pilotguy7

Dude - I'm not a troll at all!!! Just telling my experience, and how he may be looked at in the future and giving him the type of advice I would give anyone. If he wants to be at a major, I'd say start in 121 - it makes the decision-making that much easier for the legacy carriers.
And - what I meant by 121 pace - is mostly all the stuff you do before pushback . . . and heck, sometimes even the taxing. It is just a bit of a different animal, that is all.
Back off calling folks trolls. I've done regional, ULCC, 91, 135 and Frac - so I do have a unique look at this stuff.

TexasLonghorn

Seems like you’re implying that 121 pilots do more prior to the flight than 135/91K and that people who haven’t done it will struggle comparatively. Are you suggesting that pilots who are used to handling all phases of flight planning, fuel loading, catering, pax requests, baggage, crew and pax transportation, MX, ground handling, changes from ops, briefings, WX, etc, etc, etc, on leg 4 of day 8 all while under pressure to depart either early or ASAP because pax are late and need to depart 20 minutes ago won’t be adequately prepared to handle *all the stuff you do before pushback* at a 121? We’re used to handling everything and putting on a good face on it for UHNW pax who expect a level of customer service unattainable at 121 ops.

Basically all of our attrition is to majors, going to a fractional over a regional will not negatively affect your ability to get hired at a major.

pilotguy7

I can see why someone might read my post this way - that is in no way what I am trying to say. We all know that 125/Frac crews work much harder, need to understand the bigger picture, deal with customers, etc. The only thing I am saying is that EACH has their own aspects to learn and master. "IF" I was in the hiring department of a major (and we are not in a pilot hiring boom), and there were two candidates, one being 121 their whole career, the other being 135 / frac - I would probably go with the 121 candidate (assuming all other aspects are the same) - because they know what they are getting into, they understand the "flow" of things, so less of a learning curve, etc. It's the same concern of someone going the other way.

Again, after reading my post, I can see why someone may think that I am saying 121 is more difficult - not my intent - and it is true that FJ is losing folks to the majors right now. But if I was giving a young dude career advice and their one main goal would be to go to the majors, then I'd say - get to 121 asap- get some 121 PIC and never look back.

Flyfalcons

Yeah that whole "Turn left, sit down, get clearance" can sure be demanding.

MinRest

Have you ever worked 121? Not saying it is demanding but it is a little more involved than that.

FRAC

Oh yeah. Asking the flight attendant for a coffee with 2 moo’s and a blue.

Flyfalcons

Yes I have.

ShoutVFR

Gotcha. Legacy/Praetor would be my dream airplane with Flex so that's always reassuring Are you saying bringing in close to 200k as an FO, or DRL CA?

Not sure if long term if I want to stick Fractional or go Legacy. My only "fear" about jumping into 91K would be making myself less-desirable to an airline should I change my mind on 91K. All I want at the end of the day is options. I've done employers with training contracts before and I refuse to be trapped again.

Also related but unrelated, anybody here domicile in KDEN? Is your "commute" typically to LA to start or is it just "everywhere?"


Thanks again!

ShoutVFR

Yup. That's why I asked. From what I understand the industry tends to be more "forgiving" for guys going from 135/91K to 121 as YES the workload is less

Good to know. With all the training delays in the regionals I'm hearing about right now (and the meltdowns due to CA/FO balance) definitely make me not want to go there to grind if possible.... That being said would just have to keep asking around the industry to see if 91K is a "black dot". Something tells me its not though...

Thanks again

TexasLonghorn

That $200k figure is for DRL CA, although $110k year 1 FO is now doable.

There are no training contracts at Flexjet.

We have plenty of ex-regional pilots who come here for better QOL and then leave for majors. 3 in my new hire class alone have done that.

You'll commute anywhere and everywhere.