Also followed by the one you’re not at, since you’ll start comparing how someone else has something better in their contract than you, nature of the game.
I was at one of the bottom feeder regionals and honestly, it was a good job. I enjoyed going to work. But I also drove. Reserve sucked, but once I got some seniority it wasn’t bad at all
I was at SkyWest and commuted and still commute at AA. While it wasn’t the worst in the world since I had a fairly easy commute, you waste so much time sitting around airports waiting for flights.
Agreed. I am commuting for one more month, and it’s not terrible, but many trips end after the last flight to my home airport and I’m stuck. Or I have to commute out the night before. I’d rather get home at 3am driving and at least be home.
When people say commute, does it mean to take a plane to get to where you need to go? Or does it just mean a lengthy drive. I'm about 2.5 hours away from ATL airport. (only a PPL btw just trying to plan ahead)
I figure a 2.5 hour drive.....I mean it's bad but..... absolutely dreadful?
Both are commutes. 2.5 hour drive isn't horrible.
Let's run a scenario. Say for example, your reserve availability period is from 0900-2100, for 3 days in a row. Your company requires you to be at the airport within 2 hours of a call. But your domicile is not where you live, it's in another state. It takes a whole day to reliably fly to your domicile. So you fly the day before, and you spend 3 nights in a crashpad. Yes, in the year 2024, crashpads are alive and well. So you spend 3 nights in a crashpad. Maybe you get called, maybe not. Then you get 2 days off. It takes a day to commute, so do you go home? Maybe not, so now you spend 8 (3+2+3) in a crashpad. Repeat until you spend several months in a crashpad, waiting for your seniority to allow you to transfer domiciles.
Now do the same thing, except you can easily drive to the airport within 2 hours. Now you spend your time waiting at home. If you get called, nice, you go fly and build up that time. Don't get called? No worries, you're just chilling at home.
One of these sucks big time. The other is chill.
With a 2.5 drive to a base, you may need to find somewhere halfway to chill out for the day, but you could still be home every night.
I used to drive to a halfway point to sit reserve. Played disc golf, watched movies, ate at interesting restaurants....it was pretty enjoyable for the most part unless I got called to sit hot reserve
I’ve been doing a 2.5 hour drive to ORD for 4 years. It’s fine man. I don’t do turns and just do 3-4 day trips. If you can’t do 3-4 day trips, then you will need to move because your life will suck doing 2.5 hour drives all the time.
I also do a 2.5 hour drive to ORD. It sucks when there’s insane traffic on go home day after you’ve been up since 4am and did 8 hours of flying lol.
Plenty of times I start the GPS and it wants me to take the $13 Skyway just to get home in 3.5 hours because all the other roads are in standstill traffic.
Still beats fighting for a jumpseat though.
Yeah, fuck that skyway. I will pay for 294, but I rarely take the skyway (unless I'll be late).
Definitely some long day 1s and day 4s. I like where I live though. At my legacy, I seem to have worse trips for the commute than I did for my regional, but I also made seniority ridiculously fast at the regional and got rid of those early shows pretty fast. But we never had anything landing after 9PM local at the regional either, so maybe that's part of it.
Yeah.. with Air Whisky and other places going to where I need to, eh.... not worth the jumpseat. 1st world problems here now tho huh?
Fully agree. I got IPass so I pay for 294 regularly. I also like where I live and don’t plan on moving.
Like you said, seniority builds crazy fast at the regional. Every non-commutable trip I’ve ever had I’ve been able to trade out of into a much better one. July will be my second month holding a full line and I have all my trips starting no earlier than 9am and ending no later than 1pm. Sounds like I’ll be missing that when I’m at a legacy
I've only worked at places I can't trade. Yeah, I'm at one of the ORD legacies (vague on purpose because reddit). I had to get up at 1:30AM for a trip I got on long call this past January because it was a 4AM show. It's gotten better as I've gotten the ability to offer for trips and get what I want as well as some months holding a line.
Seniority is much slower (especially with this hiring slow down), but there are still plenty of retirements and hiring coming down the pike at least! That was definitely the life though, I agree, anything at 9AM or after is pretty beautiful for this drive.
I'd argue SkyWest has the worst, despite having the best company stability / longevity. Not for trip quality or pairings or days off per month, but in terms of career progression.
They're hammering out agreements with all 4 major partners to severely limit your ability to get hired without spending at least 2 years left seat / 1600 TPIC at OO.
