Most, if not all of us, at least in the beginning, relied on the following:
Go to flight school ( anywhere ) spend the $$$, get the required certificates, get hired as a CFI and accumulate enough time in order to qualify for an interview and possible ENTRY LEVEL job at one of the FFD "Regional airlines". We would accept substandard pay for the first, second and perhaps even a third year, when we would upgrade to the left seat and get a slight better pay, but now as a Captain we would accumulate those golden "1000 PIC" time. That was the ticket to the real Job at a "Major" airline and a pilot career.
That "promise" ( not really promised, more like a wish actually ) was broken with the crash of the economy in 2008 and the age 65 rule. Regional airlines relied on the system above to keep most of the pilot roster in the low longevity and first third of their pay scale. The costs were known and they made $$$$ on the backs of us that put up with the low pay, believing bigger and better things were just around the corner.
Age 65 put a stop to that flow and stagnated the system. Together with the downside of the economy, the Majors stopped hiring. And if you were hired at a Regional in the wrong time, you were stuck as an FO. There was a reason why the pay scales for FOs did not go further than 4 to 5 years...
Banks realized quickly that student loans would not be paid, as the math would not add up, many of us got into default. And the private loans dried up. With greedy flight schools tripling their costs when the going was good, the costs became prohibitive and without loans, the pool of enrollees for the programs dried up. The majority of flight students are now from Ab-initio programs for foreign carriers from India and China.
It is true that there are many pilots working abroad, and theoretically they would return to this country, if they can get hired at a Major and the conditions are right. The Major airlines have a large pool of regional pilots, from SkyWest to XJT, RAH, Eagle ( you guys will be always Eagle, don't care what mgmt. says
)and many others... there are roughly 15000 qualified regional pilots and the majority would not think twice to jump into a Major. The Majors will retire over 16000 pilots by the end of 2024...
That said, in many Regional airlines, there are those that are in a comfortable position. They have seniority, their pay is acceptable, they might be check airmen, their schedules are good and they have too many financial obligations that moving from a 6 figure income to 40 bucks an hour might be too hard to do. Some of them are also in their 50's and they cannot fathom the idea of starting over again. They have a much harder decision to do than young CA and FOs (any age FOs)...!
With the recent NO! votes from RAH, Eagle and XJT, it is clear to management that their SCAM will no longer hold. They sat for too long and milked this system with too much greed. Pilots are tired of working for substandard wages and are now realizing that they can abandon the career all together if needed. The system is broken and does not work.
There are a lot of rumors, from Majors bringing the flying back in house, which makes sense in some ways and is the wish of many of us, to consolidation and shrinking of the regional airlines. What will happen remains to be seen.
I would ask all regional pilots to join the Facebook group - STOP THE WHIPSAW - it allows for communication between all of us and discussion on the situation of our companies.
I sincerely hope things will get better and we all get some of the respect this profession had in the US, as abroad, pilots are still treated with respect.
good luck to all and please, stay professional.