Originally Posted by
Wise81
If using a Regional to get recurrent, HIGHLY recommend not commuting, assuming you aren't moving to the sticks. Driving to domicile will partially make up for crappy pay.
Speaking of pay, several regionals are offering hiring bonuses. But realize that's just to get folks in the door. Then it's back to 36-40/hr as an FO.
Lastly, use your time at your regional to not just get re-current, but learn the ins and outs of 121 world, and actually learn from some younger captains who have some great experience flying in all kinds of weather.
I'll make the opposite recommendation; if you're at a regional to get recurrent, it is going to be a short stay, so don't uproot mom-n-the-kids for what is ultimately a "professional deployment". A deployment you get to come home every couple of days while you're on.
Instead, as you separate, my recommendation is to settle the family where you (they) want to live long term, and choose a regional with the easiest commute from there.
The objective in leaving the .mil is to ease the pain on you and your family. In my experience, part of that pain was the constant moving, the inability for the family to make friends and nest where you were living. Flying for a regional, for most of us reading this thread in the military sub-forum, is a short-term situation, and we personally are going to have to embrace the suck...but our families don't have to embrace that same suck unless we choose to drag them with us.
I found that it made the transition much easier with the family comfortably bedded down and learning how to be civilians again where they wanted to be, making neighborhood friends they didn't know they were going to move away from in 3 years, and unpacking boxes that didn't have to be retained for the next upcoming move. You're going to be away from home 15-ish nights per month on layovers anyhow, so might as well ensure the people who are going to be at home all 30 nights per month are comfortable and happy.
Yes, commuting can suck, but it is a manageable inconvenience. For most of us, any of the regionals will fill the requirement to get recurrent and a trip through a 121 training cycle to make our resumes more shiny. There is plenty of variation in junior domiciles at the various regionals -- certainly enough to choose one that has a 1-leg, relatively easy commute from just about any part of the country you want to live (within reason, of course). So, pick a regional to work at which will make your lifestyle at that chosen location the most liveable.
Later on down the road, with a career job at a career airline, it may be worth moving, but in my opinion moving your family for a short stint at a regional is like getting a tattoo of your high school girlfriend's name. Probably seems like a good idea at the time, but you'll look back with some perspective very shortly and see that it probably wasn't a great choice.