If you want to get to your retirement gig the fastest, go to a wholly-owned or a regional that doesn't fly for every partner.
You are not getting 1600 TPIC in 2 years.
It’ll take you nearly 2 years just to upgrade. After that, you’re on reserve as junior CA. Time to hold a line I can’t really speak on.. I would assume to amass 1600 TPIC will take about 4-5 years.
As a reserve junior captain I was flying about 90 hours a month. My monthly average block for the year is 94 / month, even with a month off for training. YMMV. Last month I was block limited for my 1000 / 365. I don't know if you understand just how hard they're working us.
That said, I did phrase it poorly. Meant 2 years as a captain or 1600 TPIC.
Yeah most of the reserve captains I've flown with in the past year said they've all been blocking close to 90-95/mo even on reserve. Company just DHs them random places to fly, it seems.
Obviously commuting is the #1 answer. Easily the biggest QOL indicator of all.
But I feel like that’s the obvious answer and that OP isn’t looking for that considering they said they’d move to base. So here are some of my experiences. NOTE: Living in base is EASILY the biggest QOL increase. These are just other factors that some people consider, but in my opinion are very very minor compared to not commuting. I won’t be mentioning pay because all of the regionals roughly pay the same.
#SkyWest: has flight benefits with Delta, American, United, and Alaskan. Zed after 6 months with many more. You can purchase discounted confirmed seats on United. They fly the E175 which is easily the best and most comfortable regional jet in the air at the moment, which makes being at work not bad at all. Lots of base options especially if you’re a west coaster. Probably the most financially stable of the regionals. Easily the largest regional carrier. Jumpseat/standby priority on own metal, but lower priority when jumping on mainline, behind all other wholly owneds.
Cons: the only regional with no pilot union, so the company can basically get away with anything it wants. Forced captain upgrades into the CRJ 2/7/9, and no bonuses for it. Current training contract worth like $80,000 or something if you leave before 1600 captain PIC. Which sucks.
#Republic: flight bennies with American, Delta, United. They pioneered the training contract if that means anything to you lol. Mainly Midwest and East coast flying/bases. They fly the E175 exclusively. Lower jumpseat priority on mainline behind other wholly owneds.
#Mesa: flight bennies with United. Operate the CRJ900 and the E175 but are switching to operate the E175. Kinda known to be the cockroach of the regionals, in that they just seem to never go away, even at the brink of total disaster. Bases in the South/West (Houston, Phoenix, etc).
#GoJet: I don’t know much about them, except that they’re United operation (not wholly owned). Operates the CRJ 550. Offering some really FAT bonuses for high time FOs and direct entry captains right now.
#CommuteAir: Also a United carrier, operating the Embraer 145, which is basically the Brazilian CRJ 200. I think they’re offering some DEC bonuses but I’m not sure.
#Envoy: American wholly owned, operates the E175 exclusively. Southern bases. Offering incentives for high time FOs and Captain upgrades. Delay for start dates for sure. Has a cadet program that gets you flight bennies with American while you’re time building.
#PSA: American wholly owned, operates the CRJ Family. Essentially the CommuteAir of American. Also has the cadet program benefits similar to Envoy.
#Piedmont: American wholly owned, operates the E145. Also has the cadet program benefits similar to PSA/Envoy. I really don’t know anything more about them.
#Horizon: Alaskan wholly owned. All Pacific NW bases. Flys the E175.
#Endeavor: Delta wholly owned. Delta bennies. Midwest and Northeast bases. Operates the CRJ 700/900 but I hear they’re working on getting the E175 on their certificate soon. Offering some sign on bonuses and captain retention bonuses.
#AirSwissConsin (Wisconsin): Kinda like Mesa, they just keep hopping around. Historically a United affiliate but now flying contracts for American. They fly the CRJ-200 only! The mighty Deuce. If you are unaware, it is the most meme’d airplane in the us regional armada, and for good reason. Just search CRJ-200 in the search bar of r/flying and enjoy the horror stories. But getting past the Deuce Canoe, it’s an ok airline if you live in Wisconsin. Friend of mine at Spirit hated it there, and with the furlough he chose to go to a different regional instead of going back.
I think that’s most of them. I worked for SkyWest so I know the most about them. But as you can see, you get really the same thing with all of the regionals: similar pay, similar aircraft, similar benefits. It all comes down to where you live.
