Just curious where you're getting the 5 year 6 mos. You cant use the date of hire of current upgrades to translate to what that means to a new hire. You take the current rate and how long it would take at that rate to get to where a W number is on the list. Its at about 3 years now.

Crew planning has been using the 48/month number for a while as what it projects to upgrade at next year. 32/ Month is through Dec, more than likely it will pick up as they begin to staff for Summer 2012.

It may be a good move for the OP to go to eagle, but he should also factor in the rate at which guys will flow through (ie, what % of AA new hires will be flow-throughs). Would he flow up to AA before the next 3.5 years when he (potentially) could be at 1000 PIC at XJT and shopping himself to all carriers, not just AA.

I was talking about XJT.


Blastoff,
When I mentioned 5 years 6 months and increasing, I was referring to the current upgrade time at ExpressJet. I been at XJT 5 years, 4 months, and 12 days. I will not hold captain by the end of the year. Hopefully I'll be able to hold it early next year, which would clock in right around 6 long years. I realize it will come down significantly once the U numbers upgrade because there was close to 3 years with no hiring. Of course that could change one we get one list with ASA.

I made a lateral move and it worked out. You can only use the information at hand to make a decision not on what might happen. If you want to switch, now is the time since you'll only lose a year.

Not sure what your reading but he's talking about XJT

Ya I figured that out 2 posts before yours slick!

I'd say get offered the job first. Then-

1. You will be at the bottom of a regional that is trying to get sold by the parent. If that happens, results may vary.
2. Your eventual spot at AA requires, at the least, whatever AA recalls from the last 1000 and 2900 other Eagle pilots looking to fly the 'big iron'. It also requires AA to actually take delivery of more than 360 narrow-body aircraft. The order is 460 +/-, but how many legacies have taken a complete original order? If they take the 1:1 at the minimum, you'd be at AA when 2900 pilots have retired. How many years is that?

For the record, I've been out of the airlines for 4 years. Since everybody keeps getting paid less and the 'majors' keep replacing narrow-bodies for RJ's, why bother? It seems cynical, but what's the difference? You either stay and be lucky or unlucky, or you change jobs and have the same outcome. You'll know how you did when you hit retirement.

I always laugh at people who blast AA as a "crappy" airline - as a paying passenger I believe AA is easily best run legacy that exists, top to bottom through regional lift...better than United, CAL, Airways, and Delta. They run their regional ops better, their mainline ops better, irregular ops better, and have one of, if not the, best FF program in the industry.

Is AMR losing money? Yes. But as always, devil is in the details...in this case, the SEC reports. Negotiating new contracts with all their unions. Never used bankruptcy to beat concessions out of vendors & labor. Just placed a massive fleet renewal order.

If your quality of life will be improved going to Eagle, roll the dice and see what comes up...

Don't do it, you jump ship, something happens to Eagle, try to go with another regional and they see you keep leaving places. What's to stop the next regional from thinking you will leave for something else. Stick it out and be happy you have a job.

I agree with the above.

I also would like to go to AA, but I wouldn't count on the flow through to get there, as a new hire.

Put your time into XJT, and you will probably upgrade in 3 years. I've found that whenever you're hired at a place with a long upgrade time, it turns out to be short, and if you're hired at a place with a short upgrade time, then you're in for a long one. I wish I hadn't left XJT. =(

My interview is next week... and I'm pretty sure I'm going to cancel it. The latest ASA proposal seems to be iffy at best. I'm not unhappy with my current situation and I hate the thought of being stuck with first year pay for another whole year. It'd be nice to have access to the better bases, but I'm just not convinced it's worth the risk.