I'm in flight training now and I have about a year or so to be done, and I know that things change in a minute in this industry lol, but I was wondering do I HAVE to go to a regional to be able to work in a LCC/ULCC or can I skip the regionals fly a bus or a 73 and then go the legacy airlines? (I'm leaning more towards F9 btw)
Thank you guys!

 

Right now the LC/ULCCs are hiring wet ATPs. Will that be the case when you have one? Who knows? The Fed may raise interest rates enough to cause a recession. Or the mess in the Ukraine may spread to Moldova or NATO. Or the PRC may decide to move on Taiwan. Or the Wuhan lab may have another virus escape.

Who knows?

 

Nobody knows. Even in this environment id be surprised if lcc jobs are available ad lib at 1500 hours

 

Requirements

 

I am happy at my regional Envoy with pay and QOL living in base and am only at 270 hours and have a line now with 70 hours a month. I have a CJO/class date with Spirit. Spirits training looks pretty rough and unorganized document wise, with at least the documents they have sent me so far. I would be able to also live in base with Spirit but would take the pay cut considering I will upgrade to Captain in around a year if I stayed including captain pay at 750 hours. My plan is to leave either of them at the first sign of a legacy. Is it worth staying for that Turbine PIC or the A320 type rating but also a risk of failing a check ride when life’s good right now. Also I do enjoy my regionals flight benefits but it is always a risk that “the music stops playing and it collapses and I’m stuck at a regional vs a major.

 

You’ve sort of laid out the pros and cons as I see them. But you’ve now got a type rating and you know you can do it. Don’t live in fear of the dreaded ‘jeopardy’ events. Everything you do including routine checks is a jeopardy event if you don’t take it seriously, but you’ve proved you can do it. Sure, if you’ve got a marriage breaking up or a sick kid or whatever, that might not be the time you want to put in for upgrade or take on a type-rating, but don’t let that control your career choices under normal circumstances. What you have is clearly working for you now, just pay attention to what’s going on in hiring at the level you ultimately desire and flying at the level you are at, and reevaluate what’s best for you - at least quarterly.

 

I am happy at my regional Envoy with pay and QOL living in base and am only at 270 hours and have a line now with 70 hours a month. I have a CJO/class date with Spirit. Spirits training looks pretty rough and unorganized document wise, with at least the documents they have sent me so far. I would be able to also live in base with Spirit but would take the pay cut considering I will upgrade to Captain in around a year if I stayed including captain pay at 750 hours. My plan is to leave either of them at the first sign of a legacy. Is it worth staying for that Turbine PIC or the A320 type rating but also a risk of failing a check ride when life’s good right now. Also I do enjoy my regionals flight benefits and easy schedule but it is always a risk that “the music stops playing and it collapses and I’m stuck at a regional vs a major.

 

Stay at Envoy and enjoy that great QOL and pay!

 

Would you rather be at a regional when the music stops or at a company that flies its own passengers? While turbine PIC is great, the industry has changed. NK training isn't that "rough" or disorganized in my opinion. If you can dedicate yourself to a training program (cooperate to graduate) and put distractions aside, then you will be fine.

Take the ULCC, especially if you can live in base. Focus on the training and if the music stops you'll make more career earnings and have a comfortable(ish) life compared to being stuck at a regional pondering what life would have been like if you took the ULCC job.

 

**Comfortable(ish) compared to a regional**

So you're saying spending your career as a ULCC Captain making 300-400k/yr and maxing out your 401k with a DC is only comfortableish compared to a regional??

Sounds about the same as any legacy airline...... except with a better QOL