ASA or XJT
 

Any thoughts on the best of the two for a first "real job?" I have things in the works with both... but with one losing airplanes and the other under a cloud of contract problems and Delta's uncertainty, neither is looking too swell. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Here is one of my own: I should have taken all that money and went to Med School. Oh well... too late.

Thanks guys.

I don't know anything about ASA, so I have nothing to compare to. I just got hired by XJT. The people there are great. Friendly, confident about the 69 planes and it is a first-class operation. I say go for XJT, at the very least you'll be below me on the seniority list when the furloughs hit :D

Gee.... thanks, pal.

:)

Tough one, but I'd say ASA. Delta is looking up a little and if you ever wanted to put your faith in airline management, put it in Skywest (they own ASA).

XJT is a good company, but they may or may not downsize...you could take a chance and if you get furloughed with a few 100 hours of RJ time, someone else will hire you.

Take into account where you want to live, and where you would likely be based...the difference between the very best and very worst regionals is irrelevant if you throw in a 2-3 leg, 2000 mile commute.

XJT is probably your best bet. I think XJT will secure that 69 aircraft flying somewhere and XJT is a great place to work. good luck!

Tough one. Just like I figured, there seem to be different views on almost every aspect of it.

I guess I will go with the safe bet, and do whatever my wife tells me to do. As if I had a choice... :cool:

I would not go to an airline that just lost the flying for a quarter of their fleet. XJT is a great company (from what I've heard), but that won't make a difference if you're furloughed as soon as you get out of training.

Seniority is everything. I'd recommend going somewhere that won't likely require you to start over in six months.

Having said that, the whole industry is a crap shoot.

IMHO, I would agree that XJT would be a crapshoot. Being and ASA employee, I'm by no means saying what we have is better, but the uncertainty of a 69 a/c drop would concern me. XJT is a great place to work, but you have to go where you get your PIC time & move on.

ASA is my 3rd airline and the grass is rarely greener on the other side. We have many faults and many positives. We are also in the tail end (I hope) of an exhausting 4 year fight on our contract.

I really don't care how much crap I get from others here, but if I were you, I would consider a carrier that is growing rapidly for the quickest upgrade that I can get. Our most junior Captain was hired in 2001 (that's a 5 year upgrade). Mesa and Chautauqua both have a quicker upgrade (because they are growing). Heck, for that matter, Mesa is hiring Capt's off the street for the Dash-8 for Delta Connection out of the Northeast.

Fact of the matter is that YOU have to get the PIC Turbine time if you want to go to a Major. Regardless of all the bitching and griping about the "*****s" of the industry, they are the ones moving up quicker, getting the PIC time and moving on to bigger and better things.

Don't let anyone try to convince you that the Mesa's, Chautauquas & Gulfstreams will hurt your chances of getting on with the majors. That's a bunch of bull**it. I know plenty of them now that are laughing all the way to the bank at CAL, SWA, etc.

Do what YOU have to do to get the PIC time in the quickest way possible and move on.

VERY well said greatview!!!

I agree with you 100%. The regionals are not somewhere I want to be for any amount of time longer than necessary. However, Im still a low time guy with under 1k TT. I have already interviewed at ASA and have an interview next week at XJT. So, I guess you can consider me taking whatever I can get at this point.... and I consider myself lucky to even have interviews.

However, neither is in the bag. Its been past my two week waiting period at ASA... and still no "Welcome Aboard" or "Thanks but no thanks" letter. So, I am ultimately still in the take whatever comes your way boat... but it never hurts to look ahead, IF I get lucky enough to have a choice to make.