It must be amazing to have the only valid viewpoint on anything and everything.
Does Commutair have its warts? Yes; so does every regional out there.
Yes, we still carry paper charts, yes reserve rules are horrible, and yes there are no real protections from being extended into a day off. And our training washout rate is pretty high right now.
Everybody's washout rate is high, because very few regionals can be picky in the interview, and would rather try to get people through then turn them away. Reserve rules are horrible, but as a new FO, you won't see it for very long, and if you're a 0 121 time FO, by the time that you upgrade, there will be enough people junior to you on the captain list, you won't ever see it as a captain. We have adequate reserve coverage now, and extensions into days off are exceedingly rare, almost always related to late turns not making connections (my last one was when a ground stop on the last day caused me to miss a deadhead back to base, and that was 5 months ago. I've been extended twice in my time here)
Staffing is improving, and upgrade times are dropping again; while the junior captain award was a 4/17 hire, there weren't a whole lot of people hired between 4/17 and 12/17, and even fewer that meet upgrade minimums, so expect that to drop again, FAST.
Provided we can hire enough FO's to backfill.
Come in, pass the Hogan, get off IOE, pass the United interview, and boom- all you have to do is bide your time, 2-3 years and you'll be at United. Or, come here, upgrade fast, prove yourself and get hired into the training department, put a few more stickers on your resume, and get called from Southwest/Jetblue/Delta.
Is it a place to come and hang your hat for 9-10 years? Hell no, if I'm here in another two years, I'd be seriously questioning my life choices. But its a great place to come in, build your resume, fly with some fun people, and move on from fast.
It is what you make of it; if you're the kind of negative personality that dwells on every single negative thing in their day, please, don't come here, I don't want to deal with your negativity for a 4 day trip, or while sitting out a groundstop in Newark. But if you can keep a positive attitude, and keep an eye on the long game, its not THAT bad of a place right now.
I guess this makes me a naive cheerleader suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
But, at least I still work here, and am not spending hours a day thrashing a former employer that I haven't worked at in close to a year to random internet strangers on my days off.
Seriously, some people need to move on with their lives.