Kathy Hardie’s  Airport Customer Service (ACS) training proved invaluable when she used the skills she learned as an agent in Wilmington, N.C., to help safely evacuate her daughter and her classmates when their school bus caught on fire.

“I was chaperoning a field trip for my daughter’s class, and fifteen minutes into our bus ride we noticed smoke, then a loud explosion out of the rear of the bus. We quickly pulled over onto the side of the road. I was the first person off and saw that there was fire on the pine needles underneath the bus,” Kathy recalls. “Immediately, I yelled back to the bus driver that we had a fire and that the kids needed to get off quickly.”

Kathy’s training kicked in automatically. She began a quick, but calm, evacuation of all the students and the other chaperones. In a coordinated effort between Kathy, the bus driver and the teacher, all passengers were evacuated from the bus before it began to fill with smoke and then catch fire.

“I knew I had to get the kids away from the bus to a safe distance. My ACS training taught me to assess the threat, calm the passengers, and direct an immediate evacuation.”

The emergency training our front-line people receive is a valuable asset and can be life-saving, as in Kathy’s case. Kathy credits her supervisors and instructors for providing the training so she knew what to do in an emergency situation. She says that teamwork and quick thinking saved her daughter’s life and lives of the 43 people onboard that bus.

“The evacuation was a team effort and that’s something I’ve been taught in my training at ExpressJet. Here at ILM, we work together as a great team to support each other and our passengers.”

The training at her station and the constant recurrent training taught Kathy what to do in an emergency – to stay composed, immediately start the evacuation, work quickly with others, and calm people enough to get them safely out of a dangerous situation.

“Working in aviation, especially on the ramp, teaches us valuable skills we can translate to our lives. All that training helped me in this emergency situation.”

The bus 15 minutes after everyone had evacuated.

SkyWest, Inc.reported a 4.1 percent increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for April, while available seat miles (ASMs) increased 0.7 percent compared to April 2011. Passenger boardings for April increased 4.7 percent to 4,757,224 compared to 4,543,391 for the same period last year. The combined airlines generated 2.45 billion RPMs for the month, while ASMs increased to 3.03 billion. Load factor was 80.9 percent compared to 78.2 percent, up 2.7 percentage points compared to April 2011. SkyWest also reported an increase in departures to 116,307 for April compared to 115,507 for the same period last year.

SkyWest, Inc. today reported operating revenues of $921.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, compared to $866.0 million for the same period last year. SkyWest also reported a net loss of $(0.7) million, or $(0.01) per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, compared to $(11.1) million of net loss, or $(0.21) per diluted share, for the same period last year.

See PDF for complete release.

Human Resources Administrator Kristie Miles spends her springs mingling with the family of Braves team members and welcoming fans to Turner Field.

In 2010, Kristie decided that with two teenagers, she wanted a little extra income. She thought about what type of job would have the most benefits with it and decided to accept a position at Turner Field checking tickets and welcoming fans to Braves Country.

“I wanted to do something fun that also brought in some extra money,” said Kristie. “I get the best of both world – I get to watch my Braves play and make a little extra while doing it!”

Kristie works in guest relations at the Braves’ home field which gives her the opportunity to watch the game, meet new people and have fun cheering along with the fans. She says she wasn’t much of a baseball fan when she began, but now you can catch her “chopping” the Braves to victory every home game. Her favorite players are catcher Brian McCann, closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Jason Heyward who is from her hometown of McDonough, Ga.

“One of the coolest experiences is meeting the players’ families,” she said. “Not every fan can say they know McCann’s mom and Heyward’s dad!”

Kristie loves talking with the fans and sharing her insider tips, especially when it’s their first time attending a game. She advises to come early and watch batting practice and all the pre-game activities. Sunday, bring the kids out for “Kids Run the Bases” and the new Taco Mac Family Zone, and don’t forget every Friday there are fireworks after the game!

She always recommends that fans take the VIP tour to really get to know Turner Field. On the tour, you get to see the broadcast booth, walk in the dugout, tour the locker rooms and more. One of the best perks of the job, she says, is knowing the best places to eat:

“When you are there, come to the Club level to get a steak crepe or delicious made-to-order pasta from the Pasta Bar. If you are craving more traditional ballpark foods, try the Georgia Dog from Taste of Majors or McCann’s Burgers located in the Plaza.”

Sunday is Earth Day; what better time to share what our people are doing to help reduce waste and energy use, promote a healthy planet and support ExpressJet’s environmental policies.

As a company, we’re committed to continually improving on the impact we have on the environment. We constantly look for ways to improve fuel efficiency of our aircraft and vehicles, responsibly reduce waste at our facilities and protect the environment while achieving our business goals.

