any info on chicago express

[ataopsdave]

anybody have any info about chicago express. i am a low time pilot who works for ata (the airline) and was just wondering.

 

[Palerider957]

Ata

I heard it was a pretty awful place to work. They work their people pretty hard and fire them for any dissent. They were going to vote on going ALPA, and I think they probably will.

Take whatever job you can get, just don't expect it to be a bed of roses.

Good luck..

 

[Palerider957]

FLyChi

I know two peole who were fired for pretty minimal reasons (granted they were new-hires, but it set's a bad precedant.) As an intern you got to sit in the Chief Pilots office and shuffle papers, just like out interns. Our interns have NO idea what it is to fly the line.

I'd tell anyone to take any flying job they can right now, but there's a reason your airline is known as "Chicago Distress."

Deal with it.....

 

[Palerider957]

Touche.....

 

[100LL... Again!]

I saw two pilots in one week wash out at my regional.
It was an okay place to work.

Some folks are just in over their heads. Maybe though, they were fired for other reasons during the probationary period.

A buddy of mine flies at a regional where a guy was fired for fudging his pay sheet. He was fairly new, too. Idiot.

 

[antney]

I have no idea were you got your info Palerider957. I work at C8 and like flychciago said it is very hard to get fired here. C8 is a great place to work. Management people here are great, and I'm not going to name names, but they support our pilots very well. Also the ALPA thing was voted down in the middle of January so that tells you 55% of the pilots at C8 like how management is handling things, and the timing is just not right for ALPA here this year. We have a great group of pilots, FA, Management, and interns. The only way a new hire would of got fired is that they didn't make it through training. Didn't pass the ground school, or didn't pass the sim portion. It's actually hard to look back and see if anyone was actually fired. I know of 2 people and the things they did was just not 1 time events, but multiple of events that led to their firing. Plus they give them many chances. Hell we even have many pilots with us that left before sept 11 to go to the majors got furloughed and had a job back with Chicago Express when they got furloughed, how many regionals did that? You are taking opinions of people that do not know much about Express. Like flychicago said you talk to our current pilots and many of them will say they love working here. Are pay is atleast industry average or a little above for flying the Saab 340. We have many of the same work rules as all of the other regionals. No were not as big as Air Wisconsin, ACA, ASA, etc, but time will tell if we are. You'll probably notice that many people will want to work for us in the coming years as well.
Also you made a comment about working us pretty hard. Well what regional pilot doesnt fly 5 to 7 legs a day. We have a 75 hour guarantee as well. Most people fly 75 or a little below. This month I fly 88 hours but that is unuasual and it is due to that I bid for that. Our working conditions are good, and they don't fly us to death as well. Your info from your new hires might be right in there eyes, but if they washed out in training they never saw the line as well. Oh and our interns our great too. They work there ass off at our company. They also jumpseat a lot, but your right they probably don't get to feel and see how the line flying is really made out to be.

So back to ATA question about how is Chciago Express. Great company to work for. Hopefully we will grow a lot after our countries war and problems are solved in the middle east. Pay is decent for regional way of life. Minimum days off is 10 for reserve line, average is from 12-15 days off a month. Senior guys hold about 16-18 days off, 18. After 1 year with the company you receive 2 weeks vacation. Decent medical and insurance benfits. If you have anymore just PM me. As far as I know after sept 11 Chicago Express was the only regional hiring and expanding!! Says something about our product and company.

 

[ALSF 2]

ataopsdave....

If you are really interested, regardless of how low you're time is, find C8's main number on the telephone list or on the emp website. Give them a call and talk to Dan H. He will give you the scoop on what you need to do to get into C8 (fly your a$$ off or send a resume or something else)!! Good Luck! Also, I second everything antney said about the company! Great place to work.

Cheers!

 

[Future SNA]

I neat thought...

I think one of the most attractive things a Chicago Express F.O. friend of mine told me is about them being owned by ATA. And the fact that many of ATA's new hires are from Chicago Express. I guess they hire right seat in the 737-800 and the 757, and ALL their pilots are typed. If you ask me, this sounds like an excellent way to work for a great company, possibly get hired by a larger airline, and get yourself a 737 type rating should Southwest be your goal like so many others. Left seat in the SAAB to a B757FO............you gotta be shi__ng me!

 

[jjbiv]

If C8 is an awful place to work, I didn't get the memo. I work at an outstation and love it. Likewise, if the pilot group is unhappy they sure hide it well. I never hear anything more than the normal gripes that exist at any airline. Flt Ops is one of the best managed parts of the company. Our pilots really are outstanding -- I have yet to see a flight crew pitch in to get an aircraft out on time at another airline as they do here.

