Originally Posted by
TheWeatherman
People who say "it's a Regional, it is supposed to suck" are idiots. I am at Republic and it does not suck at all. I can credit over 100 hours and still have 15 days off in a month. I get block or better, pay protection, no junior manning, 4 sets of uniforms every year, etc.
Do not enable these bottom feeder Regioanls (by bottom feeder, I mean their pay and work rules not the pilots themselves who are usually great when I have been on their aircraft) by continueing to apply to places where they have horrible work rules and pay. The only way it is going to change is if pilots stop applying there.
Now I realize some pilots have no choice or would go to an unfavorable Regional to avoid commuting, which is perfectly acceptable. But what gets me are people who do little research and pick the path which is easiest. i.e. which ever recruiter got to them first in flight training.
My point is that working for a Regional does not have to suck and ruin your life/make you hate flying. Put a lot of research in and try to go to a Regional that has the best pay/QOL where you don't have to commute, or has the best commute.
While I agree with most of what you say, I don’t think all of it is people not doing their homework. Some of it certainly is, but the long wait times at the top regionals are certainly a factor also.
Any SE piston time over 1500 hours doesn’t do anything special for your resume. I think the idea of staying in your current gig for another 6-12 months waiting on a class date is a non starter for most people. A better idea is going to one of the lesser regionals, and getting some 121 experience.
If after 6 months to a year, you are misera, then put in at one of the top regionals. After proving you can pass a 121 training program, and a few hundred hours on the line, your app will go right to the top of the stack when they begin classes again.