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Old 12-02-2021, 02:01 PM
  #735  
westcoastpilot1
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Joined APC: Apr 2021
Posts: 4
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Reference the above posts about how JSX pilots were treated during COVID, and you’ll see this is nothing new. Management has never truly cared about the pilot group, they’re just a means to an end.

In a lot of ways regional pilots enjoy a higher quality of life than those at JSX. The problem is, JSX is the first jet job for a lot of people, so they don’t know how it compares. They simply compare it to the worst regional stories they’ve heard.

A good regional will excel over JSX in that they’re an established and stable operation. Right now most regional pilots can feel comfort knowing that they will have a job in a year, their base will be open, and the company will still be around. They also got their ATP, and are gaining 121 time that can be applied towards an upgrade (JSX FOs get neither). A lot of majors pick up FOs straight from the right seat at a regional because of this.

The day to day operations also run so much smoother at a regional. All the little things they have in place really add up. Dispatchers, cleaners, caterers, deice crews, ramp marshallers, etc. make it so that you can focus solely on your job and not be in the back helping flight attendants cross seat belts, loading drinks, taxiing blind hoping you don’t hit your wing tip on something etc.

Regionals also offer a much better ability to commute. JSX has said recently they do not want commuters at all. This is because the operation is day trips. This might sound great if you live in base, the problem is you now have to worry about what happens if they change their strategy a year later and decide to displace everyone at your base (as they did to PHX, SNA, and BFI over COVID). It also makes it harder to upgrade if there no seat availability in your base.

Lastly the training at a good regional is much better. At JSX they give you the bare minimum to pass the checkride, and then throw you on the line to figure it out as quick as possible. Regionals prepare you so that you can actually be an effective crew member and backup the captain from day one.

Despite what management wants you to believe, JSX does not have superior QOL to the regionals. In fact many people will tell you if anything it’s about the same, the advantage going to the regional simply from the standpoint of stability.

Hope this helps anyone trying to make a decision about whether to go to JSX. Management is hoping that pilots will quit and the. they hire a new, cheaper group where they need them. Don’t be the pilots who drinks the kool aid and believes their sales pitch about the superior QOL and a new up and coming company that’s going to take over the country.
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