Originally Posted by
overqualified52
Not saying I personally want a staple . They will do what they need to do or are going to do regardless of how I feel. Just saying that 70/76 seat jet flying has only been done by the regionals for the last 20 to 25 years .Before that it was all done by the Majors and the old Trunk carriers for anyone on here old enough to know that term, LOL. ( Sailing has been around so I’m sure he gets what I’m saying ) . The Union at Delta are the ones advocating for this . I don’t run the Union . It is what it is . No one knows what’s going to happen . Just have to wait and see.
Back in the days he is referring to the regionals did the 9 to 50 seat flying. There was a bunch of DC9 flying at the larger airlines with the smaller versions holding about 76 seats. The entire industry upsized over the last 35 years. The 727 was a big aircraft when I got hired. Now 148 seats is the bottom end. As the majors upsized so did the regionals.
To get one of those coveted regional jobs flying turboprops paying 12 bucks an hour took about 3000 total hours and 1000 ME. To get that you flew checks and night freight solo without an autopilot in beat up old piston twins for years at 8 bucks an hour. Those pilots could however fly and had an instrument scan that went beyond locked into a flight director.