Hey guys, some XJT/regional questions.

W

wzgrza

Well-Known Member
I'm currently at a bottom of the barrel regional, without any prospects of upgrade anytime soon, if that company even survives that long, and don't think I can take it any longer. Looking to make a lateral move, if I must, as this just isn't worth it.. and it seems I don't have many prospects around my area outside of another regional job.

Any XJT people here who can shed some light as to what is happening within the company? I hear they are running upgrade classes, and expect to lose quite a few pilots in the next year on, as mainline (hopefully) will open their doors.

What is reserve time currently, roughly? And how is life on reserve? I spent 3 years of my time with my company on reserve, and this reserve had little to no rules, so I think I have seen the bottom.

I understand EWR is the junior base? When are flying contracts up for renegotiation? Anything in the works right now? How is the merge going?

XJT is the regional I am looking now mainly since from what I understand it is one of the better companies, and offers a commutable base structure at worst, and at best out of EWR I wouldn't have to commute. Just starting to look around again now, as in the past I could not afford to do it, and not even sure if there are better alternatives to XJT out there at the moment.

Also, what class dates could one expect out of interview.. i.e how many months after interview?

Thanks for any help.
 
wzgrza said:
I'm currently at a bottom of the barrel regional, without any prospects of upgrade anytime soon, if that company even survives that long, and don't think I can take it any longer. Looking to make a lateral move, if I must, as this just isn't worth it.. and it seems I don't have many prospects around my area outside of another regional job.

Any XJT people here who can shed some light as to what is happening within the company? I hear they are running upgrade classes, and expect to lose quite a few pilots in the next year on, as mainline (hopefully) will open their doors.

What is reserve time currently, roughly? And how is life on reserve? I spent 3 years of my time with my company on reserve, and this reserve had little to no rules, so I think I have seen the bottom.

I understand EWR is the junior base? When are flying contracts up for renegotiation? Anything in the works right now? How is the merge going?

XJT is the regional I am looking now mainly since from what I understand it is one of the better companies, and offers a commutable base structure at worst, and at best out of EWR I wouldn't have to commute. Just starting to look around again now, as in the past I could not afford to do it, and not even sure if there are better alternatives to XJT out there at the moment.

Also, what class dates could one expect out of interview.. i.e how many months after interview?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...


Where are you now?
 
I'll answer the best I can. EWR tends to be one of the junior bases. Even if assigned one of the others out of training, I don't see it being difficult to trade or bid to EWR in a reasonably short time.

I have no idea how the hiring works since ASA took over that function shortly after the buyout closed. Interviews were conducted in Atlanta and new-hires were sent to Houston for training. I heard some interviewed intending to work for ASA and were sent to the XJT side of the operation unexpectedly. I don't know how long our current new hires waited for class dates. You might check the current interview gouges to see what class dates are being offered.

Upgrades are currently at about 6 years, maybe a little less. We're all hopeful that the majors will pick up hiring and help movement, but remember there are tons of guys at all the other regionals who will compete for those jobs. Continental historically picked up a fair amount of our pilots, but now there is a large backlog of United furloughs to be considered.

We've heard that ASA may furlough and those pilots will be placed in the XJT side. That might slow hiring. For now though, there is a slow and steady flow of upgrades and new hires to account for attrition. Some are finding other flying jobs and some are leaving the industry.
 
wzgrza said:
Any XJT people here who can shed some light as to what is happening within the company? I hear they are running upgrade classes, and expect to lose quite a few pilots in the next year on, as mainline (hopefully) will open their doors.

What is reserve time currently, roughly? And how is life on reserve? I spent 3 years of my time with my company on reserve, and this reserve had little to no rules, so I think I have seen the bottom.

I understand EWR is the junior base? When are flying contracts up for renegotiation? Anything in the works right now? How is the merge going?

XJT is the regional I am looking now mainly since from what I understand it is one of the better companies, and offers a commutable base structure at worst, and at best out of EWR I wouldn't have to commute. Just starting to look around again now, as in the past I could not afford to do it, and not even sure if there are better alternatives to XJT out there at the moment.

Also, what class dates could one expect out of interview.. i.e how many months after interview?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Things currently are on an upswing at XJT with a number of new hire classes and upgrades in the training center. I don't know how much hiring they're still doing though, an FO recently said it'd be winding down for a bit.

Reserve time has been fairly short (3 months). Of course time on reserve depends on when you get in during the hiring.

Life on Reserve especially if you live in base is not bad. I think you'll find XJT has some of the best contract provisions for reserves including 11/12 days off, aggressive pick up windows, some of the best limitations on airport standby and a long call system. Again, if you live in base you may have a better QOL than all of the commuters (lineholders included). With staffing levels being good now, reserve abuse has been at a minimum.


