Originally Posted by
PiperPilot03
Well the airline I really want to work for is Sky West. I have heard a lot of great things about them and they have a hub in Chicago, which is where I am originally from and hope to return someday. I hope to fly the CRJ-200 and stay on that until being promoted to captain.
As a Chicago person you are in good shape...plenty of airlines there, and most pilots don't actually want to live there, so it is somewhat junior.
Skywest specifics:
Reserve: 4-6 days on, 2-3 days off, 10 days off per month. Depending on domicile and season, you might have to work every day, or they might not call you during an entire week. 90 minute call out, but SKW rarely uses that, they normally know early enough to give you more warning (typically the day before). You will probably also sit ready reserve at some point... this is where you hang out at the airport with a 20 minute call out.
Line Holder: 2-5 days on, 2-8 days off, minimum 10 days off per month but you can expect 14-16 realistically. The quality of the line varies with seniority, but in ORD most pilots will use their seniority to build commutable lines...but you don't care about that so you should be able to get a good QOL immediately.
Time on reserve...right now it would be 1 month or less due to expansion. Normally expect 3-12 months.