Originally Posted by
bertramcheeks22
OK, so I can read everyones griping and boasting about all the regionals, but WHY?!! I know that Mesa is bad and the QOL sucks..but WHY? So how bout anyone with any knowledge of any regional offers some insight as to why they like/dislike that particular airline. My application will be going out in about a year so I'd like to get know know what it's like out there. Care to enlighten us guys? Maybe a top 5 good and bad? Here's how I see it now. I live near Cleveland and have a mother that works for CAL so I've been partial to the airline forever.
Good:
1. Horizon (LOVE the Dash 8's and it's west which is where I'd like to live ultimately.)
2. Skywest (West, KDEN
)
3. Commutair (Dash 8's, Cleveland, CAL)
4. Republic
5. ExpressJet (CAL, Cleveland)
Bad
1. Mesa
2. PSA
3. Comair
4. Mesaba?
5. Great Lakes? (Although I really would LOVE to fly Beech 1900's out of DEN through the Rockies with no auto-pilot. Seems like a great experience, put the pay is just so damn low)
I fly for Horizon. There are things I like and things I dislike.
Likes:
1. Livable first year wages
2. Pay is base on seniority not aircraft type (so you could be a Q200 FO (which you didnt choose or may have) and you get paid the same as a CRJ700 FO
2. Use of technology (GPS appoaches, RNP, CATIII
3. You get to know a lot of the guys/gals you fly with
4. And ummmmmmmmmmm
Dislike
1. Long upgrade (But i knew that before coming here)
2. Long reserve (Something i knew before hand)
3. Everything is a mystery in terms of growth and future plans (only miss cleo got the answers)
4. If you get tired of the scenery up front you get a penalty....if you switch aircraft (Back to first year pay for 2 years)
5. The Hotel in Helena