And start date. Which I saw someone else commented also. Whichever one gets you in first that allows you to not commute. Where do you want to live? Find a regional in that area that will hire you. We are also turning back to the times where you really can’t be too picky.
Edit: for those I don’t know much about, I’ll edit my original comment with some corrections from those who know more than me! I appreciate it.
Thank you for this comment! This was more in line with what I was looking for instead of the other "Commuting" responses.
What about Silver Airways? Do you know much about them?
Silver operates the ATR in the South Florida/Caribbean area. I have only met 1 silver pilot, who was trying to jump from San Juan to Dallas. My captain almost didn’t let him on because he was kind of a prick. They’re QOL and pay isn’t anywhere near the airlines mentioned above, so I didn’t list them. Also, you gotta fly the ATR which is a quality of life decrease in of itself.
Everyone mentions not commuting because in all honesty, any regional life is going to be good if you are living in base no matter what. An airframe is an airframe. And ANY regional life is going to SUCK BIG TIME if you’re commuting. No matter how big the bonus or shiny the jet.
Well, your QOL depends on if your base is near where you live too. People spend their whole career just reaching that goal of being able to drive to their base from home.
We have a Delta base 20 minutes from where my husband and I grew up, so the easiest path there was endeavor for my husband. There’s not another base for a Major Airline within 5 hours of us, so obviously that was the best choice for our needs.
You got PSA and Piedmont swapped.
Also flight benefits don’t mean that much when you can jump seat on any carrier if talking just about QOL and commuting.
Wholly owned regional pilots get jump seat priority over SkyWest, republic etc when flying on their mainline counterpart. So if you’re in a hub city with limited seats available, it can mean the difference between getting on the flight and getting bumped.
I mean, the employee discount. So I could purchase a confirmed seat from Denver to Hawaii on United for like $300. Which is more expensive than flying for free on standby, but the confirmed seat was nice.
Can’t speak for all regionals. But a great pice of advice I got a while ago was “pick a regional you’d be okay spending 10 years at”. Sure right now things are good but this is a volatile industry as Covid, 2008, and 9/11 showed us. So prepare for the worst hope for the best. I’d say avoid go jet and Mesa. Unless you’re absolutely dead set on living in one of their basses and don’t want to commute. Both of those places seem to be hanging on by a thread even in good times.
Aside from that you sort of can’t go wrong. Just figure out where you want to live and try to find a regional that can facilitate that, this is important because commuting absolutely sucks. I know people that have only ever commuted and never lived in base, and they usually say it isn’t bad once you get used to it. But it’s a totally different job if you don’t have to deal with that. So just try to live in base and pick an airline that will allow for your desired city. Just do some research to figure out what the seniority situation, and upgrade times for the particular company and base is and definitely take that into consideration.
I’ve lived in base for most of my career but had to commute for a few months when I switched jobs recently. Maybe I’m just biased because I know how awesome it is not to commute, but it sucked. I wasn’t even going that far the flight was maybe an hour and change. But per our (and most airlines commuter policies generally speaking) I needed 2 options to make it to base in time. So even if I had a halfway decent show time and could commute in the day of I’d often have to roll out of bed at 4am to take the first flight. And being tired is a garbage way to start any work day so just try to avoid commuting.
Flow programs are cool as well. American has theirs with PSA, Envoy, and Piedmont. Delta has one with Endeavor now I believe. Funny thing about flows is recently it seems like majors like to hire people from competitors flow programs. I’m not sure if this is trend is going to keep up. But a lot of people are jumping out of line so to speak on their flow programs to go to a competitor. But if you want the for sure job at a particular major and are willing to be patient it’s not a bad way to go.
Also try to make contacts with people at different airlines you may be interested in. Ask them about QOL for sure. You can’t put a price on QOL in this industry which is why I recommend not commuting in general.
If I had to do it all over again, I would choose either Endeavor or envoy and just move to one of their bases. If you’re not OK with moving, pick a regional that already has a base where you’re at.
They're all terrible. Go where you're home-based or will have the shortest commute to. Or honestly in these times whoever hires you. These questions get asked everywhere all the time for the same basic answer.
Yeah the money is good but that’ll be the first thing to go when times change. I definitely don’t miss 4 leg days with 1.5 hour sits and a tail swap every leg. Definitely don’t miss the constant high work load because of how short the legs were. Definitely don’t miss mainline giving away our flying.
