I have an interview with the company in about a month. Reading this forum really made me second guess if I should even show up to the interview. Is the situation at EDV really this bad? I’m guessing a new contract should happen any moment now bringing EDV up to standard with the competition. Also how’s the quality of life as a JR FO? How long would it take to hold ATL as your base? And if anyone would like to add any positive feedback regarding the company. Thanks .

 

Yes, it is that bad.

No, contract improvements aren't guaranteed, nor are they guaranteed quickly.

Even if we get contract improvements, they will likely be below what is expected/what our competition has. Look at retention bonuses. AA gave $150,000. It took months for 9E to answer, and we got $40,000 less.

QOL as a junior FO sucks unless you absolutely love ready reserve in NYC.

ATL is shrinking. Skywest is the new golden child down there. Don't expect to hold ATL quickly. Expect NYC.

As a positive, the ice cream in the offices makes good snacks...

 

Unless your career goal is to work at AA or United in 3 years after getting paid $30k per year less than your peers at other carriers, I’d avoid 9E. Delta has made it clear that they’re only interested in hiring you after you’ve “paid your dues” at their gOLd StANdaRD ReGIonAL. They will not hire you if you try to “jump the queue” and leave 9E in a “lateral” move to B6, F9, NK, etc.

 

Do the interview. Things can change overnight. You can always decline the offer. Airline industry is and will always be in a cycle. One month from now things can be completely different. Endeavor is a great company and hopefully some good news in the pipeline. It’s a little rough currently but not too long ago we were leading the charge in pay. Now we have to catchup and surpass.

 

All regionals are in flux currently. The only rational move is to get hired in one where you can fly your butt off, accumulate the hours and experience necessary to get to the next level, and move on. Junior guy on reserve sucks everywhere. It’s a side effect of the seniority system. You get the jobs nobody else wants because you are junior. Junior CA on reserve sucks - for at least twice as long. It just has better pay.

When you get to a major it’s the same. Just for better pay. It’s called paying your dues. Once you get senior enough you can enjoy being senior, but being senior is good because the junior people get the cr@p jobs. You’ll be senior a lot longer than you will be junior.

 

Very well said and 100% correct.

I will add; No regional has a good quality of life right now. One of the nine sides of the "double edged sword" created by the baby-boomer/COVID pilot shortage, is that the job sucks more than it used too, due to schedule changes and minimum days off. But...and it's a big BUT, the career progression opportunities available are off the charts fantastic. The only folks that have a right to complain right now are over 56 years old who had voluntarily or involuntarily parked at a regional, thinking they would coast to retirement. They are now enduring quality of life hits, with no future benefits.

Anyone getting into the industry now is in for many years of a great career, unless there is a black swan event. We've seen such things before, but the current pilot shortage can absorb just about everything short of a nuke war or zombie apocalypse.

 

Fixed it for you. In two weeks, JG and DAL have gone from "compensation is sufficient" to "ZOMG!!!!! Please meet with us, we need a deal done quickly!" in two weeks. What does that say about our management?

 

NYC Co-domicile is awful as a junior FO. Ubering back and forth between LGA and JFK on your own dime is expensive. Once you're senior enough to avoid Ready Reserve it gets better and less expensive, and better and less expensive again once you can hold a line. NYC Co-domicile is reason enough by itself to avoid EDV. A contract competitive with Mesa's rates would make this a bit more tolarable/affordable.

Otherwise EDV isn't a bad place to be. Not perfect, no place is. Our pay rates are currently a problem but the pilot market will force a correction in our favor and probably sooner than later.

 

Whatever you do. Never never never ghost an interview. Not saying you are going too but this should be posted so others understand how small this industry is. Either call and cancel or at least do it and then make a choice(my recommendation). I know people who ghosted an airline, didn't get hired by the one they wanted, and then couldn't get a callback from the guys they ghosted. More options are better than less.

 

That was my entire point. Just because the pay is lacking doesn’t make Endeavor a write off. As we all know things can change relatively fast. For a potential new hire it’s important to point that out. He or she could take someone’s advice and land at a different regional and….. boom! Endeavor gets industry leading pay once again. Wait for the dust to settle. We all know one thing…when we are short pilots…the money comes in…usually 😂

and for the record…I hear DAL pilots complain about how bad their schedules are too..it’s not just the regionals.