Originally Posted by
wwings
I am 90% sure commuting is out of the question...although I don't mind temporarily commuting while waiting on seniority to get a base in my city (Chicago) Moving is not an option due to the wife's job.
I don't mind keeping the option open of making a career out of a regional... although I am not interested in "Lateral Moves" i.e. getting hired by Mesa and jumping into SKW when the opportunity presents itself.
I am just looking for a way for an outsider to access work rules, contracts and other such QOL things beyond what is available on Airlinepilotcentral.
You would not be able to read and understand contracts (or crew policy in the case of SKW) in such a manner as to compare apples to apples. They are far too complicated and interpretation dependent.
Most folks flunk at least one interview in their career, so do not automatically assume that you can pick and chose a specific regional. What you probably want to do is select a few that would work for you, rule out a few bottom-feeders, and the start networking like crazy. Networking will get you the interview, not your CFI resume. Also the expansion and boom hiring days at the regionals are over for good...you might well need some 135 and/or turbine time to be competitive in the future (unless you want to wait for age 65 in 2013).
Philosophically, it is worth holding out for FDX/UPS instead of CAL, USA, UAL, etc...there is a large career difference in compensation. This is not so much the case at the regionals...your choices now can affect your future QOL far more than your pay.
QOL is a factor of workrules and location. Sounds like you need to live in ORD, so start with regionals based there and rank them. Word-of mouth reputation is what you will need to go on...like I said the contracts are too hard to read, plus they may not be applied verbatim.
Commuting is a big QOL factor, but it might be better to commute than work for a bottom feeder in domicile. Bases and contracts get changed...you could end up faced with either commuting for a bottom-feeder or doing a lateral move.
I would also look at regionals with commutable bases within 2-3 hours flight time of ORD. Look at flight schedules, you want multiple nonstops on company or codeshare plus hopefully one other airline.
My A-list would be SKW, ASA, AWAC, CHQ, XJT in no particular order, I probably forgot someone, apologies in advance. Avoid gojet unless you want industry-wide disrespect and possible career repercussions down the road.
If you plan on being a lifer and don't care about upgrade QX and AE would be OK too...but there are no guarantees on upgrade anywhere right now. It's possible that as the regionals stagnate and decline going forward, today's new hires will not have a reasonable upgrade expectation unless you go to a bottom feeder. I would almost say try to get your 1500 turbine PIC in 91/135 first, THEN go to a regional to hang out until the big boys hire.