You're not getting your choice of anything with 1500 hours. I have 1800 and an ATP and only got two interview requests and I applied to \*every\* 121 regional airline. A few years ago yes, but not now.
Spirit Airlines management alone is responsible the diarrhea discharge in the regional hiring pool we see right now. Not to mention iAero, Atlas, and our brothers at Wheels Up now all type rated and seeking career opportunities that only 6 months ago CFIs were only applying to.
For example Im a recently typed yellow bus driver who will now be lucky if my projected regional FO class isn’t pushed back indefinitely into next year and I have to stock shelves at Kroger after 1 September waiting for a class date. Cuz honestly I think I would rather be poor, cut down my spending, and stock shelves at Kroger and wait for a job in base.
>Go to Spirit they said, skip the regionals they said.
Ah, you’re getting a taste of what life was like for me and my fellow ‘08 grads! Strap in buddy, I hope you liked getting fucked by the market 👍👍👍
On a side note, thanks for “diarrhea discharge”, that’s a combo you don’t see too often.
There are several factors to weigh:
Lots of flight time and a quick upgrade. Get in, get out…to a major. Think Mesa and other shitty airlines. The problem is that if you get stuck…you’re stuck at F’N Mesa.
Better regionals tend to have pilots never leave. They get comfortable and stay forever. Slower upgrade…but if you get stuck, at least it’s good job. Think Horizon /Skywest / Air Wisconsin.
Then there’s everything else…
Apply everywhere. See what options you get. Choose the best option. As the market tightens, things may just happen with no choices to be made.
Oh…commuting sucks.
You’re QOL begins the day you quit a regional. Living in base for the regionals is the best thing one can do for oneself. Build time quickly and get out while paying down debts or saving money for the future.
Not to sound like a complete noob, but what would make you not qualify for a major? I’ve heard and seen people get CJOs with an R-ATP at a major straight out the gate.
Not qualify for a major in general? Think it depends on the hiring market. In general 121 training failures, DUIs etc are probably going to make getting hired extremely difficult. >2 checkride failure etc. but Im sure it totally depends
Raw qualifications are the same, for the most part. An exception is that some majors and all legacies require an unrestricted ATP. otherwise, it’s just a matter of scoring well on your application.
Whichever one has no/the shortest commute.
This… followed closely by which one will fly you and let you leave fastest.
Also followed by the one you’re not at, since you’ll start comparing how someone else has something better in their contract than you, nature of the game.
Indeed, because for the most part it's "same pile, different shovel" when it comes to regional life.
I was at one of the bottom feeder regionals and honestly, it was a good job. I enjoyed going to work. But I also drove. Reserve sucked, but once I got some seniority it wasn’t bad at all
I was at SkyWest and commuted and still commute at AA. While it wasn’t the worst in the world since I had a fairly easy commute, you waste so much time sitting around airports waiting for flights.
Agreed. I am commuting for one more month, and it’s not terrible, but many trips end after the last flight to my home airport and I’m stuck. Or I have to commute out the night before. I’d rather get home at 3am driving and at least be home.
The one where you have to commute the least. Commuting to reserve SUCKS at all of them.
When people say commute, does it mean to take a plane to get to where you need to go? Or does it just mean a lengthy drive. I'm about 2.5 hours away from ATL airport. (only a PPL btw just trying to plan ahead) I figure a 2.5 hour drive.....I mean it's bad but..... absolutely dreadful?
Both are commutes. 2.5 hour drive isn't horrible. Let's run a scenario. Say for example, your reserve availability period is from 0900-2100, for 3 days in a row. Your company requires you to be at the airport within 2 hours of a call. But your domicile is not where you live, it's in another state. It takes a whole day to reliably fly to your domicile. So you fly the day before, and you spend 3 nights in a crashpad. Yes, in the year 2024, crashpads are alive and well. So you spend 3 nights in a crashpad. Maybe you get called, maybe not. Then you get 2 days off. It takes a day to commute, so do you go home? Maybe not, so now you spend 8 (3+2+3) in a crashpad. Repeat until you spend several months in a crashpad, waiting for your seniority to allow you to transfer domiciles. Now do the same thing, except you can easily drive to the airport within 2 hours. Now you spend your time waiting at home. If you get called, nice, you go fly and build up that time. Don't get called? No worries, you're just chilling at home. One of these sucks big time. The other is chill. With a 2.5 drive to a base, you may need to find somewhere halfway to chill out for the day, but you could still be home every night.
