Originally Posted by
Telfer86
Posted by AP3XS the other week "The only options you have are GoJet, ExpressJet, Mesa and CommutAir."
This information is still correct & current ? Anyone know ?
Skywest no more , TSA were but closing up shop as is Compass
Of the four outlined by AP3XS , which is most efficient in terms of getting people through IOE & least amount of time on reserve (assuming you will live in any base)
TSA & Compass were/are Trans States Holdings Companies as is GoJet. The owner of TSH is Hulas who is in his mid 80's and has been trying to sell the airlines for a while because his kids have no interest in running/owning the company. Go to GoJet at your own risk. I believe the reserve time there is fairly short, maybe 3-4 months.
ExpressJet is probably the safest option at the moment since United owns 49.9% of the company. Got the following information directly from an ExpressJet recruiter who was pretty honest:
Reserve Times: (I may kick myself in the butt for this one but I promised honesty in this group so here it is...)
a. IAH CA: 12 years FO: 6 months
b. EWR CA: 8 years / FO: 8 months
c. ORD CA: 14 years / FO: 6 months
d. CLE CA: 7 years / FO: 5 months (Supposed to be closing this base but just received information that itll stay open for now)
e. TYS CA: NA / FO: NA
(Keep in mind, these change on a month to month basis. The more aircraft and flying is awarded to each domicile the reserve time will decrease... Also, sitting reserve at XJT isn't a bad thing either, even our reserve pilots are averaging anywhere between 75-95hrs a month, so you are not sitting around in a crash pad or the airport!!)
I know a few Aussies currently in the US who have been trying to get in contact with Mesa for a few weeks and have received no reply. I don't know anything about CommutAir except their sign on bonus is $22k. Skywest have agreed to take on Aussies who were already on an E3 Visa at TSA but I don't think they are opening it up to everyone.
Personally I'm leaving the US and returning to Australia. I'm sure with the travel ban that Trump put in place today some of the airlines are going to have no choice but to furlough pilots. Being at the bottom of a seniority list in the US doesn't sound like a great idea to me. Plus the bonuses used to be about $50-60k in the first year and they are down to about $10-20k. Each to their own though, but I would seriously weigh up the pros and cons. Also keep in mind that if you come to the US your health insurance won't kick in for a couple months - something to consider at the moment.