Originally Posted by
HeavyDriver
2000 hours of Military flying makes a pilot more than qualified to apply and be competitive at a Major Airline. Especially against a 6000TT regional pilot...Beyond 5000TT seems to be where the Majors start to look away from a candidate anyway, but what do I know (as I'm reminded by the children of the magenta everyday) I've only been doing this for 30 years...
Are you saying that if a regional guy (FO in particular) has 5000+ TT, that the majors / legacies start turning them away? I hope that's not the case.
Anyhow....
To the OP, like everyone else has said, commuting vs not commuting makes a big difference. If you find an airline that fits your personal needs, then shoot for that one. Envoy has a great, but senior pilot group. Great pilots there, very knowledgable, and ALL are willing to help their fellow pilots. There a LOT of veterans there, myself included. Quit a few P3 guys as well. There's a joint LGA / JFK base, as well as MIA (not sure how long MIA is going to last though). Things aren't going too well here right now, but we still have a decent contract, and 20 a month (minimum) flowing to AA, and the attrition is about to spike through the roof. This could be good, or bad for a new hire. Good, as it makes room ahead for you; Bad, if they attrit too fast without enough new hires coming in behind you, and the company decides to park more airplanes due to inability to staff them. You could be furlough fodder. You would probably be on reserve for a vey long time. Which could be good if you live in base, and want to have more time at home, but bad if you're trying to rack up hours quickly and get out. Which is what it seems your goal is.
PSA has all East coast bases, CLT, TYS, and DAY. Endeavor is probably your best bet of a NY base. PDT has smaller out station East coast bases, are getting jets and probably will have fast movement, but you'll probably be able to get your time and move on before you upgrade. Have you looked in to cargo?
One thing to keep in mind is; most people chose an airline that they thought they could move along quickly, get out, and get to a major / legacy as soon as they could. They didn't look into QOL issues too much, as they thought they would just suck it up, and be out In a few years anyway. Then something happens (9/11, oil price spikes, mergers and consolidation, ect...) that causes them to be stuck at that place for a lot longer than they had planned. Ask yourself if you could handle that place for longer than expected.