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Expressjet bases

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kc1

Active member
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Posts
29
For EXpressjet pilots: Just wondering about bases: What are pros and cons of Cleveland and Newark? Do you usually get your first choice out of training? Are there any places within an hour of Newark that are nice and not too expensive. Also, if you go to Cleveland, how long does it take to get off reserve and is it a longer upgrade to captain? THanks for the help.
 
Kc1

Reserve for all the bases seem to be about the same amount of time right now. I would guess that Houston will be a little less due to the expanding of flying during the summer months. Everyone in my class will hold a relief line for the month of March. Aug 2nd hire

As for living expenses you will find that it is hard to find an affordable place to live around Newark. I don't know anything about Cleveland... Houston is by far the most affordable.

Due to the limited amount of flying out of Cleveland it seems to be the most senior base with the least amount of movement. Many of the guys and gals flying out of Cleveland have been complaining about the quality of lines available. As to where you will go after class is anyone's guess. Most people get there 1st or 2nd choice. In my class no one got IAH and the rest was split from CLE to EWR. As of Jan everyone was placed in there first choice.

Hope this helps
celloman
 
Each class in each month is totally different on where you will go. They project where you will be needed when you get out of training. As far as bases go, if you commute iether live at the base or pick the shortest commute time.
 
Cleveland is cheaper than Houston, at least for me. There is nothing affordable near Newark, if comfort is a criteria. You may get off reserve in Cleveland at some point as long as people leave for CAL. Don't ever expect to upgrade in CLE prior to onset of gray hair.
 
I've got about 100 spots to go before I hold a line, Oct 04 hire (520/600 base seniority). There were about 420 lines in houston on the march bid packet.

February will be my 2nd month on reserve. The number of lines at IAH may increase a little over the next few months, I'm hoping to hold a line by May-June (4-5 months on reserve total).

For FO's, the training dept. said CLE was most senior, then IAH, then EWR. Everyone in my class got the base they wanted, which was IAH for about 75% of us. The rest went to EWR and 1 or 2 to CLE.
 
to start out either live in your base or pick the shortest commute. dont worry about upgrades now youll have plenty of time to transfer to another base if you want before that happens. no base has an upgrade within the first year so just try to make the commute or your reserve time the least stressful. I think the difference in crashpads is only like 30 bucks or something a month between newark and cleveland. I may be wrong on that though...
 
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Ben Franklin said:
My perm bid results show a 29 year old Captain in CLE.


Sincerely,

B. Franklin

So what, he was hired years ago. You go to these poor silly saps being hired right now and tell them to their face they'll be captain before they turn gray. Captain postions will go to about G4xxx's and that is it. This poor kid asking the question is a going to be a G5xxx if he gets hired, he will be a career FO here.
 
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3/2000 hire.

So, If a person gets hired today at 23 and takes 6 yrs to upgrade they will be 29. If they're graying by then then they need to lighten up. And, BTW, why you so tense?



Sincerely,

B. Franklin
 
Ben Franklin said:
My perm bid results show a 29 year old Captain in CLE.


Sincerely,

B. Franklin

Hey I'm 27 **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**it.
 
Ben Franklin said:
3/2000 hire.

So, If a person gets hired today at 23 and takes 6 yrs to upgrade they will be 29. If they're graying by then then they need to lighten up. And, BTW, why you so tense?



Sincerely,

B. Franklin

Hey kc1, how old are you and what is your family history on graying and/or balding? Not tense, dude, far from it.
 
Paul R. Smith said:
Hey I'm 27 **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**it.

Sorry, I only did a cursory review of the latest Perm Bid. 1,000 apologies and a free beer if you can find me off duty.

Sincerely,

B. Franklin
 
I would say that EWR is the most laid back base in the system. I bid EWR because of the commute with the intention of going to IAH when I had a little more seniority. But I like the people here and have no plans to switch bases.

I think Cleveland is one of those love it or hate it places. The people there are either very senior or very junior and trying to get out. As others have said, it is the smallest base with little growth.

On the flip side, IAH is our biggest hub, and therefore isn't as intimate as the other two. It's also to close to the mother ship, if you know what I mean.

As far as getting your base assigments, past trends show that those in the first class of each month got their picks while those in the middle or end got placed where needed. At least that was the case when I went through in the spring/summer. It may have changed now. Our new contract has language in it that prevents a new-hire from going to a base before someone already on line has requested that base. Regardless, if you don't get your first choice, you should get it after a few months.
 
wow... they changed that new hire thing going to a base before someone on the line. That was the most ubsurd and frustrating thing I have experienced. They say everything is seniority at an airline but I found one thing that was not. Im glad to see they changed that.
 