As far as contracts with United (Continental), I don't know what the future holds or how long our contracts are with them. I think a lot depends on the United pilot's joint contract negotiations and where their scope ends up. I know even less about the Delta side of things (Legacy ASA).

Overall if you're in the NY area and could be based comfortably in EWR, I would say this would be a good place to be.
 
Currently work at Piedmont on the Dash-8. This place has gone downhill significantly from when I joined, and continues getting worse. The company seems they are doing what they can to make people leave, I don't understand it. I personally think the company will not be around in another few years. That is the direction everything is pointing to.

Van_Hoolio said:
I'll answer the best I can. EWR tends to be one of the junior bases. Even if assigned one of the others out of training, I don't see it being difficult to trade or bid to EWR in a reasonably short time.

I have no idea how the hiring works since ASA took over that function shortly after the buyout closed. Interviews were conducted in Atlanta and new-hires were sent to Houston for training. I heard some interviewed intending to work for ASA and were sent to the XJT side of the operation unexpectedly. I don't know how long our current new hires waited for class dates. You might check the current interview gouges to see what class dates are being offered.

Upgrades are currently at about 6 years, maybe a little less. We're all hopeful that the majors will pick up hiring and help movement, but remember there are tons of guys at all the other regionals who will compete for those jobs. Continental historically picked up a fair amount of our pilots, but now there is a large backlog of United furloughs to be considered.

We've heard that ASA may furlough and those pilots will be placed in the XJT side. That might slow hiring. For now though, there is a slow and steady flow of upgrades and new hires to account for attrition. Some are finding other flying jobs and some are leaving the industry.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information, much appreciate it your time to write it out.

Any numbers floating around on how many ASA may furlough, and what it depends upon?

Also, what does a typical reserve line look like? How about a typical line, with how many days off a month roughly?

I hear you can get a schedule with 15 days off a month, and turn it into 20 by trip trading/swapping etc. True?
 
Baronman said:
Things currently are on an upswing at XJT with a number of new hire classes and upgrades in the training center. I don't know how much hiring they're still doing though, an FO recently said it'd be winding down for a bit.

Reserve time has been fairly short (3 months). Of course time on reserve depends on when you get in during the hiring.

Life on Reserve especially if you live in base is not bad. I think you'll find XJT has some of the best contract provisions for reserves including 11/12 days off, aggressive pick up windows, some of the best limitations on airport standby and a long call system. Again, if you live in base you may have a better QOL than all of the commuters (lineholders included). With staffing levels being good now, reserve abuse has been at a minimum.


As far as contracts with United (Continental), I don't know what the future holds or how long our contracts are with them. I think a lot depends on the United pilot's joint contract negotiations and where their scope ends up. I know even less about the Delta side of things (Legacy ASA).

Overall if you're in the NY area and could be based comfortably in EWR, I would say this would be a good place to be.
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Thanks for the reply.

There is long and short call reserve at XJT? What are the callout times? I don't live immediately in the NY area, but close enough that driving is not a huge problem.. I live in an area where I have to drive at least 2 hours to any major airport, so I am stuck with that no matter what. Also have lots of friends around the EWR area, so the improvement in QOL I think would be significant, which is a big deal.
 
Here is my story, i like you decided I wanted to jump ship to another regional. Now the regional i came from was in bad shape when i left, so i decided to leave for skywest. long story short, is that Im in the same position i would have been at had i stayed at my other airline. I didnt gain much and I didnt lose much. But the moral of the story is even though it looked dire at the time things changed and i should have probably just stayed. Like I said i got lucky and skywest was good to me and kept growing allowing me to pretty mich make the move a wash. But it could have just as easily blown up in my face like it did for my friend who left to go to comair and is now looking at unemloyment vs what would have been an upgrade.

Unless your airline is looking at a comair like situation i would just wait it out. Lateral moves at the regional level are not worth it and usually do more harm than good unless you time it right. right now i think we have gone past the halfway mark with the current regional hiring wave that started a year ago. I think if you left to go to another regional you would be in the same position you are in now or worse. But this is all just my opinion and you need to do what feels right and what you think will be the best for you.

Rember the old saying the grass isn't alwayss greener on the otherside.
 
skyw82 said:
Here is my story, i like you decided I wanted to jump ship to another regional. Now the regional i came from was in bad shape when i left, so i decided to leave for skywest. long story short, is that Im in the same position i would have been at had i stayed at my other airline. I didnt gain much and I didnt lose much. But the moral of the story is even though it looked dire at the time things changed and i should have probably just stayed. Like I said i got lucky and skywest was good to me and kept growing allowing me to pretty mich make the move a wash. But it could have just as easily blown up in my face like it did for my friend who left to go to comair and is now looking at unemloyment vs what would have been an upgrade.

