Originally Posted by
fearofpavement
I saw a lot of talk in this thread regarding the 175 vs the 145 and CRJ relating to different bases for the different aircraft. I'm just in the research process now prior to applying to a regional in the next week or so and would like to know what difference it makes which aircraft a pilot is flying? I'm not familiar enough with the aircraft in mention to know if one is "better" than the other. And since I would be commuting to either ORD or DFW it appears, would there be any advantage of one over the other?
As of now, DFW has the 175 and the 145. ORD has the CRJ and the 145. If you are interested, the primary goal should be getting on the seniority list ASAP. One number can make a huge difference in certain circumstances.
As for aircraft, the 175 is growing, but will eventually be fully staffed soon, resulting in seniority stagnation for a period of time. The CRJ has been holding steady lately and is about to have a huge exodus of FOs to upgrade, but it is supposed to go to PSA at some point. Who knows when - we have heard anything from 2nd quarter next year to indefinitely staying at Envoy. The 145 is the largest fleet and the backbone of ENY, but is shrinking little by little. It is spread between two bases and many senior FOs will be upgrading off of it soon, too, resulting in some decent seniority movement.
My advice would be to just get here as soon as you can if you're interested. Each fleet will have its upsides and downsides, so go with your preferred base.
I will say that if you want the 175, the sooner you hop on, the better. The other two will have continual movement, but the 175 is very junior on the FO side right now and will eventually have the longest upgrade.