Well, I'll tell you right now, a week of a regional airline pilot really varies according to any number of given factors ... where you live, how senior you are, who you're working for, your base city, etc.
I've been with Colgan for almost exactly 1.5 years, and I will tell you that I truly love it there (awaiting comment from SAAB
). There are things that I would like to see changed, and some of them have actually happened since I've been there. Overall though, with one exception that happened at the end of June, the company has treated me very well and fairly. I have built up quite a bit of seniority in IAH and am now 9/40+ guys/gals there.
A typical week for me is commuting in from Dallas either the night before (if it's a REALLY early show the morning my 4-day paring begins), or the day of, and getting to the crew room to realize that there's really nothing to do before we actually leave besides maybe check the non-existant weather in the area, and stock pilot more load manifest forms. After a few min I meet up with my crew, and we head out to the lovely Saab-y-poo sitting out on the ramp waiting for us (yeah, we don't use jetways in IAH ... so if it's pouring down rain ... sucks to be us). I then proceed to do the preflight, and make sure the 15 year old girl is still in one piece with most everything attached, and then join el capitain in the cockpit and begin the lovely paperwork and begin the day ... work/rinse/repeat as necessary until your 4-day pairing is over ... or so one would believe. It's never a thought in my mind that when I complete my last round trip that I'm actually going to go home, because that way, when you get extended you're not nearly as pi**ed off.
Anyway, after I complete the eventual end to the 4-day pairing, I find out exactly what flight I'm going to take back home, and hope it's not Expressjet. No offense to any of the guys there (they have always treated me with respect and professionalism), but I always seem to get screwed out of the jumpseat at the last possible minute because there seems to be quite a few XJT guys/gals that live in Dallas as well that want to get back home. Once I eventually make it home, and enjoy my, anywhere from 1-3 days off, it's back to work/rinse/repeat as necessary.
I agree with everyone that says living in base makes life about 100x better, but the problem with living in Dallas is that you only have one choice ... and I didn't want to work there. The commute from DAL-IAH really isn't bad at all considering you have CAL, XJT, AA, and if necessary SWA to HOU and a $35 super shuttle to IAH. So, there's usually always a way to get there ... and worst case scenario, it's a 4 hour drive.