Originally Posted by
kansas
I strongly disagree. You are saying that the decision you made with your regional is the right one for everyone out there.
I strongly agree. One needs to do what is right for them, not just what everyone tells them to do on the APC forums.
I work for a bottom feeder, was able to upgrade as soon as I had the flight time to do so, and am very happy with my choice. Yes, it has its days where I'm not the happiest at work, but that is part of the game.
Rick mentions risk...and I think the risk is the same at every regional/commuter. The risk in going to a bottom feeder is that you will end up being there longer than you planned on and go insane with the treatment and pay. However, you'll probably be building more experience faster than anyone else out there. The risk in going to a "top tier" regional (I don't believe there is such a thing, but some do), is that there will be a slowdown/loss of flying, and you'll be 8 years down the road in the right seat asking "What just happened?" Meanwhile, your buddies that went for quick PIC are hired, and likely in their 2nd or 3rd year at a major or LCC (provided connections and the market are conducive to that happening). Chances are QOL at your regional will still be quite good in that situation, though.
It's all in where you lay your chips...good luck to all.
Absolutely, there's something to be said for "gambling big, and winning big", but it just simply wasn't for me, and as it turned out, the conservative approach worked out better in this case. I gambled that I was going to have a great QOL of life and pay, and as bonus a two year upgrade, well I got two out of three, and I'm still happy to come to work every day.
Nonetheless, I did put a disclosure at the bottom of the post that there are many different stories out there...yours is different and I respect your perspective. Maybe you're fortunate enough to have somewhere to go soon, my friend who is building that "valuable" PIC, has nowhere to go, and even if he had 1500 PIC, the market is simpy oversaturated at the moment based on the current forces driving it.
Could things change? Absolutely, but as the cycle comes and goes, the point is that some of us are happy to be at a place where we could easily spend 4,5, maybe even 6 years, without giving up what some of us consider to be the best things in life......in my case family.