Originally Posted by
lear700pilot
The problem with many jumping to go to another "quick upgrade" is it could be a complete flop. I'm not saying it is and many wouldn't gain to go, but unless you are on property when it is announced for the growth many may not reap those benefits. The way many of these regionals will be able to fill the seats of their planes with FO's and captains is if they can attract them from other regionals. There really is not enough new up coming pilots through the pipeline that meet RATP or ATP mins. This is fact since I've seen it through visiting many flight schools to talk to pilots who want to be airline pilots.
Flew with one FO that was at the 4th regional of his career because it was the "place with a quick upgrade" at the time. Now being a 7 year FO he said he should have stayed at regional #1. Endeavor was supposed to be an excellent place for people to go with their SSP, ETD, but look how that faired for them. There will be some that go to places with quick upgrade and win, but many would not gain from that - IMHO.
Oh plus you tell the wife that you are going to commute to regional XYZ because they now had the quick upgrade, but she remembers current regional had the "quick upgrade " 7 years ago, but still FO and also you've spent thousands on job fairs and interview prep and you tell her that now you are going to take a pay cut, but it will be a " quick upgrade"....... I've actually heard this story before from someone. Not everyones story, but it has happened. There are many dynamics to seeing if it worth starting all over.
I understand not all moves work out but there are companies out there now where there is no growth and no hope for upgrade right? Meanwhile Trans States and Compass are doubling in size. One guy here said Trans States is offering some sort of PIC program right out of the gate.
I'm sure there are borderline cases where it would be a coin flip to move but there are some places where it would be a no-brainer. If you are sitting in the middle of the list at a large regional with no projected growth you should probably explore your options.
Family situations are a huge obstacle to career progression. I couldn't in good conscience tell someone what is best for their family. I will say you are doing your family a disservice if you don't sit down and objectively look at the numbers. If the numbers say it makes sense to stay it's an easy choice but if the numbers say it makes more sense to move you need to have the conversation even if you don't end up leaving.
I'm obviously a proponent of making a move if and when it makes sense for your career. I, like half of american men, played a little poker during the great poker boom of the early 2000s. I rarely play anymore and wasn't ever very good but I did learn a few things; 1) once you put the money in the pot it doesn't belong to you anymore and you shouldn't make decisions based on that money and 2) if the odds say you should bet you should bet even if there is a greater chance of losing the hand than winning it (pot odds: e.g. a bet of $1 into a $5 pot makes sense even if your odds of winning are only 30%). It taught me to look objectively at numbers.
Anyway, it is a lot easier to make a move when you don't have a family that would be affected and sometimes a move will assure that you don't have a family to affect. I just think it makes sense to explore options.