XJT Upgrade <2yrs

[Alchemy]

As a mid-04 hire, I'm going to be thrilled with anything less than a 5 year upgrade at Expressjet. A 4 year FO can make about 40k so it's not thaaat bad, sure, it could be better, but it can always be better.

I think everyone is encouraged by the G-tard upgrades on the last perm bid, but we should all listen to Peter Sailer. This guy knows what he's talking about. As a matter of fact, he told us a year ago in indoc that we would see a G captain by the end of 2005.....dead on. If Peter says movement is going to slow to a grinding halt after 300 more upgrades, it probably is.

 

[Superpilot92]

Be positive thinkers. Hope for a 2 year upgrade pray that its not 4+. We will see when we see. Mid 04 huh well you are doing better than me. Carry on

 

[Alchemy]

I'm not entirely opposed to a few more years in the right seat given my experience and only a year of flying here under my belt.

There's a lot of things I still haven't done....I wanna see a 3 hour ground hold in the ballpark in EWR with a blizzard outside. What do you do, how do you handle that? I wanna see freezing rain falling on departure with deicing at the end of the runway in CLE. I wanna sit in that giant microwave in EWR. I wanna do a CAT II to minimums at least 2 or 3 times. I want to go missed at night on a VOR approach in the mountains of Mexico and divert to an alternate. Heck I still haven't done a diversion of any kind. Is it sadistic to want to see at least some kind of emergency in this airplane before I get put in the left seat? Over a year here and the closest I've come to an emergency is having the flight attendant close the main cabin door with the Acoustic curtain stuck in it.

But that's just me. If nothing else maybe sitting in the right seat for 5 years will make me better qualified for the left seat when (if) I ever do get there, but I could see how somebody coming from Indy air would get pretty frustrated with a 5 year upgrade. Maybe my opinion will change in a couple of years, but it's tough to complain when you're flying with guys who sat reserve for 2 years after 911. Just my 2 cents.

 

[145 Lawndart]

Alchemy,

I have been here 8 years and have not done all that, well except for the EWR thing:laugh:

 

[Lexy]

Now for the thread hijack.

I have a question. If you look at a website called airlinepilotcentral.com they say that CAL and ALPA are in negotiations for additional pilot bases in Florida, the Northeast (?), and the West Coast. Does anyone know if that is accurate? Or is it just BS CAL is putting out there to get more guys to apply to go work in their crap bases? If it is true, it may mean an XJT base in one or more of those places. Has anyone heard any real information?[/quote]

CALALPA did a survey about bases in the locations you mentioned. That's it.

 

[mckpickle]

I'm not entirely opposed to a few more years in the right seat given my experience and only a year of flying here under my belt.

There's a lot of things I still haven't done....I wanna see a 3 hour ground hold in the ballpark in EWR with a blizzard outside. What do you do, how do you handle that? I wanna see freezing rain falling on departure with deicing at the end of the runway in CLE. I wanna sit in that giant microwave in EWR. I wanna do a CAT II to minimums at least 2 or 3 times. I want to go missed at night on a VOR approach in the mountains of Mexico and divert to an alternate. Heck I still haven't done a diversion of any kind. Is it sadistic to want to see at least some kind of emergency in this airplane before I get put in the left seat? Over a year here and the closest I've come to an emergency is having the flight attendant close the main cabin door with the Acoustic curtain stuck in it.

But that's just me. If nothing else maybe sitting in the right seat for 5 years will make me better qualified for the left seat when (if) I ever do get there, but I could see how somebody coming from Indy air would get pretty frustrated with a 5 year upgrade. Maybe my opinion will change in a couple of years, but it's tough to complain when you're flying with guys who sat reserve for 2 years after 911. Just my 2 cents.

Very well said. Just the fact that your thinking about it tells me you'll make a fine skipper.

 

[miles otoole]

Very well said. Just the fact that your thinking about it tells me you'll make a fine skipper.

Move on old man

 

[dojetdriver]

I wanna see a 3 hour ground hold in the ballpark in EWR with a blizzard outside.

Is it sadistic to want to see at least some kind of emergency in this airplane before I get put in the left seat?

1. It doesn't take a blizzard to be stuck int he ballpark
2. I'd be happy going my entire career without ever having an emergency.

 

[Superpilot92]

1. It doesn't take a blizzard to be stuck int he ballpark
2. I'd be happy going my entire career without ever having an emergency.

WELL said HOSS

 

[ERfly]

1. It doesn't take a blizzard to be stuck int he ballpark
2. I'd be happy going my entire career without ever having an emergency.

Ditto. I've been stuck out there for quite some time on a beautiful, sunny day because there is a stop on (Pick any or all fixes).

Emergencies, yeah, I think I'd learn a lot from having one as an F/O. On the other hand, I think I could still sleep at night not ever having one.

 

[CapnVegetto]

Hell I've sat waiting for EWR in clear and a million. How the hell do these guys manage frickin ground stops in the middle of a clear, calm, beautiful day?

Bastads.

