Why can't he apply OTS from Omni? 3 years is an eternity in the regionals. FWIW K4 is not easy to get on with.

CJO @ Kalitta & Omni
 

If young enough (under 50), OP can leave Kalitta or Omni in 3 year for the “big 5” if it’s not for him.

Will be qualified, gain higher level experiences, and be quality candidate within 3years- outside of the flow & get to AA if OP really wants AA.

2021-2024 will be remarkable, everyone is and will be paying well. Will be a matter of QOL, SCHEDULE, QUALITY OF COMPANY in my opinion.

I agree with these post with two exceptions:

1) You know that ACMI is not for you AND you have no degree (or whatever other issues that might make it hard for you to get hired by a major).

or

2) You'll only be happy if you get hired at AA.

Other than those two, I see no reason to stick around at Envoy with offers there. As long as you keep up a good resume and a clean record, you're going to get hired somewhere before too long. Might as well take the money offered by the ACMIs in the mean time.

neither is Omni easy to get on with. He absolutely can apply off the street to legacies along with 14,000 other non-military pilots. He already has a legacy job in his back pocket with no interview.

if he is under 50 he will make more money at AA. He will have trip variety at AA. He will have no whipsawing at AA, whereas ATSG owns three very similar airlines. Omni & Kalitta are small operations compared to AA. He’ll have better retirement at AA. He’ll have more fleet types available at AA. Unless he’s over 50 or absolutely can not do 3 years as an Envoy CA making $100k+ then he should stay where he is. I’d say the exact same if it were Jetblue, Spirit, Frontier unless he lived in base. He’s so close to a top tier legacy job that he shouldn’t throw that away.

I’ve done both. I’ve been less than three years from flow, and I’m at Omni. If I had the choice I’d wait the 2.5 years and go to AA. Omni is a great job, and a solid career in its own right..... but it’s not a legacy. The grass is not always greener.

That all said, for a new hire... I’d never choose an AAG regional. The flow will be worthless insurance you’ll never use as street hiring will be ferocious. Flow just won’t be needed.
So, could he go do Omni & K4 for a few years and then street apply, yes. But he’d be applying for a job he technically already has. He’ll make as much as an ENY CA as an OMNI/K4 FO for the time period it takes him to flow.

Wow, some very interesting commentary. You spend a lot of time pontificating on how AA is the best but then go on to state that you would never choose an AA regional. Why? You state above that one has the flow in their back pocket. Why wouldn't a candidate go to an AA regional and do just that while applying elsewhere if they so desire? I do agree on one thing wholeheartedly that you mention and that's AA is far and away light years better than Omni.

Not quite. You need to read it again without your Kool-Aid induced buzz.

1st. He didn't say AA is the best. AA is not the best... doubtful it is even top 5. Yes it is a legacy. It is a career destination, but it is not the best. Is it better than Omni, yes... but that's not what we are talking about.

2nd. Why wouldn't a candidate go to an AA regional? Well, there's our substandard work rules, huge reserve population, inefficient and inflexible schedules, hostile management, overall poor QOL, low bottom line pay, and slow though steady advancement just for starters..

If you are open to other career destinations... you will build hours and upgrade faster at many other regionals. You'll probably make more money and have more time off at other regionals.

The question on the table is Omni/K4 vs Envoy for 3 years. The only upside to Envoy, assuming he already has 1000 hours PIC, is that AA is about 3 years away. We don't have a crystal ball, and we don't know what is going through recruiters heads. If he goes to K4, and a year later gets hired by UPS, we'll say he made a great decision. If he goes to Omni and gets hired by Delta in 4 years, we'll say he made a great decision (3 years better QOL Envoy vs Omni... lifetime Delta over AA). If he becomes an Omni lifer, then he'll be kicking himself over this decision.

This time it is you with the interesting comments. You just helped my argument 10 fold. Essentially in a nutshell you said:

It isn’t worth it to go to Omni or a similar carrier. You will regret it.

And....the flow is dropping to 3 years. The only upside to Envoy, assuming he already has 1000 hours PIC, is that AA is about 3 years away.

I guess that was brought up in the AA board meeting that you attended as you are Doug Parker’s right hand man.

This is only quoting the OP who said he was 3(.5) years from flowing, not that the flow would or ever could be 3 years for a new hire. The math would never work and that would cripple Envoy.

No, he might regret it. The only regret is if he gets stuck at Omni, which I would say is a low probability. There is a lot more potential upside with going to Omni at this point in his career than staying at Envoy. Notice I said the ONLY upside to Envoy. If he stays with Envoy and flows to AA, he'll be kicking himself if he finds out he could have been at Delta, United, FedEx, etc, if he spent some time at Omni.