Originally Posted by
speedbrakearmed
4-5 years ago people sat on reserve for 3-4 years doing two-leg commutes to fly Saabs and ATR's at $19/hr with upgrades being at 8+ years. Now reserve is 3 months to 1.5 year max? You're making $38/hr to hop straight into a jet and upgrade as soon as you have your 1000 hours. You have a flow to AA, sure it's not 2-3 years and you know what, it shouldn't be to go to a Legacy. If you think you have a better shot with UA's CPP or DL's DGI then go ahead and make the jump. I'm not trying to sound like a company man but I'm not sure as to where this mentality of entitlement that I should fly the 175 for $XX/hr and be at a Legacy in 24 months came from.
I don’t think this thread should go down the road of “we had it worse than you”, however a lot of guys don’t know past history here and have no perspective of how bad it really could be. They just need to be educated on that aspect.
I will say this: it’s not their fault they feel this way and I believe this mentality is healthy for our airline to continue putting pressure on the company to improve our pay and QOL. Also, I blame a lot of flight schools for a lot of this too. They sell these guys that “oh you just gotta spend 2 years at a regional then it’s a guarantee you’ll be at a major”. The reality of this, as we all know, is far from the truth. And even with these mass retirements coming, it still will take a good amount of effort to get hired at a major. Flight time is only part of the package. Hence we see this influx of young guys and guys changing careers because of this supposed pilot shortage being sold to them.
The quick upgrade and short reserve time is coming to an end at many regionals as they begin to get staffed appropriately. There’s only a handful left that are short staffed and those airlines may not be around much longer but who knows.