But it does seem to me that XJET upgrades are just a short time from coming to a screeching halt. With the growth being almost completely over, a possible base reduction, a renegotiation of the contract with Daddy CAL coming up, and the amount of people that seem to be happy there for a (snicker) career......you have all the makings of another American Eagle-esque 8 year FO program.

 

[SkyBoy1981]

But it does seem to me that XJET upgrades are just a short time from coming to a screeching halt. With the growth being almost completely over, a possible base reduction, a renegotiation of the contract with Daddy CAL coming up, and the amount of people that seem to be happy there for a (snicker) career......you have all the makings of another American Eagle-esque 8 year FO program.

An Eagle-style 8 year FO program would almost require flowbacks...which we don't have. We have guys that even after being furloughed from 9/11 had a 4.5 year upgrade. I don't consider myself overly optomistic, but I also don't see the point in overly exaggerating the situation either.

 

[boxjockey]

I certainly hope we don't turn into another eagle. I guess only time will tell if CAL decides to follow through with the pref interviews. I'm one of the O-Gtards upgrading. I feel very fortunate to upgrade as quickly as we have. I don't mind being on reserve for an extended period of time. Probably going to move to the NY area, unless I'm fortunate enough to end up in Hong Kong! Neal, didn't you say you needed a roomate in that enormous Manhattan apt of yours?

box

 

[detwilers]

2. I'd be happy going my entire career without ever having an emergency.

...And how many in flight engine shut downs did you have on the DOJet?
Or do you not consider them "emergencies" becasue that was a common occurance?

 

[Superpilot92]

I certainly hope we don't turn into another eagle. I guess only time will tell if CAL decides to follow through with the pref interviews. I'm one of the O-Gtards upgrading. I feel very fortunate to upgrade as quickly as we have. I don't mind being on reserve for an extended period of time. Probably going to move to the NY area, unless I'm fortunate enough to end up in Hong Kong! Neal, didn't you say you needed a roomate in that enormous Manhattan apt of yours?

box

Whens the interview? Let is know how it goes . Good luck BOX

 

[dojetdriver]

...And how many in flight engine shut downs did you have on the DOJet?
Or do you not consider them "emergencies" becasue that was a common occurance?

Actually, thats pretty funny!

For being in the plane since it was in Delcon colors, I never had the pleasure. A friend of mine had 2 failures, one on IOE. Never had a Fadec Major in flight, only took one lightning strike. Thankfully, it didn't blow out all 5 tubes in IFR as well as take a chunk of the tail off like those poor guys in CVG.

Like I said, I'll be perfectly content finishing my career without ever having to deal with a no sh1t emergency.

I hope the take off in the CRJ wasn't as boring as the ERJ is?

 

[BluDevAv8r]

Breaking the 1000 mark won't get you very close to a line in CLE especially if the following happens...



This is the second time I've heard this new rumor in the last few days. The first time I heard it was 100 lines for CLE next year. Where's the rumor coming from and what would be the driving force behind the 33% reduction?

A few months ago one of the line builders was saying that CLE might hit 150-160 next year but it'll never get any higher than that. Now there's talk of a large reduction?

The CLE reduction isn't a rumor. The amount of block hours in CLE won't go down, however. The company is reducing staffing in CLE by the number of pilots who attrite from those positions (to upgrade as well as other carriers, etc). They will then run IAH/EWR crews through CLE to staff the CLE flying. This allows the company to staff fewer pilots system-wide (bad) and cut costs...ultimately increasing our competitive position with CAL (good).

-Neal

 

[Nova]

Any word where they are making the cuts? SRJ or LRJ slots?

 

[BluDevAv8r]

Any word where they are making the cuts? SRJ or LRJ slots?

Nobody is being displaced...the latest is that they will shrink CLE as people leave.

-Neal

 

[Nova]

But will they be reducing the SRJ or LRJ slots in CLE. This last bid we lost 15 LRJ slots and we hoping that we'll see a few SRJ slots leave as well.

 

[BluDevAv8r]

But will they be reducing the SRJ or LRJ slots in CLE. This last bid we lost 15 LRJ slots and we hoping that we'll see a few SRJ slots leave as well.

You probably won't see SRJ slots reduce until SRJ captains move to IAH or EWR. They are only reducing slots by the amount of attrition.

-Neal

 

[Nova]

WTF! Now they are staffing the B-Scale jets as they want not as they are needed?!!? As it is now they make up about 30% of the slots in CLE. I find it hard to believe that 1 out of every 3 flights out of CLE is on a SRJ. I guess CLE gets to take one for the team so the EWR or IAH group don't have to bother with the pay cuts.

 

[BluDevAv8r]

WTF! Now they are staffing the B-Scale jets as they want not as they are needed?!!? As it is now they make up about 30% of the slots in CLE. I find it hard to believe that 1 out of every 3 flights out of CLE is on a SRJ. I guess CLE gets to take one for the team so the EWR or IAH group don't have to bother with the pay cuts.

I could be wrong. I will double-check when I get a chance.

-Neal