Originally Posted by
Skyvector
Congratulations on being extremely short sighted. Where can a new hire go and get paid more?
Oh, first year pay at Regional A or B is $40/hour?? And so what? You will be making that for the next decade as you spin your wheels in place.
In case you haven't figured it out yet: Majors don't hire Regional pilots just because they have 1,000 hours in the left seat of an RJ. They have 11,000+ applications on file, per airline, of people far more qualified than your average Regional pilot.
With a flow through agreement like Envoy's, you will start at average FO pay, and within 5 or 6 years be where the REAL MONEY is: A MAJOR airline. And you got there by having just ONE interview: the one you did to get hired at Envoy.
Meanwhile everyone else who went to non-wholly owned Regionals are still there 6 years later...wasting their money and precious days off attending job fairs. All of a sudden that $40/hour 1st year FO pay doesn't seem worth it in the long run.
Long term vs short term monetary gain. It isn't a complex principle that requires a degree in mathematics to figure out.
I don't think its so simple, there is a lot of opportunity out there. I will never argue against the flow, it's great to have. But does it suit everybody, and is it a guarantee? I think we all know the answer.
For example, three of my good buddies from intial long term left Envoy during all the fun we had last year. Two went to a fast growing regional (not PSA) and one went to a cargo company out of MIA now a FO on the 767. The other two are both captains, and one who is a great guy just got hired as a sim instructor at that regional and will make more than our sim instructors. Their resumes are now a lot more competitive than mine.
I'm still at Envoy going on three years still on reserve, and don't break guarentee unless I pick up overtime. Since some on here describe the flow as a guarentee and think it's the only way to a major or at least AA, I beg to differ.
There is a lot of opportunity out there, if Envoy fits your needs the by all means come. But if its because you want a guaranteed job at AA, I would say be careful. Find what you think is the best opportunity and run with it.
Another thing to consider, most captains at Envoy have crossed out any other opportunity out there. They are not applying for LCCs, ULCC, or even other majors. There are a handful I've flown with who are applying for United. I'm dallas based, not sure about ORD. But around here everybody's waiting on flow, which in my opinion slows movement down considerably.