GLA or XJT

[meatwallet]

I never though I'd be asking this:

Great Lakes or Expressjet? Should I give up my quick upgrade chances (just started work) and eat the $7500? Will a 2 month tenure at an airline come back to haunt me on my resume in the future?

 

[Ben Franklin]

Go/Stay wherever you can get the most PIC experience in the shortest amount of time and then get the fudge out.


FYI: XJT's latest bid (which closes Thursday) has ZERO openings system wide for captains.

Sincerely,

B. Franklin

 

[Cardinal]

I was in a very similar position a while back. When Xjet turned me down the decision got alot easier. Might as well interview, they might not hire you anyway, then you'll be able to sleep at night. Also there's the interview experience. I learned alot. Anyway I stayed, and I'm more happy with my application in at mainline than with a job at Xjet. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Cosmo1999]

I never though I'd be asking this:

Great Lakes or Expressjet? Should I give up my quick upgrade chances (just started work) and eat the $7500? Will a 2 month tenure at an airline come back to haunt me on my resume in the future?

Do you really want to pay $7500 to go work at another airline? This is why its really important to think twice about working anywhere before you have to sign this type of deal. Now your in a tough position. They wont see the training contract on your background check but it doesnt look the best leaving an airline after 2 months IMO. They want to see that after putting all that $ up for training you wont just jump ship. I was in a similar situation and I waited til almost exactly a year and jumped ship. Senority is everything but you have to decide if its worth risking a potential mark on the resume and $7500. I honestly dont know if it will affect your resume or not. Take the interview and then go from there.

 

[Nova]

FYI: XJT's latest bid (which closes Thursday) has ZERO openings system wide for captains.

That's a bit misleading as you know. The latest bid has zero growth but will generate approximately 80 new captains, 40 to be trained in July and another 40 in August.

 

[pianoman]

Go/Stay wherever you can get the most PIC experience in the shortest amount of time and then get the fudge out.


FYI: XJT's latest bid (which closes Thursday) has ZERO openings system wide for captains.

Sincerely,

B. Franklin

Unless they know 3 people at Fedex, or maybe SW, where are they going to go?

 

[Cardinal]

pianoman's post should have neon lighting, spotlights, and fireworks next to it. This is a point that many fail to consider.

 

[Cardinal]

And another noteworthy point from a neighboring thread:

We currently have staffing for the 252 jets on property. We are only going to staff for 260 jets because they will always have at least 14 in heavy MX or spares inventory. Movement has been good the last 18 months, it will slow down very quickly around September. They are planning on training 140 more new hires through September. Most of those have already been hired. That will staff the airline for ALL 260 jets. They then plan on hiring only 8 newhires per month to account for attrition and retirements. The only variable in this equation is how fast CAL takes preferential intervew pilots. If we are lucky, they will take 35 per month so movement may be good into early 06. Once CAL is done taking preferential interview pilots, look for upgrade times to be similar to those at Eagle. XJT will have a preferential interview process set up at CAL in lieu of a flow-through. This was negotiated into the concessions that CAL took. However, I doubt that will actually create much movement at XJT because CAL will probably only take 1 of us for every 10 OTS guys.

 

[CapnVegetto]

STAY STAY STAY STAY!!!!

XJet is about to STAGNATE. Upgrades are going to SEROUSLY slow. UPGRADE AND GET THE PIC TIME!!! SIC time is only good to wipe your a$$ with.

 

[Ben Franklin]

Unless they know 3 people at Fedex, or maybe SW, where are they going to go?

Look into the future. More and more of the "legacy" carriers (and more airlines overall) will need to begin hiring within the next 1-3 years. That's about 800-2500 hours of PIC from now.

Sure, no one is hiring TODAY, but tomorrow is a different story.


Sincerely,

B. Franklin

 

[cobalt]

like anything, I think it depends on what is important to you, financial situation, quality of life. But even with all those factors, with the state of the industry as it is, any choice could seem like the wrong one 3-5 years down the line. favorite quote from a captain so far: "great job... questionable career... f-cked up industry."

as far as PIC time, no question, lakes upgrades quick. but at what cost? captains make around $26/hr with only a buck or two raise per year. 2nd year FO at XJT makes $32. some people can take that hit. others can't. also, I think lakes per diem is $1 and hour, XJT is $1.60.

and from what I hear and read, the phrase "junior manned" is a common event at lakes. don't know if they have trip trades, advertisements.

 

[pilotmyf]

Well, Yes and No!!!!
I hear that an outfit at UES is hiring charter pilots. Ehhhhhhhh!!!!!!
M'Balz es Hari
Couldn't do lunch, had to work!!!

 

[meatwallet]

Well, Yes and No!!!!
I hear that an outfit at UES is hiring charter pilots. Ehhhhhhhh!!!!!!
M'Balz es Hari
Couldn't do lunch, had to work!!!

HA HA HA. That's the best answer yet! Talk to you soon, K.