Regional life: is it even an option any more?
I'm currently helping a buddy of mine make a decision on which regional to go to. He has offers from Compass, Mesa and Skywest. He's one of my old flight instructors and is quite a bit older than I am. I've been flying in the regionals for about five years now, and I've told him the realities. However, he wants a low stress life, this is a second career for him and he says he'd be quite content making $100k as a regional lifer somewhere for the 15 or so years he has left.
This got me thinking; is being a lifer even a reasonable prospect anymore at a regional? It looks like he's heading to Compass, who I'd imagine have very few, if any lifers? With the continuing whipsaw, is it even possible to forge a career at the regionals any more? I can see why he'd do it, if he upgrades in 12-18 months after he starts in January, he'll be looking at 13-14 years on an average salary of somewhere around $80k. In his position he'd probably never see the left seat at a major. He doesn't want the stress of another interview and he doesn't want to go back to reserve. It makes a lot of sense.