The guys and gals that were furloughed a few years ago and maybe some senior to them could potentially be looking at a 10 year upgrade, how exciting!

I'm sure things will start to move at a more normal pace one day but it sure has been a bad drought.

 

Scheduling here has been instructed to get the most value out of reserves. Management sees reserves getting paid to sit around and wait for sick calls (you know, their intended purpose) as losing money. So the company withholds the max allowed open time to keep the reserves busy. They break up a 4 day trip, and deal a couple of legs or an overnight to as many people as possible. Then suddenly, a few people call in sick, and it's a crisis. They extend you, take away your days off, and push you to the FAA limits (forget the contract) to compensate for the emergency they created. If you're "lucky' enough to hold long call reserve, you will either be preassigned a trip, or called at midnight and converted to short call in 12 hours. This can happen 7 times a month, so you shouldn't count on any RES days going unused. Short calls can be assigned ready reserve (8 hours sitting at airport) 6 times a month. When you ask them why you're being placed on Ready or short call, even though they already have 6 people doing it, the response is "because we can". You cannot plan anything because they move off days constantly. You may go in for 1 round trip then come home 6 days later. You will deadhead twice to fly 1 leg, then get put "standby" on a full flight to get home. Scheduling has no respect for you. They are told in training that pilots are greedy divas who make $30-$90 an hour and will do anything to get out of work (they let the schedulers think we work 40 hour weeks). They talk to you like an animal. When they schedule you beyond the contract limits, the chief pilots and union don't care. They see reserves as cannon fodder who should "suck it up" and be glad they have jobs. Almost every reserve "rule" in our contract ends with the phrase "unless would result in a cancelled flight or extension of a lineholder", so basically reserves have no rules. In summary, you will be a slave to this company, worked every day to the point of fatigue, then expected to come back the next day with a smile and do it all over again. For years. I have so far spent a total of 6 years on reserve with this company. It's so bad that I'm willing to commute to avoid it.

 

The earlier your reserve period starts the more likely you are to be called a lot. When I was 6a RSV I broke guarantee and was used almost every day. When I moved to 6p (nap) reserve, I rarely flew. I've also been fortunate to not get the full 6 ready reserve assignments except once.

Mind you, the above applies to IAD, so the folks down in ATL probably have a different version. My classmates in DTW don't seem to fly a ton, and DFW doesn't seem to be terribly busy either from a reserve perspective. My wife and I have a place not too far from IAD, so life on reserve has hasn't been too bad from the family persective. In fact, my wife hasn't liked the months where I've had a line because I'm gone a lot more nights.

BLUF, if you come here, plan on being on reserve for at least a year. If family is important, try to live in base (but don't uproot the family to do so), it will be a lot better for you. YMMV.

 

I believe we had weekends off during ground portion.

 

Damn, that sounds like Trans States reserve back in 2005 I thought XJet was supposed to be a respectable place to work at?

Are all the regionals still bad in regards to reserve and the contract?
What is the starting pay at XJet and what are you paid during training?

 

What is the difference between long and short call reserve?
Are both ERJ and CRJ looking at possible 1yr plus reserve for new hire?
How many days off gurentee for reserve?
Is reserve rule at ERJ worse than say Skywest?
During which phase of training do you get your flight benefits?

Thanks

 

ASA, Long call=12 hour report time/on call for 24hours. Short call=2 hour report/on call for 15 hour periods.

 

All regionals are about this bad on reserve or worse. It can be slightly better depending on your management. The erj side used to have 1 hr plus wait to talk to scheduling but the schedulers were pretty civil and now with our new management you don't wait on hold but you are talking to and are talked to like a prison inmate. Being hung up on is not out of the question and reserves are used but not efficiently. The novelty of this job wears out around the 6 month mark and you start to realize that you are meat in a seat to scheduling and management.

Here is some advice to make your life more enjoyable:
1) Know your contract inside and out once you get out of training
2) Never curse while on the phone with anyone from the company. Dont get angry GET EVEN. Treat it like a game. They don't respect you so don't respect them.
3) Remember that the company needs you as a trained pilot. It is near impossible to get fired unless you lie, cheat, steal, or don't show up.
4) Don't take it personally. Scheduling is minimum wage guys/girls with horrible direction from above, you are just a number to management, and this place is a paycheck until you can find something better.

Pay during training

Erj side is somehwere around 700 every two weeks in training with guarantee (75 hrs) starting once you pass the checkride which takes about 2 months to get to.

CRJ is slightly more per month in training.

After training you can expect around 2000-2400 a month take home depending on taxes and per diem if I remember correctly.

The overall contracts for both sides of XJT are above average compared to most regionals but you are still at a regional. If you search on here I think someone even broke down our current contracts and compared them. They are very similar and both have good points.

 

I agree with Captain Tony, regarding the reserve QOL, or lack there of. Personally, I'd commute to a line before being on reserve, in domicile. After 3.5 years of reserve, I finally have that opportunity.

ExpressJet is one of the better places to work, as far as the regionals go. Unfortunately, it's akin to being the fastest horse in the glue factory, as it's still awful.

As far as utilization goes- on the captain side of the house, everyone gets used just about every day. Not sure about the F/O side of things, but I imagine it's the same.

As far as crew scheduling goes, working with (for them) is like watching them plug holes in a dam. They fix one problem, then create another. No wonder our performance is embarrassing. They (management) appear to have no interest in fixing this, either. Also, Tony is correct in his frankness of the schedulers. Most lack respect, courtesy, and any sense of the value of a pilot, and our contribution to making the operation here work. They truly are squeezing you dry, productivity wise, and then they relentlessly seek more out of you. Even on your days off, you can expect to get bugged- we have an auto dialer that will run you up the wall as it tries to inform you of a trip 2-3 days out. It's like being shackled 24/7, 365.

I used to be a huge company man. I applied to ASA years ago, because I thought it would be a wise move to apply to a regional I could see myself retiring from, if I didn't get picked up by a major. After all, the ability to move on is an opportunity, and a privilege- not necessarily a right. Unfortunately, reserve and the people that run the scheduling system here have run me away from that belief. The happiest day of my life will be when I put this place in my rear view mirror! I simply can't wait to get out of here, and I loath every moment I'm at work, all because of scheduling and the work rules here.

 

Thanks for the info NEWARKBLOWS. I know the game, well, as I spent 6 years at TSA in a former life. Considering a regional soon to get back into 121 ops if a few other options don't work out soon and trying to figure out which is going to be the least painful. I will be commuting from the West, so the DEN and MCI bases would be a good option.