I won't ever defend TSA, it sucks. Taking cheap shots at the pilots on the other hand....

 

I'm not management, at the risk of making a pro TSA post. You have to understand that TSA is a private company, think your local cafe vs. starbucks. XJT and other public companies are in constant pressure of making things looks on the up and up ie. 75 airplanes for a business model that may or may not work, looks better than parking airplanes. Losing money for the sake of perception of growth. TSA management don't have to do anything if they don't want to and can analyze and make better decisions. As a result company is stable, has good rates for the airplanes and does a good job for the partners. UA is giving them more of the MESA flying. A far as bad QOL, it's not as bad as the general perception of TSA I guarantee you those that complain usually have not seen what BAD really is. With the way things are there will be a slowdown in hiring and movement but I'd rather be at a regional with 250 numbers till an upgrade date vs 1500.

 

pretty sure expressjet's in the red because continental decided to take flying away from you and assign it to another regional, then instead of disposing of the airplanes (bravo actually for stickin it to the man) the company undertook a risky business move to continue flying the aircraft as expressjet airlines. Initial startup costs hurt the airline, rising fuel prices are hurting the airline more.

PS- If people coming to bottom feeder trans states is the REAL reason you guys are in the red, i would have atleast hoped that trans states would have the continental flying that caused the whole debacle in the first place....hmmmm, maybe chautauqua is bringing down the industry with less pay, and worse work rules than expressjet......suuuuure.

 

TSA is no peach of an airline. If you can go elsewhere....do so. TSA makes money, so with that regards it is a good place to work; however, the bulk of the employees here at TSA are treated like merd! (I think that is the right french word). The only place you will find any kind of QOL is by living in domicile, either STL or RIC and for get about commuting(even from PIT-it won't be around much longer). The standard life when you are new here is expect to be utilized to your minimum guarantee, you may go over, but probably not. you WILL spend several days a week sitting airport reserve and will only be paid for 50% the time you spent on duty. When out flying the line you will encounter some really out standing crews, living in what amounts to squaller(you will understand when you see the condition of our aircraft-THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF OUR MAINT. DEPT, as they are understaffed even worse than we are) what you would get is a paycheck(though not much of one-first year fo's average around 18000 per year) and flight time.
Good luck with your decision.

 

what an uneducated comment! so when XJT was making money and thriving, was that because of TSA? does TSA have a direct result on all XJT earnings? wow, i had no idea they were related in any way. funny thing is, nothing has changed here at TSA to make XJT go from profitable to not! and by the way, nobody defended the company. but to take shot at a pilot group that is working very hard to fight management and get a better contract is unacceptable. i dont get it. when asa was fighting and now that pinnacle is fighting management for the same things, they dont get slammed!?!? maybe im uneducated as far as that goes. but i can assure you that WE are not the reason XJT is in the red! that is rediculous!

 

Great!!! XJT is in the RED because I work for Trans States. This is the funniest thing I have hear since David Beckham moved to the U.S to make soccer a household name. I guess I took your continental flying. It's my fault the price of oil skyrocketed while you guys were in the start-up of your branded flying.

I am not defending Trans States, but I am defending my decision to work here. I would work at XJT if you guys open a RIC base. So next time you talk to XJT management tell them Trans States has 150+ pilots in RIC that will like to make over and fly for you if a RIC base can be started ASAP because I do not want to commute. Maybe, that will help XJT come out of the RED.

 

My advice would be to go elsewhere if at all possible. I left TSA for XJT back in Feb 2007, and I'm very glad I did. My QOL has been exponentially better since I left. We have a great many TSA refugees here (3 of us in my new hire class alone!), and all of them say the same thing. I'd rather be an FO here than a CA at TSA. If RepubShuttlaqua has a PIT base, go for that (even if you don't get it straight out of training, you'll get it eventually). Commuting sucks anyway you slice it, especially for a company with no commuter clause and a monthly minimum of only 10 days off. Living in base is almost like a completely different job. This having been said, TSA is better than Colgan or Mesa any day. If possible, get a job with a company that either A.) Has a base where you live or B.) Has a base in a city you would be willing to move to. In summation, I'll say that TSA isn't the worst (better than Colgan, Mesa, Pinnacle, etc.), but they're far from being the best.

 

well put..

 

Wow. Well, I work at Mesa. So, if the world ends tomorrow, it must be my fault.

Maybe we should start a thread containing all posts competing for the Top-10 foolish comments by our fellow regoinal airline pilots. Just a suggestion.

 

A question for those who know: Does TSA have a training contract? How long from application to class on average?