Unless your airline is looking at a comair like situation i would just wait it out. Lateral moves at the regional level are not worth it and usually do more harm than good unless you time it right. right now i think we have gone past the halfway mark with the current regional hiring wave that started a year ago. I think if you left to go to another regional you would be in the same position you are in now or worse. But this is all just my opinion and you need to do what feels right and what you think will be the best for you.

Rember the old saying the grass isn't alwayss greener on the otherside.
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I have considered that. I am not at all confident our company will be around in another few years. And there are many VERY senior captains who do not believe they will hit retirement age at the company. Aircraft are old, leases ending in the next few years, airframe cycle limits just around the corner on the other half that aren't up on lease. This is all in the next few years, yet there is absolutely no fleet replacement plan, or any plan for the future at all for that matter. Management doesn't care about anything it seems, and has no idea of the future. The company went from having around 115 Dash-8s, to around 45ish now. Company has the least commutable base structure out of any regional I think, making it a double leg commute anywhere you go, unless you live in CLT, PHL, or NYC. I won't move for this company, and QOL at the moment is non-existent. Schedules are terrible for months now, with more then half the lines only offering 13 days off a month (the other half 14), with those 13 days broken up into pairs of 2 days off, between trips, making going home be a couple hour affair, before the pain in the butt commute back to report in time for a super-early show. If life was somewhat tolerable here, I probably wouldn't leave.. but it just isn't. I think I would be happier on reserve at XJT, then I am with a line currently. Not to mention I would surpass my current pay at XJT after one year.. And this is all after being stuck at the bottom of the seniority list for 3.5 years, including a furlough.
 
wzgrza said:
I have considered that. I am not at all confident our company will be around in another few years. And there are many VERY senior captains who do not believe they will hit retirement age at the company. Aircraft are old, leases ending in the next few years, airframe cycle limits just around the corner on the other half that aren't up on lease. This is all in the next few years, yet there is absolutely no fleet replacement plan, or any plan for the future at all for that matter. Management doesn't care about anything it seems, and has no idea of the future. The company went from having around 115 Dash-8s, to around 45ish now. Company has the least commutable base structure out of any regional I think, making it a double leg commute anywhere you go, unless you live in CLT, PHL, or NYC. I won't move for this company, and QOL at the moment is non-existent. Schedules are terrible for months now, with more then half the lines only offering 13 days off a month (the other half 14), with those 13 days broken up into pairs of 2 days off, between trips, making going home be a couple hour affair, before the pain in the butt commute back to report in time for a super-early show. If life was somewhat tolerable here, I probably wouldn't leave.. but it just isn't. I think I would be happier on reserve at XJT, then I am with a line currently. Not to mention I would surpass my current pay at XJT after one year.. And this is all after being stuck at the bottom of the seniority list for 3.5 years, including a furlough.
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You should come to CommutAir, and fly with a bunch of guys that long to have what you have now... And you would probably upgrade fast. Just saying. I advise against making horizontal moves. I can't imagine Piedmont iis just going to let the company collapse. You may get the next order of Q400's
 
wzgrza said:
Currently work at Piedmont on the Dash-8. This place has gone downhill significantly from when I joined, and continues getting worse. The company seems they are doing what they can to make people leave, I don't understand it. I personally think the company will not be around in another few years. That is the direction everything is pointing to.



Thanks for the information, much appreciate it your time to write it out.

Any numbers floating around on how many ASA may furlough, and what it depends upon?

Also, what does a typical reserve line look like? How about a typical line, with how many days off a month roughly?

I hear you can get a schedule with 15 days off a month, and turn it into 20 by trip trading/swapping etc. True?
Click to expand...

Did that this month, and even better next month.

My original line this month had 15 days off, and I turned it into 19 days off in the line improvement window. We can trade 2 trips for 1 trip, resulting in one of your trips being dropped off your schedule.

As an example, if you have a 4 day starting on the 5th, and a 4 day starting on the 16th, and you trade them both for a 1 day on say, the 10th (the days don't matter, I'm just making up an example), if the reserve coverage is positive on all the days you're trying to ditch, you can do the trade, resulting in an increase of 7 days off.

Last month I did a trade like that and knocked out a 4 day trip over a weekend, so I ended up with 10 days off in the middle of the month.

But you've got to be a hard line holder to do this.
 
adk said:
In Newark.
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Yep...which is where he'd plan on being based right? I'm not sure what the reserve times are in Chicago or the Texas Flying club.