Ewr

There are, in fact, plenty of places close to Newark that are affordable to live in.

Not all of them are crappy.

For example, I'm living smack across from the Empire State Building on the Jersey side of the Hudson River. Sharing an apartment with three others (non-aviation roomates) costs me around $600. Yeah you can do better in Houston, but you can't be ten minute PATH ride into Mid-town Manhattan for $1.20. Man let me tell you if you can't find something to do in New York City (the place **never** sleeps) then you have some issues.

Kick-ass pizza here too. An understatement by far. $2 for a huge slice. (Although I've given that up for lent--37 more days left!)

Hope this helps.
 
and if you like partying by the beach go down to the tiki bar or jenks in the summer. some of the best places to party on the water. hot ladies and during the day they bring cocktails to you all day on the beach. stay away from sleezside though. thats where all the new yorkas go, well i should say meathead new yorkas.
 
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Houston being too close the the "Mother ship" is bunk. Just because headquarters is there doens't mean they are at the airport breathing down your neck. I've actually been based in all 3 places and I thought CLE was the most intrusive as far as Chief Pilots go. Houston you never see them and Newark's just Newark.
 
wahoo250 said:
wow... they changed that new hire thing going to a base before someone on the line. That was the most ubsurd and frustrating thing I have experienced. They say everything is seniority at an airline but I found one thing that was not. Im glad to see they changed that.


Actually they haven't. There are many guys from my class that bid IAH in Nov. but did not get awarded it untill May, and many of the new hire classes are already getting IAH as a base. Sucks for the few guys who actually live there and are commuting to CLE.
 
right there with ya. commuted myself when i live 20 minutes from a base. had to be the most frustrating thing. pissing away money. However I have a new found appreciation for the job and have no other complaints to date. And when I look back...i could have been worse. so if it happens to anyone else just stick it out. you'll love it when you get to where you want to be.
 
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kc1 said:
What do you guys mean by the quality of lines in Cleveland is bad? Does that mean days off?

The lines suck in all the bases right now so it isn't a CLE issue. Yes, it's days off that are lower but historically they haven't been this bad for March. Over the last year the lines in CLE have been fine. The pilot who builds the lines for CLE did a written survey about 6 months ago to get a snapshot of the needs of the pilots in CLE. I think he did a bangup job. Unfortunately the pilot volunteers only make the lines, they don't make the trips. If they are handed awful trips then they can only make awful lines.

The one bad thing with the CLE lines is that there aren't that many of them. It's the smallest of the 3 bases which means it has the least amount of total lines. If you live in base that isn't that big of a deal but if you are a commuter you might run out of commutable options more quickly.
 
As far as getting lines, it's all pretty much the same across the bases (for my class at least, August hires). My sim partner in CLE got a relief line this month, and myself (EWR) and buddies in IAH are getting relief lines for March.

I had been considering going to IAH for the "quality" of the lines and commutable options, but even with CLE being so crappy regarding lines, I'm leaning towards going back there. The commute from Chicago-Midway is just unbeatable with XJT and SWA doing the run with plenty of flights. Decisions, decisions...
 
More questions guys.....

EWR - how are the trips and variety of flying there. I like the 4 days because I'm commuter. Any Canuck overnights out of EWR - I love those even in the winter, call me crazy. Thanks
 
We do YUL,YOW,YQB,YYZ,YHZ, and YYT out of Newark. Only problem is it is just as often a IAH or CLE crew doing the flight. Just because you're based in EWR doesn't really mean much. You could just as likely be dodging drunk mexicans and trying to avoid the worst diarhea you've ever had in your whole f%$king sorry life and wishing you were dead in Saltillo as you could be enjoying winter carnival and drinking Labatt's by the fire at a pub in Quebec City. The difference of quality of our overnights is nothing short of amazing to me. Sometimes it's like a paid vacation. Sometimes it's like being sent to prison without a trial.
 
BigShotXJTdrvr said:
Sometimes it's like a paid vacation. Sometimes it's like being sent to prison without a trial.

Brings me back to the heartland overnights....Evansville and others I've forgotten it was so boring.

I like the idea of being in a pub surrounded by a bunch of French Canadian women though!:cool:
 

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