ExpressJet Airlines Reviews

Pros

Fast-paced, great people to work with.

Cons

smaller airlines can be kicked around by their larger partners

Pros

The work is physical, the atmosphere can be a blast based on who you work with, and best of all, flight benefits!!!

Cons

Get the feeling the company doesn't care much about employees, difficult to get holidays off, not much room for advancement.

Advice to Senior Management

The station management is just fine, but it seems with less pay comes more responsibility. However, it is a competitive industry, so there's not much that can be done about that.

Pros

Pay is good compared to some regional airlines

Cons

Management seems shady and unfair at times

Advice to Senior Management

Be more understanding of employees family circumstances which may affect work

Pros

When you do get on a flight for leisure, it brings me back to work
pay
health/dental/vision
sunrise/sunset
customers/and crews (meeting so many
new people)
Local attraction discounts

Cons

management
Flight benefits
crew scheduling-rude and clueless
flight routes
TSA
Union (same ol' same ol' you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours)
gone from home gets old
revolving door= frequently short staffed
No west coast flying

Advice to Senior Management

Lack of interest with employees in general.. just a number in this company. My suggestion would be to replace those who do not care with someone who does.

Pros

I was able to meet Ms. American and hold the crown. People were very friendly to me and I really enjoyed the passengers.

Cons

I was so poor I had to pawn my watch to pay rent.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay your people and they will stay. Think of all the money you would save on training.

Pros

If you are a Flight Attendant or Pilot the best reason to work for ExpressJet is to travel and see the sites without paying for the transportation and hotel.

Cons

From experience I can tell you that Flight Attendant pay is too low considering the responsibilities and routes have become the same as the major carriers who fly larger jets.

The flight benefits that CAL gives ExpressJet are overpriced and have unecessary restrictions. This is not ExpressJet Airlines fault, to my knowledge, because CAL made this program! However, ExpressJet flight benefits for employees are controlled by Continental and I think are the same as Continental employees'. I can think of many downsides of the employee flight benefit program. This is also known as non-rev travel. Buddy passes aren't allowed to be assigned a First Class seat even after it has been offered to all else first and seats are still available. The aircraft could possibly take off with empty First Class seats when a buddy pass rider could have been up there. Buddy passes are priced so expensive that it's revenue for the airline and shouldn't have such restrictions! Buddy Pass riders have to travel with an employee or employee JA list person on HNL flights. This rule helps the buddy pass rider get a higher priority on the standby list, but shouldn't be forced.

Dress code should exceptions to based on the situation a traveler is in. I wore a dress shirt all day. I had a solid color plain short sleeve shirt underneathe of it. I became hot from running from gate to gate after being bumped from flights all day so the second to last flight I had taken off my dress shirt while in the airport and still wore the solid shirt that looked fine! I wasn't dressed any different than some of the other customers flying! That flight went out with no seats for us, too. The final flight of the day (late evening) finally had an open seat for my mom, twin infants, and myself. It had been a long day and we had went from gate to gate that usually happened to be opposite ends of the terminal each time! Our names were called to get the final seats on the last flight of the day! Thank God! Then the gate agent noticed I wasn't wearing a "collared" shirt. I didn't realize it either! I accidentally and innocently left it somewhere by the last gate pretty far from our current boarding gate! I ran as fast as I safely could to the other end of the teminal and couldn't find it. No one claimed they found it, either. Then when I got back to the boarding gate I explained that I couldn't find it at the last gate, but I had every intention on wearing it on this flight. When she didn't seem to care I politely explained that I know the policy says this and I am not trying to rebel against them, but this was an accident. I apologized for not having the shirt. The gate agent made a scene in front of the passengers in the boarding area and then closed the boarding door and walked down the jetway. The aircraft was going to leave with open seats that we could have been sitting in. We would've been stranded in the airport all night with infant twins all because of an unecessary CAL policy! The policies may have it's reasons, but when there's no situational acception outlined in company policy that allows a gate agent to let a "non rev" traveler fly without breaking a policy themselves then there is a problem with the program. After scrambling around for a supervisor we got on the flight, but this is an example the downsides of working for an airline who has a bigger brother in charge.

There are many unecessary policies for the flight benefits program and as long as the excessive restrictions exist and prices are kept high (or raised again) then the reason a person would work for an airline over any other job is taken away! With exception of pilots and flight attendants (they travel all the time) all other jobs/careers within an airline has nothing more to offer than outside of an airline. It is to fly for free that brings people to work for an airline. I had a small paycheck as a Flight Attendant because the "non rev" travel in reality is revenue for CAL. The employee his/herself does become true non revenue after 10 years of working there, but until then you will be revenue! That is the biggest downside of working for ExpressJet even though it isn't ExpressJet doing it!

I have experienced a couple Inflight Supervisors who spent too much time on negative criticism of flight attendants rather than praise. Praising good work will make better employees than nit picking unecessary things. This is similiar to the flight benefits problems. It may not be company wide, though. It could just be these two supervisors.

Other than these few downsides ExpressJet is a great company.

Advice to Senior Management

Negotiate better flight benefits. I know it might not be possible since CAL won't do it for their employees! Pay pilots and flight attendants almost equivelant to what they'd get payed if they weren't a regional airline. They are flying those long major routes that CAL does! Tell the Inflight Supervisors at IAH to refrain from nit picking! Be flexible with allowing time off from work because that is what reserve is for!

Pros

good place to gain experience

Cons

poor pay and treated badly

Advice to Senior Management

try to show some care for flight crews

Pros

For an Airline , the schedule is reasonable
Pay is ok for a regional Airline

Cons

Job security is not good due to company losing money

Advice to Senior Management

You have a great employee group. Keep it together and cut costs using their help.

Pros

Good Scheduling system...no PBS
Good Vacation benefits
Good group of people to work with
When staffing is adequate you can arrange your schedule well

Cons

Most lines 12 days off
Have fun in Chicago....20 leg 4 days
Not ideal bases to live at..CLE, IAH, EWR, ORD
No West Coast Flying
No movement since 2008
Furloughs since 2008.

Advice to Senior Management

Staff the airline properly and everyone will be happy. Let people know about important changes instead of keeping everyone in the dark on every issue. Don't cut corners, it's a slippery slope.

Pros

Great travel benefits.

Expensive, but good health insurance.

Paid holidays and vacation and personal days.

Very exciting work environment, never a dull moment.

Cons

The pay is low compared to other airlines.

Not a lot of opportunity for advancement.

Irregular hours and not a lot of support from management.

Advice to Senior Management

ExpressJet did the best could it could after the spin off from Continental, unfortunately, the airline lost it's identity, mission, and has since struggled. Perhaps management should have met Continental's demands and could have continued on as Continental Express.