The regional model needs to die for the better. There's no difference in flying a 80 seat "regional jet" and flying a 120 seat mainline jet except the "minimums" required.

To get on with a major implies you need to fly a plane with 2/3 the seats for 1/3 of the wages. Half of what you should be worth to an airline in today's mainline (still underpaid but we'll get back to pre-9/11 wages eventually). What needs to happen is new guys need to get over SJS and educate themselves as to what they are getting themselves into.

Flow thrus are steps in the wrong direction! You are "getting" a job with the mainline from day one but for a fraction of income you could make if you didn't bite into the stupid scheme. If you are that worried about not getting a job with a major that you need a flow thru, I honestly believe you are in the wrong field of business.

Take a look at what pilots applying for Endeavour did once they found out it was a full on Delta interview and if they fail they lose any prospect of getting hired with Delta, they stopped. The fact that people applied for that is just degraded to the pilots here. A mainline job at regional level wages and benefits??

However, now that they announced the retention bonus deal, its actually getting interesting because I actually think this is a step in the right direction, albeit not the correct one. Wages plus bonuses that are getting closer to mainline pay but within a regional operated by a major with the potential to remove that bonus. They need to just have regional jets included in the mainline fleet but uneducated, selfish pilots are causing this (hopefully) inevitable, wonderful day from ever occurring.

The regional model needs to die, its just a stepping stone that is completely unnecessary since it literally proves nothing in your ability to perform the duties of the professional pilot. A new hire at a regional with a proven training success rate can make it thru a mainline training class with flying colors.

Also, the RLA is a complete crutch to pilots and I'm sure that any management within any airline will do ANYTHING to keep it exactly where it is and give us almost no power at all.

Just look at Republic and Trans States. Pilots defending our QoL and saying no to mainlines gorging themselves at cheaper ways to increase passengers. Those regional pilots are what you need to look up to. Concessions equates to less mainline flying which equates to lower standards overall for pilots.

New hires or potential new hires at the regionals, educate yourselves right now before you enter this industry. You are doing a disservice to fellow and future employees if you do not.

And for the record, yes I am a regional pilot but I did not take any bonus or flow because I know that I will get to the majors due to the demand for my professional skill set. I also have no other way to meet the minimums to get to the majors during this amazing time to be entering the cockpit of an airliner. Fewer and fewer will have this skill set until the regional model is gone due to the low supply of pilots like myself and others along beside me.

Once the supply is low enough we will see that the entry level position is in the right seat on a mainline carrier.

Again, please educate yourself as to what you should do to help this be the reality in the near future for the next set of professional pilots that will be sitting next to you in that right seat.

If you think I'm trying to live in a fantasy world, look into some of the international carriers that have <300 hour pilots flying wide body international flights. That's a whole other can of worms but it's all supply and demand.