Originally Posted by
sandrich
^^^everything robthree said is spot on. Matter of fact, he even warned me about these same issues when I came to Southern. I came from "flying RJs out of dumps like LGA and ORD." I had 18 days off a month with weekends and holidays, drove to work... But the pay just wasn't covering the bills. Came to Southern for the money (and the type, but mostly the money) and that's not even enough to compensate for all of the stuff we put up with. Not to mention the "money" isn't there anymore, now that half our lines dont even come close to breaking guarantee. You'd make the same, if not more money as a direct-entry captain at some other regional than at gauarantee here, plus you'd be home more. Unfortunately recruiters don't want to see guys "chasing the upgrade," so If you come here you WILL back yourself into a corner like I did. The only way out now is to wait on DAL/UAL etc to call, which could take longer than an Atlas merger (3+ years)...
Morale went down the tubes here end of last year. Once the Atlas news came out it was definitely a morale booster, albeit I was "cautiously optimistic." But now that Atlas is pulling all the strings and has showed their true colors, everything's down in the dumps again... The only way to make things better for guys that are here is for us to steer guys that want to come here away from this place.
You gave up 18 days off a month with weekends/holidays to go to a 20on/10off? I am currently flying Part 135 Charter and have 8-10 days off a month depending what my company wants to give me. The other 20-22 days a month I am on the road. At least with the Southern 20-10 I could hope for a few reserve days in LAX (I am living in SoCal) and try and sleep in my bed more. If I were home 13-14 days a month instead of 8 it would be huge.
16 hours in a tin can sounds brutal, and I don't know how I would adjust... however it is not uncommon for us to do long days in Part 135. Just the other day I had an owner trip that was a 16 hour duty day, the next day is a 12 hour duty day, etc.
I am worried about the pay cut, especially since I cannot rely on breaking guarentee at Southern, however I am also hopeful that your new contract and merger will make the pay better.
Right now I am maxed out on pay at my company... I'm a Beechjet captain and it is not going to improve. My 8-10 days off a month will never improve.
I am not complaining, just trying to give some ideas as to why I think Southern is appealing. I have my apps in everywhere. I turned down Omni because the pay is horrible and they have no chance to break guarantee. I do appreciate all your comments and insight, however I feel for my particular situation it is an improvement. I am sure the destinations will get old, however everywhere I go now is old news. I am hopeful that Southern will make flying fun and interesting again... at least for a while.