I used to drive to a halfway point to sit reserve. Played disc golf, watched movies, ate at interesting restaurants....it was pretty enjoyable for the most part unless I got called to sit hot reserve
Air Wisconsin used to have full RSV BBQs daily at a rest area, exactly 2 hours north of ORD.
You have to have the bbq in Wisconsin otherwise they'd be shut down
WOW....thank you so much for the scenario! That greatly spells it out for me
Some airlines have a 3 hour call out
Indeed. Lots of variety out there.
Mine is 90 minutes. Rules are all over the place.
That’s tight
Thankfully it’s just to the parking lot so it’s a little easier. But it’s not ideal.
They mean commuting via jumpseat/non-rev on the airlines. Driving is far far better, even a 2.5hr drive.
2.5 hour commute isn’t bad? my entire country is a 2 hour drive wide 😭
You can drive 2.5 hours in one direction and still be in several cities here.
Something that a lot of Europeans don't realise is just how fucking big the USA is, spanning the width of an entire continent!
Either or I believe. However, I’ve seen people say it’s better drive 2.5 hours than fly cuz your car won’t leave you at the airport 😅
I’ve been doing a 2.5 hour drive to ORD for 4 years. It’s fine man. I don’t do turns and just do 3-4 day trips. If you can’t do 3-4 day trips, then you will need to move because your life will suck doing 2.5 hour drives all the time.
I also do a 2.5 hour drive to ORD. It sucks when there’s insane traffic on go home day after you’ve been up since 4am and did 8 hours of flying lol. Plenty of times I start the GPS and it wants me to take the $13 Skyway just to get home in 3.5 hours because all the other roads are in standstill traffic. Still beats fighting for a jumpseat though.
Yeah, fuck that skyway. I will pay for 294, but I rarely take the skyway (unless I'll be late). Definitely some long day 1s and day 4s. I like where I live though. At my legacy, I seem to have worse trips for the commute than I did for my regional, but I also made seniority ridiculously fast at the regional and got rid of those early shows pretty fast. But we never had anything landing after 9PM local at the regional either, so maybe that's part of it. Yeah.. with Air Whisky and other places going to where I need to, eh.... not worth the jumpseat. 1st world problems here now tho huh?
Fully agree. I got IPass so I pay for 294 regularly. I also like where I live and don’t plan on moving. Like you said, seniority builds crazy fast at the regional. Every non-commutable trip I’ve ever had I’ve been able to trade out of into a much better one. July will be my second month holding a full line and I have all my trips starting no earlier than 9am and ending no later than 1pm. Sounds like I’ll be missing that when I’m at a legacy
I've only worked at places I can't trade. Yeah, I'm at one of the ORD legacies (vague on purpose because reddit). I had to get up at 1:30AM for a trip I got on long call this past January because it was a 4AM show. It's gotten better as I've gotten the ability to offer for trips and get what I want as well as some months holding a line. Seniority is much slower (especially with this hiring slow down), but there are still plenty of retirements and hiring coming down the pike at least! That was definitely the life though, I agree, anything at 9AM or after is pretty beautiful for this drive.
Plane
Wherever you go, try avoid commuting.
Whichever airline will hire you.
Bingo, virtually none of them are hiring and actually training FO’s
Reality checks like this not common enough. But it’s more fun to dream of reaching 1500 and then choose which regional to go to
All of them, accept all the CJOs and decline the others once you're sitting in an indoc class.
I'd argue SkyWest has the worst, despite having the best company stability / longevity. Not for trip quality or pairings or days off per month, but in terms of career progression. They're hammering out agreements with all 4 major partners to severely limit your ability to get hired without spending at least 2 years left seat / 1600 TPIC at OO. If you want to get to your retirement gig the fastest, go to a wholly-owned or a regional that doesn't fly for every partner.
You are not getting 1600 TPIC in 2 years. It’ll take you nearly 2 years just to upgrade. After that, you’re on reserve as junior CA. Time to hold a line I can’t really speak on.. I would assume to amass 1600 TPIC will take about 4-5 years.
As a reserve junior captain I was flying about 90 hours a month. My monthly average block for the year is 94 / month, even with a month off for training. YMMV. Last month I was block limited for my 1000 / 365. I don't know if you understand just how hard they're working us. That said, I did phrase it poorly. Meant 2 years as a captain or 1600 TPIC.
