Originally Posted by
forgot to bid
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 100% ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Hey Mr. Jumpseater, who are you with?"
"ASA"
"Were you going to apply to Delta?"
"Well, I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure, you know right now, and my wife is, and I have pretty good seniority, I've been here 10 years, and well I don't know, I'm a Captain now..."
"How much do you make?"
"$78 an hour."
"You'll be back there by year 2."
But you know what, if you don't want it then don't bother. There are plenty of people who want it, we'll bend over backwards for people who want it, and frankly see OH as a warning and not a 'ha ha'.
I am interesting in tieing these 5 things together: the lessons DAL has probably learned from RAH and funding their growing competition, the "we want out of the RJ business" comments from up high, the Continental Express LAX risk sharing system, not finding anyone to bid on buying OH, and this Compass and Mesaba sale to none other than TSH.
Its like looking at one of those darn Magic Eyes. FWIW, if I were a regional airline right now I'd be saying the same thing Delta said "we want out of the RJ business."
This discussion of moving on to a Major vs. staying at a Regional has played out many times before. The damage to the industry was not anyone's fault. You cannot blame the current generation of regional pilots. Most wanted to move up and now the opportunity is coming too late. You can not fault someone for looking out for their own best interest. Moving up to a Major and commuting for the last 15 years of one's career, a majority of which will be spent in the right seat mind you, in today's uncertainty is dubious at best. I hear the conversation you quoted above all the time and I always have to agree that staying at a Regional is usually the best case. Job security is probably better sitting at the top 20% of a Regional than the bottom 5% of a major. Many are well on there way to a 6 digit salary, finally a good amount of vacation, 18 days off, 125% matching 401K, it is hard to make an argument for someone in their mid 40's to move on.
With that being said, as a regional pilot, I will be the first one to support the taking back of 50+ seat flying for mainline and I will also be the first one to jump ship to a brighter future the first opportunity I get. Ask me in seven years when I am in my 40's and you might get a different opinion.