The race to the bottom with XJT sounds like it could get a little interesting with the corporate flying?

 

Whats that supposed to mean? The corporate flying sounds like a decent gig if all you care about is the money. A second year FO would bring in about $56,000, not counting per diem. Can't beat that.

 

Agreed. I don't see how paying people more lowers the bar.

 

Internal recomendations certainly help, but it's really up to you. Once again in my humble opinion, they look for two things:

Can we train you.

Can we get along with you.

Both are the byproduct of a good attitude.

 

how do you think they are going to afford to pay them? Look at the economics of it. What are they going to charge per mile? Most charter spin off charge barely over what they paying to operate so they can make payroll. Do you think there is a booming industry for a 60 seat charter aircraft still configured for pax? Doubt it, who are they going to be flying around? Doubt there are many clients out there who could afford that type of aircraft for a charter/

 

I don't know the answer to your question. What I do know is that the contracts have already been signed but the names of the clients have, obviously, not been made public. Also, as far as the pay issue, management came to us with those numbers. And it is 5-10 airplanes out of 270. They are obviously not betting the farm on this charter thing. So no sigep_nm, the sky is definitely NOT falling over here at XJT.

 

My $.02 is that I don't think the corporate flying at XJT is going to be around long enough for anyone to see the benefits financially. There are companies out there doing this same thing in 727's, 717's, Saabs, EMB-120's, then you also have NJA, Flight Options, FlexJet, etc.

The chances of XJT tapping into this market with EMB's.... making money..... and growing are slim. There are already quite a few players.... and the EMB 135/145 is ridiculous inside. A little XM radio and more legroom isn't gonna do the trick fellas.

 

People aren't doing it industry wide. Several places could benifit. The aircraft could possibly be changed. That I don't know. But there are several organizations that move teams of people in privately chartered aircraft. College and pro sports teams. Red-cross and other humanitarian groups. UN. Companies with large groups of management like IBM. I think of it more like the BBJ. While money is an issue it's the point to point ability and doing so on-call that makes the difference and will be why people use them.

 

It not only works better as one company, but it has all but publicly been said that XJT in fact comes out cheaper. XJT has an economy of scale that no one else touches. Our 274 aircraft are operated as efficiently and with more reliability than any fleet anywhere. (99.9 numbers here). CRJs not only have upfront costs of training, certification to the ops spec, etc, but also need all new GPU's (they are AC power not DC like the ERJ). CAL has no way to positively spin "taking us back" and therefore will suck up the cost to go ahead with this....

No offense to CHQ crews but when the operational reliability decreases, costs increase, and px dislike shows through, CAL is gonna be really regretting this decision. We will still have close relations with them (200+ a/c) and will be available for future opportunities.

Branded flying is a last resort as far as management is concerned. It is a big question mark to investors and management. They say that it could be operational by Q2 '07. Lots to get in order, ticket sales, gates, routes, etc etc etc. We would not do like independence and compete in a Hub (ala IAD). We would do a lot of underserved communities point-point. It is easier to establish those routes when you only need to fill 50 seats. The XR's can fly some long legs too...

As far as hiring.... I wouldnt be worried. The training department has been ramping up to run 80 pilots/month through in Jan/Feb '07. 35 CAs have been leaving each month for CAL, SWA etc. 35/mo for CA attrition only....thats really good folks.

Keep your eyes and ears open. We are all curious to see where the chips fall.