Originally Posted by StlLifer

The shortage of regional pilots did not really start until today.

Why on earth would anyone go to Mesa, TSA, Compass, Endeavor, or my beloved Gojet when the upgrade time at Skywest has fallen to 9 months?

The fast upgrade at the Mesa and Gojet bottom feeders is now out of the equation so the other factors will be more important. Range of bases, Skywest covers 60% of the country while the others have 3 or 4 bases. Fly a standup at Skywest and you get over 6 hours of pay while at Gojet you get 4 (if they actually pay you correctly). A four day trip at Gojet has a guarantee of 8 hours (Day one starting after noon and last day ending before 5 pm) while at Skywest it is 17. Bonuses at Skywest but none at Mesa, GJ, TSA, etc.

Which regionals have planes on order? TSH has the mystic MRJs that will go to TSA if they ever are built, as does skywest. Skywest has about 100 more ERJs coming. I hear 36 more are going to Skywest from a regional who can't man the ones they have on order.

At this point the other regionals have one choice, higher pay. The bonuses need to be stopped and the pay needs to be real. A regional captain for any airline should be making at least 140,000 which does still not keep up with inflation for the last 35 years.

If you really need pilots, pay them.