Take all the money you are going to spend on your 1500 hours and find a career with a future. Too late for the rest of us suckers unfortunately.

 

Clearly you've been spending way too much time on the Internet, and in particular these forums.

Two things you should consider: 1. Most of the people that take the time to post regularly here are the loud, disgruntled 5% that will always find something to whine and complain about, and that's not limited to just the regional forums here, and 2. Most of the rest of regional pilot, and even Major/National/LCC pilots, just don't care that much.

Here's my advice: figure out what works best for you. I can make a solid case for going to any of the above carriers you mentioned, save for Great Lakes, and maybe Silver. Your number one concern should be avoiding commuting. If you live in California and decide to go to Air Wisconsin you're just going to be a miserable SOB while all your SkyWest neighbors are just driving to work.

Additionally, some people see the regionals as a place to get in and get out, to make yourself competitive for the next step, and others feel the need to find someplace they could be happy spending a career if that were necessary. Find out where you exist on that scale and choose accordingly.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a quote from a former frequent poster on another board:

 

Do you want to live in DFW? I would rather live in base on reserve than commute while holding a line. I can tell you that currently at Eagle the most junior FO in DFW is a 8/19/13 new hire. I know ExpressJet has a DFW base but I think it is small and you would have to ask one of them how junior it is. Eagle is going through some turbulent times, but that should be all sorted out in the next month or so.

Of the regionals you stated I would choose them in the following order: Compass, Skywest, Air Whiskey, ExpressJet, Eagle, Horizon, Republic, Mesa. I wouldn't go to psa or endeavor if they were the last airlines on earth.

PM me if you have any questions about Eagle.

 

Babs, thanks for the feedback.

 

You are correct about spending too much time here... but some of the info is valuable, some of it is just noise.
And no, it is not about outsoucing my decision to anyone; it is just about having all the pieces to make an informed decision. The challenge is filter the 5% useful information from the noise!

 

Your advice of just do not do it will not work for me!
For the investment in the 1500H, I am afraid it's too late
As for finding a career with a "future", I already have one and living it's "future" and got of it what I wanted. Time to move on to where I really want to be. That's another discussion by the way.

 

Bingo.

10 char....

 

Could you list pros and cons for each? Gearing it towards a DFW commuter.

I can't argue with compass, even though they aren't growing their movement from DAL coupled with a small pilot group should make for some good movement and in turn, good QoL.

The others you listed could be interchanged in any order for various reasons which is why making a career decision based on what someone tells you on this forum is simply not smart. @BaronRogue380

 

Good list although I would add that compass could begin to slow due to their flow through ending soon due to the sale of the airline to TSA. Also word one the street air whiskey could be at the end of there days. The latter is more opinion but food for though.

 

Go wherever it is that affords you what you deem most important in YOUR life....Whether it's basing, commute, equipment, reserve life etc etc...

I spent time at 2 regionals, did the 91/135, did the largest fractional, did some King Air work, and now am at a Legacy.. furloughed twice, a few bankruptcy contracts, commuted a short distance for a few years, have lived in base, have waited years and years for an upgrade etc etc...

Now that I made it to where I want to be (Long Haul International etc) the 10 years I spent trying to get here seem worth it. I hardly remember the really bad stuff to get here, and often relish the time I spent at a regional.. At times it was really fun and since I was a newbie then I learned a great deal. Did some cool flying in crap weather 4-5 legs a day. (Luckily I worked for a "better" regional with good hotels and a better contract, ya know, the one that got whipsawed out of business 2 years ago)

It is what it is, go in knowing it will get better depending on what moves you make to better your career.. (In my case the regionals were stagnating so I bailed to do some corporate flying, it worked out in the end for me)..

The guys who truly think they are soooooo awesome that they will spend 2 years in the right seat, 2 years in the left seat and be at a Legacy are the guys who are bitter.

Be humble in the right seat, and go there knowing
A) You do not know everything, and
B) the guy to your left has been there and done that.
C) No one cares what you did in a 402 while hauling a few bank checks across state lines (just an example from a guy I flew with in the past)

It'll allow you to learn from experience rather than be annoyed at every little thing each Captain does differently. If you can upgrade within 4-5 years consider yourself fairly lucky.....

If you keep flying, try not to be too disgruntled (everyone is allowed to complain a little bit), and keep your eye on the prize (whatever it may be for YOU), you'll make it out in the end.

Good luck



PS... take any advice on here with a serious grain of salt.... Pilots are notorious for thinking they are always right..