I currently work for 135 turbo prop carrier. I have 1100 hours and will have 1500 in the next few months. At 1500 should I stay and upgrade and build turbine PIC time (with pretty bad schedules and long commute) or go to a 121 regional? I'm in my late 30s so I don't want to hop around too much.

 

I'm approaching mid-30's, helicopter guy jumping back into fixed wing. Recently had an offer from Envoy and starting this month. Envoy is the regional I targeted and only one I pursued, I'm happy with my choice even with all the negative stuff you read on here.

If you want to end up in 121 world then I would say jump ship to a regional with a flow ASAP. Seniority is everything. A delay of 3-6 months joining a regional with a flow could mean the difference of years down the track (upgrades, flow to mainline if you are relying on the flow, and then there's the knock on effects of delays at the regional level then become exponential once you make to a legacy).

My 2c of some in a similar situation due to age etc.

**Edit: research how many new hires in AA come from various regional flows, and how many off the street. From what I could find it's 75% flow, 25% off the street. Of the flow it's majority from Envoy, and off the street is mostly military. Just some food for thought.

 

At 750/yr the flow is 61% of all new hires.
At 1000/yr the flow rate is 46%.

That will reduce to 750/yr = 53% and 1000/yr it will be 40% flow when the AE flow rate drops from 30/month to 25/month. AE profile on apc explains when that will happen.

Military is taking about 80% (+/-) of the non flow slots.

The f/t's and military guys reduce the pure civilian OTS count to a single handful per month.

 

Curious why you didn't consider PSA as well? Isn't the flow the same for all 3 subsidiaries?

My conundrum is I can do one training event, upgrade and get turbine PIC on a small turboprop OR go to another regional for more training events and get SIC turbojet for at least couple of years before upgrading.

 

Envoy's bases also played into my considerations which is why I didn't look at PSA. Envoy also has the largest amount of pilots flowing to AA. Even if that throttled back at some point it still helps to move me up the list and QOL within Envoy in the meantime. That's my reasoning for Envoy, I'm sure some people would disagree with me.

To be honest looking at the percentages of off the street hires vs flow and military I would simply get in the queue now rather than later.

The flows aren't the be all and end all of course, but it doesn't hurt to be part of a flow program and apply to legacy Airlines as well.

I also had a similar option to go to a 135 operator flying turbine M/E PIC, but I just figured I'm delaying the inevitable. So the sooner I got in the system (with a flow) and built up seniority the better off I would be in the long run.

For sure look at piedmont and PSA. From what I read on here and people I've spoken with its no different to the helicopter world. Every crew room you go into will have the same people whining about the same things. Any job is what you make it, going into it eyes wide open.

Good luck with your decision.

 

If your ultimate goal is airline flying, go to a regional now. You will be eligible to upgrade fairly once you meet the requirements. I doubt that your current outfit would be offering you any better pay and as you have stated, they have bad schedules and a long commute to boot.

If you don't have a 4 year degree, consider the regional airlines which offer direct flow or interview after a few years.

 

My current outfit is 121 with 135 sub certificate (there I outed myself) and it has some flow programs in work to lccs. However, it's highly unlikely I'd be able to go to legacies although some people have gone to swa and Alaska but it took them 5-6 years. The question is how majors look at turboprop vs turbojet and the weight you've been flying?
I have a 2 year degree with no plans on getting 4 year one.

 

I guess in a nutshell after all my mumbling about here, I picked the regional that had a true flow with bases that were most commutable for me, also in locations I may live.

For me LGA is an easy commute, and DFW is somewhere I would potentially move to once my wife finishes med school here on the east coast. Hence Envoy.

Also me originally being Australian, Envoy appears to have the best travel benefits with AA/one world than everyone else, also played some part in my decision.

If you read all the forums about each regional you'll find people complaining about the same stuff or variations thereof if you're comparing apples with apples (i.e. Regionals with true flows). They may be right in what they're saying, or have legitimate gripes, that being said, coming from my background of contract flying helicopters regionals are dream run by comparison.

My only true point to make is seniority is everything, there's no time like now to get in and get in the queue.