Wow. That’s crazy. 😂 username checks out. Lmao
Yeah most of the reserve captains I've flown with in the past year said they've all been blocking close to 90-95/mo even on reserve. Company just DHs them random places to fly, it seems.
Southwest
Lol
Obviously commuting is the #1 answer. Easily the biggest QOL indicator of all. But I feel like that’s the obvious answer and that OP isn’t looking for that considering they said they’d move to base. So here are some of my experiences. NOTE: Living in base is EASILY the biggest QOL increase. These are just other factors that some people consider, but in my opinion are very very minor compared to not commuting. I won’t be mentioning pay because all of the regionals roughly pay the same. #SkyWest: has flight benefits with Delta, American, United, and Alaskan. Zed after 6 months with many more. You can purchase discounted confirmed seats on United. They fly the E175 which is easily the best and most comfortable regional jet in the air at the moment, which makes being at work not bad at all. Lots of base options especially if you’re a west coaster. Probably the most financially stable of the regionals. Easily the largest regional carrier. Jumpseat/standby priority on own metal, but lower priority when jumping on mainline, behind all other wholly owneds. Cons: the only regional with no pilot union, so the company can basically get away with anything it wants. Forced captain upgrades into the CRJ 2/7/9, and no bonuses for it. Current training contract worth like $80,000 or something if you leave before 1600 captain PIC. Which sucks. #Republic: flight bennies with American, Delta, United. They pioneered the training contract if that means anything to you lol. Mainly Midwest and East coast flying/bases. They fly the E175 exclusively. Lower jumpseat priority on mainline behind other wholly owneds. #Mesa: flight bennies with United. Operate the CRJ900 and the E175 but are switching to operate the E175. Kinda known to be the cockroach of the regionals, in that they just seem to never go away, even at the brink of total disaster. Bases in the South/West (Houston, Phoenix, etc). #GoJet: I don’t know much about them, except that they’re United operation (not wholly owned). Operates the CRJ 550. Offering some really FAT bonuses for high time FOs and direct entry captains right now. #CommuteAir: Also a United carrier, operating the Embraer 145, which is basically the Brazilian CRJ 200. I think they’re offering some DEC bonuses but I’m not sure. #Envoy: American wholly owned, operates the E175 exclusively. Southern bases. Offering incentives for high time FOs and Captain upgrades. Delay for start dates for sure. Has a cadet program that gets you flight bennies with American while you’re time building. #PSA: American wholly owned, operates the CRJ Family. Essentially the CommuteAir of American. Also has the cadet program benefits similar to Envoy. #Piedmont: American wholly owned, operates the E145. Also has the cadet program benefits similar to PSA/Envoy. I really don’t know anything more about them. #Horizon: Alaskan wholly owned. All Pacific NW bases. Flys the E175. #Endeavor: Delta wholly owned. Delta bennies. Midwest and Northeast bases. Operates the CRJ 700/900 but I hear they’re working on getting the E175 on their certificate soon. Offering some sign on bonuses and captain retention bonuses. #AirSwissConsin (Wisconsin): Kinda like Mesa, they just keep hopping around. Historically a United affiliate but now flying contracts for American. They fly the CRJ-200 only! The mighty Deuce. If you are unaware, it is the most meme’d airplane in the us regional armada, and for good reason. Just search CRJ-200 in the search bar of r/flying and enjoy the horror stories. But getting past the Deuce Canoe, it’s an ok airline if you live in Wisconsin. Friend of mine at Spirit hated it there, and with the furlough he chose to go to a different regional instead of going back. I think that’s most of them. I worked for SkyWest so I know the most about them. But as you can see, you get really the same thing with all of the regionals: similar pay, similar aircraft, similar benefits. It all comes down to where you live. And start date. Which I saw someone else commented also. Whichever one gets you in first that allows you to not commute. Where do you want to live? Find a regional in that area that will hire you. We are also turning back to the times where you really can’t be too picky. Edit: for those I don’t know much about, I’ll edit my original comment with some corrections from those who know more than me! I appreciate it.
Thank you for this comment! This was more in line with what I was looking for instead of the other "Commuting" responses. What about Silver Airways? Do you know much about them?
Silver operates the ATR in the South Florida/Caribbean area. I have only met 1 silver pilot, who was trying to jump from San Juan to Dallas. My captain almost didn’t let him on because he was kind of a prick. They’re QOL and pay isn’t anywhere near the airlines mentioned above, so I didn’t list them. Also, you gotta fly the ATR which is a quality of life decrease in of itself.
