Originally Posted by
JDfly
Question: Part of my fear of flying for a regional is the logistics. If I have the military move my family to where we want to settle (Greenville, SC), is it reasonable to deadhead to/crashpad in Minneapolis (if Endeavor picks me up). I've heard it is a nightmare to try to commute from any distance in the regionals. If we move to MN, we could end up moving again in less than a year (if I'm lucky). Recommendation?
You just have to think of spending time at a regional like your last "remote" or "deployment". Have your family financially and emotionally prepared to spend 12-18 months flying for and commuting to a regional. It will be time away from home, investing in a much better future job.
Move your family using Uncle Sam's dime to where you want to live permanently (and somewhere that hopefully has good options for commuting once you get your "career destination" job), and go get a regional job with the shortest commute from there. DO NOT MOVE YOUR FAMILY TO A REGIONAL BASE, period. You're hoping to not be there very long...so do your family the favor of settling them in wherever it is they want to be long term now that Uncle Sam is no longer calling the shots.
If you want to live in Greenville, look at who flies out of there, and to where, and figure out what regional has a junior base at that other location. PSA has a Charlotte base, but dunno how junior it goes. GoJet has a Raleigh base. ExpressJet is down in ATL.
It doesn't matter which regional you go to in terms of how it will look on your resume. Again, you're hopefully just doing a touch and go there to stay current and get some 121 experience while you wait for a call up to the big leagues.
Don't be swayed by pay, bonus money, aircraft, whatever: the ONLY thing you need to pay attention to is where their junior base is and how easy it will be for you to commute to it.
The bonuses, especially (at places like Endeavor) sound great, but require you to be there for 6 months, a year, 2 years, etc. With any luck, you won't be there long enough to cash in on any of it. Your commute, though, will be the #1 hassle you'll deal with. The meager extra $$ you'll get out of a bonus but having a long commute won't offset the hassle, in my opinion.