Come to eagle. Good times ahead.

 

Oh, do share...

 

I suggest that you look at the big picture while you make your decision. The regional airlines are a crap shute regardless where you go. Your goal should be to get your time and get out ASAP. One thing to consider are the "what if" situations. You well know that in the next ten years there will be massive mandatory retirements. At the four legacies (AA,US,UA,DL) there will be 16,500 mandatory retirements. You want to figure out what will get you to a legacy the quickest and what regional will give you the best quality of life. If the eagle flow through program works at the minimum 20 per month, about 6-7 leave for medical or retirements, and we loose about 10 per month to other airlines (which we do now and the big ones are not hiring yet), you are looking at an attrition of at least 400 per year at Eagle. I know people will jump on me for this but it is a likely scenario. It is a gamble either way. Eagle management has also announced that they will be replacing the fleet as well, the Embraer is a crappy airplane compared to the CRJ 700. You would enjoy flying that more, and they have many overnights XNA since that is a MX base for Eagle. It's a tough decision but I hope this helps you out. Best of luck!

 

Are they running out of applicants that have ATP mins AND the required multi time for the airline? For example, me. I have the ATP mins, but my multi time is week. Like 30 hours weak. Would it be worth applying or is that multi time a hard requirement?

 

my understanding on this, is that its a hard insurance requirement. It was tough to get it down to 50 from 100, I dont think they will bend beyond the 50.

 

The NPRM for the new ATP mins is proposing 50 hours multi as a minimum.

 

I see you're new to the industry, but generally, you research a company before you go interview. The main site here Airline Pilot Central - HOME can get you started... oh, and if you do a little research on this forum, it's been discussed ad nauseum.

 

If you go to Eagle you know you'll fly "for" American, and American is starting to outsource to other carriers (hiring for attrition not growth). ExpressJet, you could fly for American, United or Delta, obviously they are looking for more flying (potential growth, keyword potential... there will also be attrition) and be based in DFW, Houston, Atlanta... all have direct flights to XNA. Do your own research but my 2 cents are at XJet. But I'm sure you'd be happy at either.

 

I have done the research on both, just trying to figure out if there is anything to sway me one way or the other.

 

I would definitely go with Eagle. As already mentioned, XNA is one of our maintenance bases, so we will always have flights there regardless of loads for the foreseeable future (I use that term lightly). Also we have plenty of overnights there, so you'll have more opportunities to be home. After 1 year of commuting to work for any regional, all you'll care about is: 1. How easy is my commute. 2. How many days you get to spend at home.

Don't chase the quick upgrade, you'll get screwed, just like everyone else. Focus on making your time at a regional more palatable. Eagle is going to shrink, because we have SO MANY leaving, but it will continue to hire as it shrinks to a group of 2200ish pilots (we're around 2850 now). And for a new guy that is just fine, about 30 pilots/month pushing you up for the next few years. XJT is a good company though, but if the commute isn't going to be as easy as Eagle, I'd stay away if I were you.