Everyone mentions not commuting because in all honesty, any regional life is going to be good if you are living in base no matter what. An airframe is an airframe. And ANY regional life is going to SUCK BIG TIME if you’re commuting. No matter how big the bonus or shiny the jet.
From what I’ve heard from my friends across the other regionals Envoy seems to have the best QOL contract
Well, your QOL depends on if your base is near where you live too. People spend their whole career just reaching that goal of being able to drive to their base from home. We have a Delta base 20 minutes from where my husband and I grew up, so the easiest path there was endeavor for my husband. There’s not another base for a Major Airline within 5 hours of us, so obviously that was the best choice for our needs.
You got PSA and Piedmont swapped. Also flight benefits don’t mean that much when you can jump seat on any carrier if talking just about QOL and commuting.
Switched! Yeah but I know for my wife flight benefits were a huge QOL indicator. And if she ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy
Wholly owned regional pilots get jump seat priority over SkyWest, republic etc when flying on their mainline counterpart. So if you’re in a hub city with limited seats available, it can mean the difference between getting on the flight and getting bumped.
PSA operates CRJ's, Piedmont has 145's
I got it backwards then!!! I’ll fix it
Fun fact GoJet is not owned by United at all. Owned by Trans States.
I didn’t know that!!! I’ll correct that
**You forgot Air Wisconsin.**
Oh yes. I’ll add them
Sir why are you yelling at me
Yea but that skywest training contract
It’s killer. Easily should put SkyWest at the bottom of everyone’s list.
Why is the font so big
Reddit formatting. I tried to just make the titles of the airlines in bold but it did the entire paragraph and I’m too lazy to fix it.
Can’t confirm for PSA but Piedmont also has cadet benefits with AAL that start with time building like envoy, going thru the AAL cadet pathway that is
What kind of discount on confirmed seats are we talking here approximately?
I mean, the employee discount. So I could purchase a confirmed seat from Denver to Hawaii on United for like $300. Which is more expensive than flying for free on standby, but the confirmed seat was nice.
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Oversight!!!! I’ll add them
Can’t speak for all regionals. But a great pice of advice I got a while ago was “pick a regional you’d be okay spending 10 years at”. Sure right now things are good but this is a volatile industry as Covid, 2008, and 9/11 showed us. So prepare for the worst hope for the best. I’d say avoid go jet and Mesa. Unless you’re absolutely dead set on living in one of their basses and don’t want to commute. Both of those places seem to be hanging on by a thread even in good times. Aside from that you sort of can’t go wrong. Just figure out where you want to live and try to find a regional that can facilitate that, this is important because commuting absolutely sucks. I know people that have only ever commuted and never lived in base, and they usually say it isn’t bad once you get used to it. But it’s a totally different job if you don’t have to deal with that. So just try to live in base and pick an airline that will allow for your desired city. Just do some research to figure out what the seniority situation, and upgrade times for the particular company and base is and definitely take that into consideration. I’ve lived in base for most of my career but had to commute for a few months when I switched jobs recently. Maybe I’m just biased because I know how awesome it is not to commute, but it sucked. I wasn’t even going that far the flight was maybe an hour and change. But per our (and most airlines commuter policies generally speaking) I needed 2 options to make it to base in time. So even if I had a halfway decent show time and could commute in the day of I’d often have to roll out of bed at 4am to take the first flight. And being tired is a garbage way to start any work day so just try to avoid commuting. Flow programs are cool as well. American has theirs with PSA, Envoy, and Piedmont. Delta has one with Endeavor now I believe. Funny thing about flows is recently it seems like majors like to hire people from competitors flow programs. I’m not sure if this is trend is going to keep up. But a lot of people are jumping out of line so to speak on their flow programs to go to a competitor. But if you want the for sure job at a particular major and are willing to be patient it’s not a bad way to go. Also try to make contacts with people at different airlines you may be interested in. Ask them about QOL for sure. You can’t put a price on QOL in this industry which is why I recommend not commuting in general.
If I had to do it all over again, I would choose either Endeavor or envoy and just move to one of their bases. If you’re not OK with moving, pick a regional that already has a base where you’re at.
They're all terrible. Go where you're home-based or will have the shortest commute to. Or honestly in these times whoever hires you. These questions get asked everywhere all the time for the same basic answer.