To the original poster, I'd be wary of making the move. I think XJT is a good place to be, but is it worth a lateral move at this point? If it's the difference between being in the bottom 25% of FO's where you are now and commuting, versus making the switch and being in base at XJT, ok....but if you're top 50% of FO's where you are now, realize it may take some time to gain seniority at XJT.

I think you'll see movement when USAir starts hiring significant numbers from your current carrier. And being that it's a smaller carrier, you can move up the food chain fairly quickly. Realize that XJT has something like 2600 pilots which could jump to 4000+ when we combine with ASA.
 
Pilotforhire587 said:
You should come to CommutAir, and fly with a bunch of guys that long to have what you have now... And you would probably upgrade fast. Just saying. I advise against making horizontal moves. I can't imagine Piedmont iis just going to let the company collapse. You may get the next order of Q400's
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Saw a CommutAir 300 taxi by today in PHL. The same 300s that PDT was fighting for, or so they told us. We were supposed to get 200s until not long ago, too. It was a sure thing. Those are off the table as well. Basically unless they give it for free, we aren't getting new airplanes anytime soon. As far as Q400s, they have been dangling that carrot for a good 6 years now. I know CommutAir isn't a great company, but neither is PDT. At least like you said CommutAir offers a quick upgrade. Piedmont doesn't even have that, even though it is a crap company. Since so many guys have stuck around this long at PDT, it just goes to show that it once was a good company, but that is in the past, and is no longer the case. It has since become a complete bottom feeder type operation.
jtrain609 said:
Did that this month, and even better next month.

My original line this month had 15 days off, and I turned it into 19 days off in the line improvement window. We can trade 2 trips for 1 trip, resulting in one of your trips being dropped off your schedule.

As an example, if you have a 4 day starting on the 5th, and a 4 day starting on the 16th, and you trade them both for a 1 day on say, the 10th (the days don't matter, I'm just making up an example), if the reserve coverage is positive on all the days you're trying to ditch, you can do the trade, resulting in an increase of 7 days off.

Last month I did a trade like that and knocked out a 4 day trip over a weekend, so I ended up with 10 days off in the middle of the month.

But you've got to be a hard line holder to do this.
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My buddy there was telling me about that type of flexibility. That is a sweet deal, and a something that can vastly improve ones QOL and flexibility. Those types of swaps weren't approved at my current company even when we had reserve guys flying 1 trip a month because they were so over staffed.

Baronman said:
Yep...which is where he'd plan on being based right? I'm not sure what the reserve times are in Chicago or the Texas Flying club.

To the original poster, I'd be wary of making the move. I think XJT is a good place to be, but is it worth a lateral move at this point? If it's the difference between being in the bottom 25% of FO's where you are now and commuting, versus making the switch and being in base at XJT, ok....but if you're top 50% of FO's where you are now, realize it may take some time to gain seniority at XJT.

I think you'll see movement when USAir starts hiring significant numbers from your current carrier. And being that it's a smaller carrier, you can move up the food chain fairly quickly. Realize that XJT has something like 2600 pilots which could jump to 4000+ when we combine with ASA.
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I am currently within that bottom 25-30% you mentioned. We have about 420 pilots I think? I'm probably 65-85ish from the bottom now, and about 100ish from upgrade? Upgrades here are VERY slow coming. I imagine however, they will speed up next year, just as they shall everywhere else.

Good point about the big pilot group. But at the same time I believe it is a much younger group as well (?) probably looking to move on. Where very many of our guys are in it for the long haul. Also mainline isn't keen on taking our pilots due to various politics at play between mainline and PDT. No guarantees of any job prospects or even interviews at mainline for our guys.. they actually say it is a handicap to getting on at mainline by working at PDT since PDT is not eager to allow mainline to deplete their staffing levels.
 
I'm on reserve for Xjet out of ORD. I'm starting 6 days in a row off. Reserve usage is non-existant at the moment. I just commute to Chicago to sit around for a 5 day stretch.
 
DenverPilot8 said:
I'm on reserve for Xjet out of ORD. I'm starting 6 days in a row off. Reserve usage is non-existant at the moment. I just commute to Chicago to sit around for a 5 day stretch.
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Commuting on, I might add, a quite hellish route. I have no idea how you DEN-ORD guys do it.
 
DenverPilot8 said:
I'm on reserve for Xjet out of ORD. I'm starting 6 days in a row off. Reserve usage is non-existant at the moment. I just commute to Chicago to sit around for a 5 day stretch.
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Low reserve usage? And they say they are short on FOs? Somewhat strange.
 
I believe the shortage was due to them hustling a bunch of the 3 to 5 year FOs through upgrade training due to the mass captain shortage. Im guessing things have slightly stabilized.
 
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