Originally Posted by The Juice

It does not suck for me. I am from Texas and live and work out of Houston. A month back I decided to bid a reserve line for change of pace, called 1 time for 1 flight, thats for the entire month. Rest of the month spent hanging out and relaxing. I did a reserve line too recently, I actually loved it. It wasnt as good as your scenario because I'm a commuter but it was still nice. except when they activated my reserve (the only time that month) on my birthday and i had to spend 3 days with a jacka$$ captain, but whatever.

Pay Sucks but not as much on the Saab as it does on the Q. Saab pay is a few bucks low compared to other Saab airlines and hopefully our first contract can fix that. The Q pay is the issue and I feel for Q pilots on crap pay up in EWR. dude, saab pay is not a mere few bucks lower than other TP regionals. i dont know off the top of my head but i think my piedmont roommates get like 31 or 32/hr (they are second year). i was making 26 second year, that is at least 5 bucks difference. too lazy to look it up but i think mesaba is similar to piedmont. plus of course you have to take their work rules into account (for example, piedmont reserve day is worth 4 hrs, not 2 like ours. their vacation deal is a lot better too.). every single month when i look at their lines, they have more days off than i do, but more credit hrs. im just saying, it's not a minor difference. yes, in the big scheme of things we are all just regional slaves but for day to day pay and QOL, other TP guys definitely have it better.

QOL is what you make of it. When I was junior I had to commute from the NE and it sucked, now I am home and it is nice. When i upgrade I will be back up in the NE for a while, it is the business.