Originally Posted by
billyho
Last I checked the WO's aren't so far off from Compass, Republic or SkyWest in terms of pay and work rules. People today will go to Regionals that have a fast upgrade and the ones that have long upgrades will lose people very fast. Where do you go? A regional that has a great first year pay and 4 year upgrade or one that the pay isn't that high but has a 1 year upgrade? I believe right now PSA and Piedmont offer those fast upgrades and will get pilots.
You make 8 years to get to a major sound like its a big deal. That was about the avg. time it took for regional pilots to get to a major. Most had 2-3 year upgrades and spent 3-5 years as Captains before they were competitive for the majors. Sure some went earlier but 8 years isn't a terrible number.
I don't want to get into a discussion about what regionals need to do to get pilots. The truth is, I hope they don't get them, the more flying that we have here (and returned here) the better, even if that equals some more at Category I rates.