Originally Posted by
mooney
anyone who goes to any so-called lower tier/shady regional for the sole purpose of chasing quick upgrade at all costs has ZERO right to complain when the stuff hits the fan when the industry stagnates.
Do SkyWest pilots have a right to complain about the anal dilation their company is assisting them with via changes in health insurance?
Originally Posted by
mooney
So a CA who spends 20 years at "good" regional is hurting the industry more than someone who is willing to work for 14 buck and hour for 4 years at a "bad regional?"
The above CA is doing his/her share to keep overall wages down by allowing more flying to be outsourced to the regionals.
Originally Posted by
PA31
This theory works well until S. hits the fan and the bottom tier regionals lose flying and start furloughing. Then, your stuck trying to make rent or a mortgage with low end wages, being displaced to FO or furloughed and no chance to go to mainline in the foreseeable future.
Most of the "good regionals" have furloughed as well.
Originally Posted by
Senior Skipper
I'm a CFI and I see guys every day saying they can't wait to go to airlines like colgan, because you upgrade quickly and get turboprop time. With that type of mentality, they'll never fly anything bigger than a turboprop.
...I'd rather wait a bit more and build by experience then go to a "less bad" regional.
Everyone weighs their choices differently. My goals do not include a long stretch in the right seat, so I factored that in. I am assuming that you have not yet flown for an airline and I chuckle at the confidence with which you seem to have figured out the industry. This industry cycles rapidly. It is one thing to assert that you will not go to a lesser regional when everyone is hiring. If only the lesser ones are hiring, how long will you wait? Will you make a career in a different segment of aviation? When the time comes, I hope you have many choices.
As another poster mentioned, plenty of t-prop pilots go on to majors without having to fly a microjet.
Originally Posted by
Senior Skipper
...my point was agreeing with mooney, who said If I'm killing to fly the outsourced turboprop for poverty level wages, then there will be no mainline job at the end of my regional career.
What good is it saying I fly a (Q400, CRJ, A320, 777) if the company isn’t paying me enough to support myself?
If you camp in the regionals flying regional jets, you are helping to move flying away from the majors and there will be no mainline job at the end of your career.
Pay is important. My advice; Stay lean, stay hungry. Do not get so cozy on $50,000/year at a regional that you won't jump to $34,000 for the first year at COA.