Run?


Just kidding. Pick one you can drive to and go with it. If AA is your preferred final destination, avoid Envoy, PSA, and Piedmont.

 

If you are truly that unattached, go to the one that can give you the quickest class date, shortest time on reserve, and will fly your butt off. It used to be to get hired at a major you needed 1000 TPIC. With an otherwise clean record, 500 of 121 SIC puts you in the zone now. If the regional can hold together that long you can probably get a ULCC job and get a second type and some heavier flying that will make you competitive anywhere if you don’t like it there.

But futz around for 3-4 years in the regionals - assuming they survive - and you’ll be way behind those who moved quicker for the rest of your career. And try to go to one unlikely to crash before you get at least 500 SIC. That probably excludes flying 50 pax aircraft.

 

The 500-121 is wholly inaccurate. Having 121-TPIC is still required to be competitive. You don’t need 1000 anymore, but it’s not like FO’s are flying off the shelves as compared to captains.

 

I don’t know that it’s wholly inaccurate. Captains seem to be leaving in smaller numbers than FOs to me. It may be that a larger portion of captains are close enough to flow to be lazy with the application process or maybe it’s that they are more picky which who they are applying to. But FO’s with a bit of time are leaving this airline in droves.

 

It really isn't. United is taking a bunch of Envoy FOs and now Delta started hiring them too. Zero 121 PIC.

 

While this is true, there is usually some kind of X-factor that plays into those hires. Not always, at least according to the people getting hired themselves (who may not want to admit benefitting from nepotism or whatever), but usually.

 

You’ll get a some varied opinions, including some strong negative ones from a few who seem to really hate it here. For me at almost 5 years in I have no real complaints, but I’ve lived in base the whole time too and have yet to experience some of the horrendous things you hear here.

 

There is truth to this. Most of the ones I’m hearing of going check more than a few boxes I can’t.

 

I will add my vote to this statement as well. Most going to the majors as FO have SOME box to check that the majority can’t. Read that how you want.

Plenty going to other than major carriers as FO as well. But yes, by the time you become a line holding captain, it gets harder to jump to something that you don’t see as your “final” destination. A lot of factors go into making those decisions that are different for everyone.

That’s why you see lifers at nearly all regionals. You get to a certain age and number on the seniority list you start getting a bit more vacation and more of the schedule you want, particularly if you are living in base. A lot of guys just don’t want to chase the extra money for what may only ten years and start over at the bottom, commuting to reserve and being the FO that has to do the walk around in the snow and rain and no vacation time.

 

The 2 I know who are going to DL this month are straight white dudes with no internals.