We have our quirks, but an awful company? C'mon!

joe

 

[Flight_Line]

The most likely reason you don't see flight crews at other airlines doing anything other than flying the planes is the unions. I worked at UAL as a CS agent (outstation rampie) and from what I had heard from some of the guys I worked with the rampies would get pretty angry if anyone (pilots, mgt, etc..) tried to throw bags with them. Basically, it sent a message to the management that they could combine jobs and therefore cut jobs. Something like that anyways. It makes sense to me but it is kind of sad it comes down to that. Anyways. Is Chicago Express hiring? If they are what are their mins? Perhaps more relevant, what is competitive?

 

[everyonedoa360]

As far as I know after sept 11 Chicago Express was the only regional hiring and expanding!! Says something about our product and company

Skywest, Comair, Airwis, ASA, ACA, Mesa, Airtran just to name a few that are or were hiring after 9/11. But good to know that CExpress was too.

 

[hopper]

Great company to work for.

I just wanted to add my two cents. I'm a Captain on the Saab, and can speak for most of the pilot group that Chicago Express is a great place to work. I think we're the regional industry's best kept secret. Great management, pilots, fa's, and outstation folks. Our management is always accessable and ready to listen. We make a touch above industry average on the saab with a raise/new aircraft coming soon. We recently had the choice of voting in ALPA and passed, a fact that I think attests to a high degree of satisfaction with the way things are run. I know of only one person who was fired, and from everything I've heard, rightfully so. If anything, management is a bit too lenient with some. We've doubled in size since 9/11 and really were one of the only places hiring immediately after the attacks. We are owned by ATA and fly under their banner. ATA is doing pretty well, considering the industry and it looks like we will come out of this whole mess alot better than most. Keep an eye on us, you may not hear alot about us now, but I think we'll be pretty big in the not too distant future. Call Dan Heneghan 773-948-8017. Don't come here because no one else is hiring, come here because were one of the best companies you could find yourself working for.

fly well.

 

[Future SNA]

have heard Cexpress is kind of holding off on hiring until this WAR CRAP is decided. Have also heard rumors of possibly CRJ700's in the future?

 

[ALSF 2]

IMHO I think they should take things carefully during the next month or so, just until everything with IRAQ is figured out! (a spike in gas prices and lower pax counts is not what the industry needs right now) But, with so many captains moving to ATA, the hiring machine will have to start up soon. So who knows!!

Also, with regard to the jet..... The only things standing in C8's way of adding the RJ is $$$ (right now it's time to be conserving cash) and where to park them (MDW, the hub, doesn't really have a ton of real estate) that's not to say they couldn't base the RJ's at IND (another major hub for ATA). Other than that, nothing is stopping them from getting CRJ700's or anything else under 85000 lbs. ATA mainline scope is very open to the "one airline family" concept. It even allows C8 to be technically bigger in # of a/c than ATA. The current ATA MEC really understands what is needed to make the WO and Mainline work as one unit. That is the biggest stumbling block that all the other regionals have. So, long story short... it will probably be a little while until you see an RJ/SJ in C8's colors just because $$$$ is being saved right now!

Cheers

 

[Buss_Driver]

Hiring Procedures

This information has been very interesting.

The company for which I flight instruct used to have a very good relationship with C8 and many of our instructors became happy members of the team. As of late, though, (since ATA) it has been very difficult to get information about hiring/application procedures.

The Chicago Express website is now a page on the ATA website and has no links to minimums, benefits, or online applications and it is not even clear whether a resume should be sent to C8 or to ATA.

Do any of you have suggestions about how to get a foot in the door? What is the current status of hiring?

Thanks

 

[Rottweiller]

have heard Cexpress is kind of holding off on hiring until this WAR CRAP is decided. Have also heard rumors of possibly CRJ700's in the future?

I have a buddy starting ground school on 3/3 and this date was confirmed to him on Friday last.

 

[antney]

Yes there is a new hire class again for March 3. Also there will be another class for the April/ May time frame. Numbers aren't out on how many. Yes there are also tons of rumors going around about CRJ700. I'll personally beleive it when were going through training. We will have jets here, when is another story. They say within 2 years, everyone is hoping in 12 months. But ALSF2 is right, the war dilemna is holding us back right now. But they will most likely be here, if its the CRJ or any regional jet, we all have to wait and find out, but hopefully we should know soon. Send your resume into Chicago Express itself. The fax number was posted in another thread, and if you know someone that works at Express they should bring your resume in.
Anthony