express jet... what do you think?

[aland504]

hey i was hoping to get some input on peeps who currently work here. how do you feel about scheduling, days off (what is the minimum), and just general stuff. whatever you want to through out. i work for mesa right now and want out. also i would want to be based in IAH. is that pretty senior? how long do you think it would take to IAH?
thanks

 

[Superpilot92]

hey i was hoping to get some input on peeps who currently work here. how do you feel about scheduling, days off (what is the minimum), and just general stuff. whatever you want to through out. i work for mesa right now and want out. also i would want to be based in IAH. is that pretty senior? how long do you think it would take to IAH?
thanks

There are alot of guys from Mesa here and hopefully they will post also. First off I really enjoy working here and in general Most people love it here. I was hired almost 2 years ago so the reserve times have changed. But right now the attrition is very high and people are getting off reserve pretty quick from what i understand. It would be pretty easy to get IAH right out of training. Scheduling isnt bad at all. Does it suck being on reserve? Yes, but honestly reserve wasnt bad for me. Also with this contract extension we just got improved some QOL issues for Reserve pilots. 11 days off min for a 30 day month and 12 days for a 31 day month. That usually means more days off than that because you probably wont fly every day on reserve. Good luck on your decisions.

 

[princeton]

Reserve

And you get 14 days off if you bid the new Floating reserve lines (but you don't get to pick which 14 days) - also you can pick up trips as a reserve if you want rather than waiting for an assignment.

Most recently New Hires only on reserve two months in IAH.

 

[aland504]

thank for the replies. do the reserve lines usually work like 4 days on 3 off? how bout line horlders? also are all the trips overnights? meaning you dont work for 4 days and maybe some of those days you are back in your domicle? do you have jr. assignments there? and what exactly is floating reserve? can i be at home? what is the call out time?

 

[Superpilot92]

thank for the replies. do the reserve lines usually work like 4 days on 3 off? how bout line horlders? also are all the trips overnights? meaning you dont work for 4 days and maybe some of those days you are back in your domicle? do you have jr. assignments there? and what exactly is floating reserve? can i be at home? what is the call out time?

When i was on reserve I usually had 4 on 3 off, some times 4 on 2 off, just depends. Line holders vary wildly. As you know it all depends on seniority. If your going to jump do it soon, seniority is huge. While i was on reserve i was EWR based and commuted from IAH. So i called and requested 4 day trips so i didnt hahve to go to the crashpad. If you dont want to work you can bid "No Freferance" and if you want to work you can bid "Will Fly". Someone else will have to explain the floating reserve it wasnt there when i was on reserve.

 

[mack82]

A lot of the more junior hard lines have been almost entirely 4 day trips in the past, but has started to change to a more variety of 1 and 2 day trips. I personally think that the relief lines are built better than some of the junior hard lines. The relief line I have this month had 13 days off (5 weekend days) which consisted of 4 4-day trips and 3 1-day trips (two of which I picked up). I've only been here since May, but it is definetely a good company to work for, nothing really to complain about.

 

[rjacobs]

Most recently New Hires only on reserve two months in IAH.

Which expressjet do you work for. Im coming up on 3 months of reserve and about 40 numbers to hold a relief line. Ive moved up about 10 numbers a month so far on the IAH FO side. System wide ive moved up around 100 numbers. So im looking at at least 3 more months of reserve if not more.

 

[aland504]

so when you are on reserve is like be there in an hour? so you have to be in IAH?

 

[U-I pilot]

so when you are on reserve is like be there in an hour? so you have to be in IAH?

Its 2 hour call.... no commuting each day of reserve....crashpad a must.

FWIW, classes have NOT been getting IAH right out of training. VAST majority get EWR and a few CLE. They do however switch people back to Houston within a few months.

I was hired in late june and would hold a relief line in either base for january.... Reserve is about 3-4 months once online currently..... (except CLE...more like 10 months there)

 

[aland504]

ok thx for info.

 

[princeton]

Which expressjet do you work for. Im coming up on 3 months of reserve and about 40 numbers to hold a relief line. Ive moved up about 10 numbers a month so far on the IAH FO side. System wide ive moved up around 100 numbers. So im looking at at least 3 more months of reserve if not more.

I guess things change quickly - I had two months on reserve then two months relief line then first hard line this month (EWR).

 

[TNPILOT]

also are all the trips overnights? meaning you dont work for 4 days and maybe some of those days you are back in your domicle?

Yes we do have junior manning. However, I've been here over 2 years and have never been junior manned. In fact, they've never even attempted to jr man me.

As for trips, we have 1,2,3,and 4 day trips. If you live locally you can usually get the 1 and 2 day trips pretty easily. Even if you are not senior enough to hold a day trip or 2 day line, you can always make one on your own through trip trading. Day trips and 2 days are easy to come by in the initial and secondary line trading windows.

 

[Superpilot92]

Yes we do have junior manning. However, I've been here over 2 years and have never been junior manned. In fact, they've never even attempted to jr man me.

As for trips, we have 1,2,3,and 4 day trips. If you live locally you can usually get the 1 and 2 day trips pretty easily. Even if you are not senior enough to hold a day trip or 2 day line, you can always make one on your own through trip trading. Day trips and 2 days are easy to come by in the initial and secondary line trading windows.

Yeah i have been here coming up on 2 years and have never been JR. Manned. honestly i have never heard of anyone getting jr.manned either. They just throw the red flag out there and pay anyone who picks up open time for 150% pay. Not a bad deal

 

[upndsky]

I've only been JR'd once for what turned out to be basically a red-eye Montreal turn. Got paid 3.75 hours at 150% pay for basically an hour-long flight (the return leg fell into the next duty day). Considering that I wasn't going to make it back home that night anyway, not a bad deal. They even offered to put me up in a hotel when we got back, but I ended up taking the first flight home.

