What he said. Worry about QOL and an easy commute, because in the end that is the only thing that will keep you sane when your raking in the big bucks as a first year FO<sarcasm>.

 

JESUS this thread is like reliving the nightmare that began in 2007. Do yourself a favor, if you have the ATP min YOU get to chose where you work. WHY is the world would you chose to work at TSA? Find a place with better pay, QOL, Benefits (yes benefits, uncle hooley treats his pilots like mushrooms, he keeps them in the dark and feeds them S&^*). Hold out for SkyWest, seems to be the place right now. Id say XJT but its a total charlie foxtrot.

 

I would say there would be a big difference between sitting reserve for years at a large company and not having to spend much time that way at a smaller one.

 

I would stay away from RAH & TSA. Hold out for Skywest, Expressjet, or Air Wisconsin. I would even go to Eagle over RAH & TSA.

 

And the reasoning would be? I have interviews with PSA, TSA, Eagle and XJT in the next three weeks and I am quite curious as to the actual rather than perceived differences...

 

Use your crystal ball. Every regional has their share of problems and all their futures are questionable. I'm sure it's been said earlier, but go to the airline that allows you to live close to home. You can't chase an upgrade at the regional.

 

Upgrades aren't my driving factor, even though I meet those mins just about everywhere, I'm merely chasing the least amount of reserve sitting.

 

With that time you can NOT upgrade in 16 months. Right now guys are leaving IOE and go straight into a line. By the time your class hits the line that may longer be the case and you'd be stuck on reserve for a while. TSA is very small so it doesn't take much for major changes to take place (7 planes took upgrade time from like 7 years down to less than 1 year) So keep in mind that losing just a few planes will mean a massive furlough and downgrade (again).

Another interesting thing that has happened at TSA over the past few years is that the captain list got fairly senior. Now this sets up an interesting scenario where its hard to say how many captains will leave TSA if given the chance. While some guys will leave others have now gotten to the point where they get paid enough and get enough days off to deal with TSA "awesomeness", other guys are lazy/comfortable and don't want to be "new" somewhere else. Others have had more kids, bought bigger houses, etc and now find themselves in circumstances where they literally just can not take the pay cut from what they are making now to first year pay somewhere else.

I guess long story short don't come to TSA for the quick upgrade....in fact don't go anywhere for the quick upgrade.

Best thing I can say is go where you wouldn't mind getting stuck for 10 years or longer...thats the way you need to look at it.

 

XJT, AE, PSA in that order. No, I didn't omit anything.

 

The "best" place to work today, will not be the "best" place to work tomorrow. It's a gamble.