN-MRY-SAN for 4 days never had a load below 46 pax. Also I have been doing this trip for most of NOV and the numbers are consistent. One more point I flew SMF-SBA on sat this route has only been open for 5-days f-i-v-e days and a FULL BOAT.:Just a litte peak inside the branded life. To top things off how many other regionals had thier management provide turkey dinners to all the crews and ground personals with pie and all?:p

CA has been 45+ for me too, Low Fuel. Did a bunch of turns out of SAN a few weeks back, oversold three times, full boat almost every other time. I hope they close everything east of the Mississippi and concentrate on the West Coast. You going to the Party on the 15th?

good point, I will also say that its human nature, and the bashing will start in on Colgan as soon as they bring the propeller driven airplanes into EWR.:p

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

SkyWest doesn't belong on the same line as those carriers. They just like us at Colgan have NO SAY in our future so we cannot raise the bar.

Boy dude, wake up.

Hold on i am going to check my crystal ball, Be back in a minute!!!

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...rystalball.jpg

If Harry Potter was a Flight Attendant, this is what he would look like...it kinda worries me you have a picture like this.

.


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ms/orlytm1.gif

Superpilot92...your avatar and your posts give me the willies...LoL

XJT will be fine in the long run...People thought Comair would be shutting the doors, we are still here...the only thing XJT may have to worry about is a buyout, the stock is down and that could make it a target...now that may be good or bad, depending on the intentions of the buyer.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...rums/invis.jpg

HAHA...! :D

I am glad you enjoy!! i dont normally like to give away to many of my funny pictures on a single thread but you got me on a roll. LOL

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...oil23wz4qa.gif

According to XJT pilots, CAL would have first crack at any potential buyout. I doubt CAL would let that happen. Don't forget they still have 200+ planes cruising around with a giant globe on the tail. Unless it's CAL bringing XJT back into the fold, I don't see any company currently in the business that would want to even try to acquire XJT. Too many variables and in the long run the problems it would create would probably negate any tangible benefits.

Not to mention that (from what I can tell) XJT's management has little to no interest in being operated by or merging with another carrier. This isn't a UAL-type operation where they're just trying to stay afloat until someone can come along and buy up the operation. XJT is interested in remaining their own player in the game. Any merger/buyout would be a hostile one and there's not too many companies out there financially capable of even beginning to pull that off. And the ones that are...well...anti-trust lawyers would have a field day.

People are putting way too much emphasis on stock price and the branded operation. I'll defer to what the current employees have to say, and they're all optimistic. You have to actually be in the room to see the writing on the wall, and they're the only ones in there.

Of course, that doesn't mean I won't call them "DistressJet" every time I hear an errant "Kitty" comment. :D

Fair enough...

A small price to pay in order to bust out the "Chitty Kitty" name every now and then! :D :p

Lets see if we can put this into perspective.
Granted XJT is having some difficulty right now but so have many others. Some were able to survive, others went by the wayside, and a few were able to thrive. SWA had a very rocky start.
Early losses and financial troubles

The rest of 1971 and 1972 saw operating losses. One of the four aircraft was sold to Frontier Airlines and the proceeds used to make payroll and cover other expenses. Southwest continued to operate a schedule predicated on four aircraft but using only three, and in so doing the "ten minute turn" was born, and was the standard ground time for many years.[9]
Southwest turned its first annual profit in 1973, and has done so every year since — a record unmatched by any other commercial airline.[10] Southwest has used financial techniques such as fuel hedging to bolster its profitability and counteract many of the fiscal disadvantages of operating an airline.
By 1979 Southwest served all of the cities currently served in Texas, plus Beaumont and interstate service began to New Orleans, Oklahoma City and Tulsa was added shortly thereafter. In 1981 Southwest co-launched the 737-300 with USAir. In 1982 the first expansion beyond the Texas area took Southwest to the West Coast, adding Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego. In 1984 the 737-300 was placed into service. Chicago Midway and St. Louis service began in March, 1985, spreading low-fare service into Midwest markets.
Southwest hired its first African-American pilot, Louis Freeman, in 1980. In 1992, he was named the first African-American chief pilot of any major U.S. airline.[11]



Innovative thinking and a "can do spirit" kept them competitive. There seems to be this all is doomed attitude from folks that were not even alive when the SWA guys rolled up their sleeves got to work. Was there doubts...I'm sure there were. But the point is that the pilots, FAs, MX, rampers, and yes Management folks worked together to create what most would consider the top tier passenger airline of today. Lets take a look at the quarterly statement filed by XJT.