 

[Capt. Caucasian]

I've only been JR'd once for what turned out to be basically a red-eye Montreal turn. Got paid 3.75 hours at 150% pay for basically an hour-long flight (the return leg fell into the next duty day). Considering that I wasn't going to make it back home that night anyway, not a bad deal. They even offered to put me up in a hotel when we got back, but I ended up taking the first flight home.

What happened to you was NOT junior manned. You were reassigned after pairing termination. Two different animals. Junior Manning is when you are called on a day off. That has not happened at XJT since 2001 I believe. The contract now has a provision that if one is called for a JR the pilot can decline based on whether or not he thinks he is available.

 

[rjacobs]

If he was paid 150% for 3.75 hours means it was considered a JM. If he was paid 150% for only the block value than that would have been a reassignment after pairing termination. That just comes from a quick look at Section 3 E. 5 and 6 in the contract.

 

[upndsky]

I don't know what you want to call it, JR or having your day rolled. They tacked on a Montreal turn after I had finished my original pairing. We didn't leave EWR until about 1 a.m. The return leg put us into the following duty day, per our contract, hence the 3.75. I took the 150% instead of having a day restored.

 

[hbrow15]

so when you are on reserve is like be there in an hour? so you have to be in IAH?

we also have a long call reserve which is a 12 hour call out, I know a few guys that were able to pull of commuting on long call but it can be tricky. For instance if you get called at 6.pm for a 6 am show that could be a problem not many flights get you in at 5:30 am

 

[ratherbeflyen]

so when you are on reserve is like be there in an hour? so you have to be in IAH?

Standard reserve callout time is 2 hours. I was on reserve in CLE for 11 months and in that time I got a 2 hour callout 1 time. Everything else was always more than that. Usually they call you within 30 minutes of the time you go on call. They tried a couple times to get me to take a trip that was less than a 2 hour callout, but I just told them I was too far away to make it in less than 2 hours and they said theyd find someone else. I know a guy who does long call (12 hour callout) from his home in SLC, he's been doing it a long time and has never missed a trip.

Crew planning (not scheduling) is pretty good about moving days off for you. If you have a reserve line and dont have a pairing they will usually let you trade reserve days with the reserve pool, and you can always trade days with another reserve pilot. Its also possible to personal drop days. I bid back to reserve for dec. and with trading and personal drops I got off from Dec. 24 @ 2300 - Jan 4th @ 1500, where I pick up my hardline again. You just got to learn to work the system.

I recomend you bail from mesa to almost any other airline. Mesa has one of the worst contracts in the business.

 

[flyinhigh6165]

I am at ASA and was considering express jet since i am originally from Houston. If I didnt get Htown right away how many months would i have to wait to get it?

 

[Bushhatesyou]

I am at ASA and was considering express jet since i am originally from Houston. If I didnt get Htown right away how many months would i have to wait to get it?

If not right out of class, with in a couple of months..

 

[ratherbeflyen]

I am at ASA and was considering express jet since i am originally from Houston. If I didnt get Htown right away how many months would i have to wait to get it?

A lot of FO's, 23, bailed from CLE Dec. 1. So I heard the majority of the next couple classes are going there. There were some classes that had people get IAH in training. Most people, after OE, will finish that month plus one more in either EWR or CLE before going to IAH. Plan on 6-10 weeks to get back to IAH then anything shorter will be a nice surprise. I dont know anyone that took longer than that.

The latest hiring news is 80 in Jan. and 80 in Feb. with 300-350 for the year, but they said 300-350 last year and hired closer to 500.

 

[Freightdog75]

Assigned bases by need, or? Chances of CLE?

 

[rjacobs]

Generally by need, but crew planning sent 2 people in my class to CLE that wanted to be there even though there were no openings. I think they feel sorry for you wanted to go to CLE that they dont want to disappoint you by sending you to IAH or EWR where the flying is plentiful.

 

[Freightdog75]

Just a better commute for me(CLE) in the event of.............................

 

[SEFlyer]

If he was paid 150% for 3.75 hours means it was considered a JM. If he was paid 150% for only the block value than that would have been a reassignment after pairing termination. That just comes from a quick look at Section 3 E. 5 and 6 in the contract.

This is incorrect. it is a reassignment beyond pairing termination that has resulted in a lost day off. Still not a junior manning (junior assignment for the mesa folks).

Chris

 

[rjacobs]

Yea I figured that out after I posted it. I read the JM part of the contract and not the lost day off part. I got a day off rolled the other day and got the 3.75 at 150% add pay.

 

[greg52083]

I work for Mesa on the ERJ145. I applied to XJ a few weeks ago, but no contact yet. Any one know how long it usually takes?

 

[hbrow15]

I work for Mesa on the ERJ145. I applied to XJ a few weeks ago, but no contact yet. Any one know how long it usually takes?

really there is no pattern as to how soon they call, it has been 2 years since I was hired and it only took about 2 weeks but things were moving alot faster then. They may have slowed down a little due to the holidays. If you know someone at XJT it will go alot quicker for you if you have them goto bat for you.

 

[rjacobs]

I work for Mesa on the ERJ145. I applied to XJ a few weeks ago, but no contact yet. Any one know how long it usually takes?

If you applied at XJ, you applied at the wrong place which is why you havent gotten called. XJ is Mesaba, XJT is ExpressJet.