Across the system, our people are taking action every day to do their part for our environment. Here are a few ways ExpressJet people are contributing to environmental sustainability:

• We recycle:
• Flight crews recycle empty aluminum cans, empty plastic bottles, empty plastic cups, newspapers and magazines from flights
• Maintenance teams recycle oil, fuel, paper, aluminum and cardboard
• Office workers recycle paper, glass, cardboard and plastic
• Our pilots and dispatchers work together to plan the most fuel-efficient routes and take steps en route to conserve fuel
• The renovation of our Atlanta maintenance hangar and offices in 2010 earned first place in the “Best Sustainable Building Practices” category
• Nearly every one of our offices have energy-efficient and LED lighting
• We reuse shipping boxes as many times as possible to reduce waste
• Some of our locations have planted trees to help restore the environment

We’re also proud that our mainline partners and many of the airports we work with have implemented programs to reduce their carbon footprint. What do you do at home or work to reduce your environmental impact? We want to know! Leave your comment below.

]]> http://www.expressjet.com/2012/04/20/sunday-earth-day-expressjet-environment/feed/ 0 http://www.expressjet.com/2012/04/20/we%e2%80%99re-back/ http://www.expressjet.com/2012/04/20/we%e2%80%99re-back/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:32:15 +0000 Courtney http://www.expressjet.com/?p=3636 Our blog has been on a hiatus as we’ve been concentrating on finalizing our merger and combining our companies. Here’s what we’ve been working on since we’ve been gone:

• Our new company officially reached Single Operating Certificate status from the SOC on Nov. 18, 2011
• Our people collected and donated more than 700 gifts for Toys for Tots in December 2011
• On Dec. 31, 2011, our new name became ExpressJet Airlines
• We launched The ExpressJet Employee Scholarship program companywide on Feb. 15, 2012
• On Feb. 16, 2012 dozens of ExpressJet volunteers gathered in our hangar to celebrate with the 12 families of critically ill children we helped send to Disney World for the adventure of a lifetime in coordination with Bert’s Big Adventure
• Between our Feb. 26, 2012 Atlanta event and our Feb. 29, 2012 Houston event, 18 of our employees and their family members cut their long locks to donate to Locks of Love for children in need
• ExpressJet people worked hard to support our partner, United Airlines, as they transitioned their harmonized passenger reservation system on March 3, 2012.
• March 21-23, 2012 ten of our people, nominated and voted on as the best-of-the-best in our company, raced mini indy cars in the annual SkyWest Airlines Mini Indy event to raise money for United Way Dixie
• On March 31, 2012 we launched our new ExpressJet Facebook timeline page – check it out at www.facebook.com/expressjet
• In April 2012, we added ERJ135 aircraft to our fleet.

We’ve had a busy few months! Keep an eye out for new blog posts about ExpressJet and our amazing people.

SkyWest, Inc.,reported a 4.8 percent increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for March, while available seat miles (ASMs) increased 1.1 percent compared to March 2011. Passenger boardings for March increased 4.5 percent to 4,981,514 compared to 4,767,814 for the same period last year. The combined airlines generated 2.57 billion RPMs for the month, while ASMs increased to 3.20 billion. Load factor was 80.5 percent compared to 77.6 percent, up 2.9 percentage points compared to March 2011. SkyWest also reported a slight decrease in departures to 121,488 for March compared to 122,075 for the same period last year.

SkyWest, Inc.reported a 12.4 percent increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for February, while available seat miles (ASMs) increased 10.0 percent compared to February 2011. SkyWest also reported a 7.8 percent increase in departures to 107,469 for February compared to 99,698 for the same period last year. Passenger boardings for February increased 10.8 percent to 4,170,431 compared to 3,765,343 for the same period last year. The combined airlines generated 2.15 billion RPMs for the month, while ASMs increased to 2.83 billion. Load factor was 76.1 percent compared to 74.5 percent, up 1.6 percentage points compared to February 2011.

SkyWest, Inc. today reported operating revenues of $899.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, compared to $796.3 million for the same period last year. SkyWest also reported a net loss of $(18.0) million, or $0.35 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, compared to $37.2 million of net income, or $0.67 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

See PDF for the complete release.

SkyWest, Inc. reported a 6.5 percent increase in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for January, while available seat miles (ASMs) increased 3.6 percent compared to January 2011. SkyWest also reported a 1.4 percent increase in departures to 112,183 for January compared to 110,602 for the same period last year. Passenger boardings for January increased 4.7 percent to 4,214,301 compared to 4,023,903 for the same period last year. The combined airlines generated 2.21 billion RPMs for the month, while ASMs increased to 2.98 billion. Load factor was 74.3 percent compared to 72.3 percent, up 2.0 percentage points compared to January 2011.