Originally Posted by
Excargodog
All regionals are in flux currently. The only rational move is to get hired in one where you can fly your butt off, accumulate the hours and experience necessary to get to the next level, and move on. Junior guy on reserve sucks everywhere. It’s a side effect of the seniority system. You get the jobs nobody else wants because you are junior. Junior CA on reserve sucks - for at least twice as long. It just has better pay.
When you get to a major it’s the same. Just for better pay. It’s called paying your dues. Once you get senior enough you can enjoy being senior, but being senior is good because the junior people get the cr@p jobs. You’ll be senior a lot longer than you will be junior.
Very well said and 100% correct.
I will add; No regional has a good quality of life right now. One of the nine sides of the "double edged sword" created by the baby-boomer/COVID pilot shortage, is that the job sucks more than it used too, due to schedule changes and minimum days off. But...and it's a big BUT, the career progression opportunities available are off the charts fantastic. The only folks that have a right to complain right now are over 56 years old who had voluntarily or involuntarily parked at a regional, thinking they would coast to retirement. They are now enduring quality of life hits, with no future benefits.
Anyone getting into the industry now is in for many years of a great career, unless there is a black swan event. We've seen such things before, but the current pilot shortage can absorb just about everything short of a nuke war or zombie apocalypse.