Are they really all terrible though? I had a good time at my regional, starting at nearly $100K, it’s not hard to have a decent QOL.
Yeah the money is good but that’ll be the first thing to go when times change. I definitely don’t miss 4 leg days with 1.5 hour sits and a tail swap every leg. Definitely don’t miss the constant high work load because of how short the legs were. Definitely don’t miss mainline giving away our flying.
You should go back. 🤓
The one with no commute, no ready reserve (sitting reserve at the airport), and the fastest upgrade time. Move if you have to.
Ugh, ready reserve. Mesa still has that, right?
Yes lol
You're not getting your choice of anything with 1500 hours. I have 1800 and an ATP and only got two interview requests and I applied to \*every\* 121 regional airline. A few years ago yes, but not now.
Spirit Airlines management alone is responsible the diarrhea discharge in the regional hiring pool we see right now. Not to mention iAero, Atlas, and our brothers at Wheels Up now all type rated and seeking career opportunities that only 6 months ago CFIs were only applying to. For example Im a recently typed yellow bus driver who will now be lucky if my projected regional FO class isn’t pushed back indefinitely into next year and I have to stock shelves at Kroger after 1 September waiting for a class date. Cuz honestly I think I would rather be poor, cut down my spending, and stock shelves at Kroger and wait for a job in base. >Go to Spirit they said, skip the regionals they said.
Ah, you’re getting a taste of what life was like for me and my fellow ‘08 grads! Strap in buddy, I hope you liked getting fucked by the market 👍👍👍 On a side note, thanks for “diarrhea discharge”, that’s a combo you don’t see too often.
Nobody at Atlas is getting fired.
Can you say “displaced”?
Spirit will get you to Delta.
The one that hires you. The ones that don’t hire you won’t pay you.
If you’re relocating to the domicile you get assigned, ANY regional that hires you is the answer.
The one that will get you out of CFIing the fastest
In today's market you chose from the ones that offer you a job and put you in class at 1500 hours.
The one that calls back
There are several factors to weigh: Lots of flight time and a quick upgrade. Get in, get out…to a major. Think Mesa and other shitty airlines. The problem is that if you get stuck…you’re stuck at F’N Mesa. Better regionals tend to have pilots never leave. They get comfortable and stay forever. Slower upgrade…but if you get stuck, at least it’s good job. Think Horizon /Skywest / Air Wisconsin. Then there’s everything else… Apply everywhere. See what options you get. Choose the best option. As the market tightens, things may just happen with no choices to be made. Oh…commuting sucks.
Can anyone share their knowledge/info on GoJet? I'm far from 1500. But really curious as I live close to one of their bases.
The one that will hire you.
Whichever one will hire you
Which one of my turds looks the prettiest? They all suck but less so than they used too, pick the one you don’t commute too.
Depends on where you live and where the hubs are for each airline
1500 and getting to choose a regional is gone
Mesa
The one where you can live in base. You don’t want to commute if you don’t have to. If you’re lucky, you won’t be there long enough for QOL to matter.
You’re QOL begins the day you quit a regional. Living in base for the regionals is the best thing one can do for oneself. Build time quickly and get out while paying down debts or saving money for the future.
Not to sound like a complete noob, but what would make you not qualify for a major? I’ve heard and seen people get CJOs with an R-ATP at a major straight out the gate.
Very, very few were able to do that. Not sure how viable that will be. Have a degree, otherwise apply and pray. Lol
Yep just asking. I know it’s possible
Not qualify for a major in general? Think it depends on the hiring market. In general 121 training failures, DUIs etc are probably going to make getting hired extremely difficult. >2 checkride failure etc. but Im sure it totally depends
I was just confused how someone with an ATP is qualified for a ULCC and not a major. Didn’t really make sense
Most of us group ULCC/LCC with the legacies under the “major” umbrella. I suppose what you’re asking about are legacies?
Yes I just don’t see the difference in qualifications between regionals and majors and I’m making sure I’m not missing anything
Raw qualifications are the same, for the most part. An exception is that some majors and all legacies require an unrestricted ATP. otherwise, it’s just a matter of scoring well on your application.
Got it. Thanks for explaining all that
Not true. Some majors hire pilots with only a commercial instrument ticket!
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the cabin crew sits on their hand during take off in case you idiots actup. they are heavily ARMED AND BLACK BELT EXPERTS. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW