Bad lateral move?
 

Hello all,

I am a newbie here. Currently, I am a relatively new hire with a regional carrier flying CRJ's. I'm on month 10 out of ORD. I live in MIA area. The last ten months have been the hardest period of my life financially. I'm tapped out. I'm burnt out on not having any money. Aside from that the flying is great. The company sucks.
Lately I've been offered a class date with a 121 charter flying MD-83's for more than double what I make now based at home. Its a small outfit with about 6 jets. Would this hurt my chances later on trying to make it to a major 121 carrier flying an older aircraft under charter regs? In all honesty I don't think I can hack it anymore financially. I'm 27 no kids single. My expenses are minimal and I still struggle. Is it a bad move or a no brainer?

Couple things. If you moved to base, life would get better. As far as being broke, living in South FL is expensive. Single and no kids, what holds you there? If Chicago doesn't appeal to you, I'm sure there are other bases.

As far as the charter company, you need to look at your ultimate goal. Where do you want to end up and what are the quals you need to get there. Will the charter outfit give you those quals.

How much does the charter outfit fly? Keep in mind it is probably feast or famine.

What is upgrade time? How are the benefits besides pay? Do you have a schedule or is it strictly on call? Who does the training? Future growth plans?

Please don't take this as being contentious, but growth plans don't really mean a lot unless a company has a good track record of actually delivering on their plans. I've heard an awful lot of promises that sound fabulous and, if delivered, would make an outfit a terrific place to work. But more often than not the great-sounding plans never come to be.

And don't assume that even if a new plane shows up on the ramp or a new base gets opened up that you will be able to upgrade or move: often upgrades or assignments are pre-determined in ways that may seem to be unfair.

In evaluating a potential employer one is less likely to be disappointed if one assumes that "what I see right now is what I get."

What if you never make it to a 121 Major at all in your career? Things change a lot. You might want to be at a 121 Major now, but what if you get an incredible offer that takes your flying career elsewhere. Because of this, I would pick the job that offers YOU the best qol in terms of pay, schedule and happiness.

You have a hard choice. I have had a lot of hard choices, but in the end it has worked out for me and I have no regrets. I hope the same happens for you.

Best of luck on which ever decision you make.

121 Charter is fine, majors will be fine with that (assuming that flight time and upgrade opportunities are comparable).

But I would consider moving to ORD first...fun town if you're single. No need to repeat new hire training, probation, and exposure yourself to training event failure more than necessary. Count yourself fortunate that you're single and flexible.

Consider how much flight time you would build at charter vs. regional, opportunity for upgrade/TPIC, and stability of both companies. If you're going to be flying 180 hours/year with upgrade in 2028 maybe stick with the regional.

Are you looking at Falcon Air Express?? Use the search function... and then keep your current job and consider moving. I looked at them briefly during a furlough. Did not take the job offer.

Thanks for the replies. Lots of good points and things to consider. Truthfully, this gig seems almost too good to be true. Ive been in talks with them for a while and it wasn't until recently that something had opened up. As of right now the ultimate goal is a 121 major. I am flexible though. The company seems to keep the crews flying regularly and my contact who brought me in loves it. So, fingers crossed.

As of writing this post I just got confirmation for a class in 2 weeks! Very excited. Thanks for the advice guys. Upgrade is at a year and a half but that could be taken for what its worth.