Originally Posted by
rickair7777
All makes sense to me.
For flight schools, do some research, talk to actual students out of earshot of management. Get the real scoop. Be wary... very few students, CFI's, or flight school employees actually know anything about airlines. You can easily tell when a flight school salesman is lying because his lips will be moving.
For regionals, priority should be domicile, ie where you want to live or live near (if that matters at all to you). Avoid bottom feeders, and consider carefully before going to a stagnant regional where upgrade is very lengthy (you might or might not need the TPIC, but why risk it?). Right now TPIC is still a heavily weighted factor, so the sooner you get some the better.
Based on retirements, a normal upper-middle class college grad type of person should be able to get a legacy/SWA job off the street years before AA flow would be available. But if you like a safety cushion, or don't have a squeeky-clean background in all respects, the an AA regional with flow might be the safe bet.
Once you get 1000 TPIC, depending on industry trends and your own whole person profile, you might consider a second tier major. If the big four don't call for some reason, you will be better off at most majors than at any regional. May not want to give up years of seniority holding your breath for big-four.
All very sound and spot on advice. The only part I would strongly reiterate on is choosing a regional with a good flow through. If one of the legacy carriers is ultimately your preferred destination, it would behoove you to choose a regional that has a stable flow. In this day and age, the easiest, fastest and most secure path to a legacy carrier is made in this way. Now of course that could all change few years down the road, but why not have it as a backup if you can. What a lot of people will not tell you is that there are a lot of professional pilots who never quite make it to top tier legacy level for one reason or another. Often times this happens even if they do everything right taking into consideration education, experience and other various backgrounds. Some guys just never get that opportunity and it is something you should be aware of. If you work for a company that has a flow, at some point down the line you will probably get that chance. Best of luck to you.