Did XJT lose a lot of dough? Yep sure did, but how. "
Operating Expenses -
For the nine months ended September 30, 2007, wages, salaries and related costs increased by $38.7 million, or 13.5%, compared to the same period in 2006. The increase represents growth in our work force to support changes in our flight operations and increases in wage rates under some of Airlines' collective bargaining agreements. In conjunction with the increases in base wages, we incurred approximately $9.4 million higher employee benefit costs, such as medical coverage, workers' compensation costs and 401(k) expenses. In addition, we are continuing to experience an increase in overtime pay for our pilots as a result of our training backlog in the early part of this year. We expect the overtime payments to decrease and normalize for the remainder of the year.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2007, fuel expense increased $55.7 million or 32.7%, from the same period in 2006 to support diversification of our flying into Branded Flying, Corporate Aviation and regional service for Delta through the transition of 69 aircraft from the Continental CPA during those months. For the nine months ended September 30, 2007, 88% of our fuel consumption related to our agreements with Continental and Delta. The remaining 12% of our fuel consumption during the period was exposed at an average cost, including related fuel taxes, of $2.33 per gallon.


Notice that management didn't run to the unions and demand concessions to cover the loses. Start up cost for an operation this large is huge. Gates, personnel, fuel, paint, advertisement, a whole new reservation system, and training all come at a cost not shared by mother CAL. With risks come rewards. Our loads are steadily increasing and profitability with our DAL flying is better than forecasted. Instead of posting speculations, again lets look at the balance sheet from the quarterly.




EXPRESSJET HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
PRELIMINARY STATISTICS

Three Months Ended September 30, 2007 Contract (1) Branded (2) System (3)
------------ ----------- ----------
Revenue Passenger Miles (millions) 2,238 534 2,775
Available Seat Miles (ASM) (millions) 2,817 882 3,707
Passenger Load Factor 79.4 % 60.5 % 74.9 %
Block Hours 192,151 50,068 242,666
Departures 102,891 26,088 129,233
Average Price per Gallon of Fuel,
including
fuel taxes (dollars) $0.78 $2.40 $1.13
Fuel Gallons Consumed (000) 68,248 18,660 87,115
Stage Length (miles) 565 678 588


Nine Months Ended September 30, 2007 Contract (1) Branded (2) System (3)
------------ ----------- ----------
Revenue Passenger Miles (millions) 6,747 734 7,508
Available Seat Miles (ASM) (millions) 8,607 1,391 10,047
Passenger Load Factor 78.4 % 52.8 % 74.7 %
Block Hours 600,322 77,403 681,728
Departures 323,365 39,376 365,417
Average Price per Gallon of Fuel,
including
fuel taxes (dollars) $0.74 $2.33 $0.94
Fuel Gallons Consumed (000) 211,044 28,539 240,390
Stage Length (miles) 548 709 564As you can see the the loads and revenue are heading in the right direction. Boyd, Calyon et al can speculate all they want, but don't forget they get a hefty sum for calling what they believe will happen. If they initially thought this would be like FlyI or ACA and that is what they put out on the street, you can bet they will keep beating that drum as long as they can. XJT is different from these other start up as they have diversification of revenue streams. All of its eggs are not in one basket. 75% is in CAL at a guaranteed profit while the company is using another CPA and at risk flying. Valuation of stock is great, but it not the be all end all in the business world unless you are an investor. XJT like SWA is constantly looking for ways to improve...ie when the numbers did not add up for the Corpus route it was dropped for a more lucrative market in AZ.


Don't give up on old XJT just yet...lets just wait and see what happens. Until then lets roll up the sleeves and fly as the professionals that we are.


Remember that XJT has been setting the bar in wages, other compensation and work rules. Its always great to hear that others are asking for "XJT-plus some percent. As you set the bar in your next round of negotiations we will in turn ask for (insert airline here) plus x% thus benefiting all of us.




Just my thoughts Flame away nay-sayers

Okay, I'm confused. Are you actively trying to stop people from applying? :D