snippercr

Dudes... they fly 175s. What more is there to argue about? Sign me the F up!

Bzzt

Outside of aviation yes. In the 121 world? No, Eagle is it. No one but the ultra qualified and/or connected is getting hired anywhere and I don't see that changing in my window I gave myself to get hired at a major but we'll see what happens.

Chuck D

Some legitimate insight there. This job, while enjoyable sometimes, quickly becomes just a way to pay the bills - or make a feeble effort to on FO pay. When that collides with commutes to reserve, base closures, home long enough to kiss your spouse, do the laundry, shave, sleep and commute back out etc, the shine quickly wears off.

24601

i hear heller said that they will park more planes then just the 145 because of staffing, no more upgrades for a while.

1) they short pay you, many emails to get paid what they owe you if at all.
2)call at three am on days off to see if you want to come in
3) two leg commutes on days off, common to see new guys buying hotels on their own and only four days at home.
4) moral, hard not to let if effect you
5) long upgrade time 7 years plus
6)bases close often
7) change time to make thing legal
8) food stamps, if you work here you will be on, them unless you have a lot of money already.
9) company goes out of their way to make sure you hate life
10) no one has trust of leadership
11) BB emails

afterburn81

Pardon me for asking but have you found some secret technology that stops time? I only ask because you may be 22 now, and have no kids, wife now, and not really value your life now. But that won't always be the case. One day when have you have worked your butt off to finally be that pilot at Republic you may have a completely different view on your career expectations. Airline management hopes your expectations right now continue to be your expectations.

Trust all of us when we say think really far into the future and ask yourself what you truly want out of your career. Stick to that and maybe you'll get half of it. If you skimp on your expectations now, you will be in a world of hurt when you finally get to where you are trying to go.

I know none of this means anything to you and we probably look like a bunch of bitter angry pilots. But most here are pretty dead on with the reality of an airline pilot career.

Nantonaku

Compete against who? There is no competition, anyone can be a regional pilot. What he said was an honest opinion from someone in the industry. A vast majority of pilots like flying but hate their jobs, at least at the regional level.

If you have 100k burning a hole in your pocket go get an MBA and have a real career, being a regional pilot is not a career. Where are you going to live when you are 25 and have 100k in debt? What do you do when you want to have a family and want to buy a house? How are you going to get a loan for a house (let alone save for a down payment) making 20k a year?

If you still insist on giving it a go then a pilot mill is the absolute worst decision you could make. It will ruin your finicial future. Unless you charge it all on credit cards and then declare bankruptcy. Also, being only 20 you might be young enough to have to worry about single pilot ops/pilotless planes. It is coming, it is just a question of when.

unclenobby

I would concentrate on your ratings one at a time. Objective is no failures and minimum cost. This increases you chance of (I) getting to your preferred airline and (II) surviving on the first few yrs pay as CFI, pipeline, FO or whatever.

Once you have gotten a job that will get you to 1500 start educating yourself on not only regionals but alternate routes. Know all of their interview minimums, hrs etc. when you are within a few hundred hours of that polish up the resume, see who is still standing, read the gouges and apply, apply apply. Then interview, interview, interview.

Once you get offers only then can you choose where you want to work. Remember you may have to work somewhere that is not your first option. So know them all, pros and cons etc. try to make the most informed decision you can. No one has a crystal ball.

Welcome to the career.

DreamToFlyy

Well luckily for me both college and flight school will be completely funded for me so I will have 0 debt. The pilot mill will get me my ratings and hours faster than a local FBO. I am not trying to be spoiled here but that is what I have been blessed with. So would it be that bad with 0 debt starting an airline career around 24-25?

and Afterburn81:
"Pardon me for asking but have you found some secret technology that stops time? I only ask because you may be 22 now, and have no kids, wife now, and not really value your life now. But that won't always be the case. One day when have you have worked your butt off to finally be that pilot at Republic you may have a completely different view on your career expectations. Airline management hopes your expectations right now continue to be your expectations. "

No I cannot stop time but the point was I am not bzzt i am not entering the career at an older age with a wife and kids. I will be going through the toughest part of this career without having to worry about those things. I don't think anyone can argue that the first couple years as a regional FO are the toughest time during an airline career. That is the point I was making. I understand my future and all the setbacks possible. I just want to do something I love and I feel that being away from home a lot is tough but better than doing something that makes me miserable and being miserable around my family all the time. To me that is worse then not seeing them for odd periods of time but being satisfied and happy when I do.

BeechedJet

This is great.

Bzzt

I started the career at 27. That's not as young as alot of guys but I wouldn't say I was old.