I will give you my perspective, and it is similar to Hoser's.

I was in the top 15% or so at my regional, a LCA and making money will above where most regional guys earned. I was 31 and the doors were opening again. I took it without a second thought. My point of view was, yes, the regionals are good today, but frankly we were hired help that could and would be released if the scope sales did not happen, or if there was not a next gen RJ that could compete. ( I saw the latter happening in about 2020 or when I was about 45 and that left staying as a bigger risk than leaving)

I left got hired, and love DAL. Pilots are great, and the company and association do a good job of trying to do the right thing. I went from being in the top 200 with weekends and holidays off three day 21 hrs trips in the middle of the week to the bottom of the list at a 12K+ pilot group. Frankly, my QOL is a lot better than it was at the regionals. 8 years of stagnation here is not ideal, but I make more money that I could have as a line pilot at a regional, and I am getting more money in my 401K that I could have put in maxing out at said regional.

In fifth year pay, I am making well over six figures, plus the retirement contribution that the company puts in. Add it together and I am looking at well over 130K a year last year. That beats the socks off all regional jobs. (It is also a CH11 contract with 17% gains over four years. Keep that in mind when you compare a regional to a major. It will get better here)

I also want to chime in on the business side of this. As a former small business owner, let me tell you a few things. One, they are 24/7/365 responsibilities. I could not just pop away on a weekend getaway, much less a week somewhere. Forget it, I had to run the business. It was great money but I had no way to spend it as I was always working. It was great as a single guy, but with a family, that is no way to live. I sold it in 2004 and have thought about reentering the industry again, but frankly do not want to work that hard and lose that time with the family. I work at an airline, have a lot of outside investments, but do not run a small business. I work close to FAR max, and have at least 15 days at home with my family, free of any sort of external problems. The only thing we normally take home with us is fatigue and frustration. With a small business, that will just be part of life. It does have benefits, but a downside is you are married to it.

Do not forget that airlines probably still have some of the best retirement plans out there. I know, that is sad, but reality. As a small business owner, you need to find 50K a year on top of the "income" you need to generate, so that you can aside for retirement. Do not for get FICA, Employer side contributions in Social Security, etc. As a small business owner you get to pay both side of that. A biggie is Medical insurance and life insurance. Again the buck stops with you. I had all of that as a regional pilot when I owned my small business, and frankly, if I did not have it, I would not have made for the first five years I was running that business.

Do not let people sugar coat small businesses, and beat down airline flying. Yes, we get the crap kicked out of us, and it has its toll, but so do small business owners. When you are starting out, it is all you all of the time. Every bill must be paid by you. You are tied to it, unlike a airline job. It fails, it will effect your credit for many, many years. You get furloughed, you go work at Home Depot, or a corporate flight gig. The downside is totally different.

I am not telling you not to do it. I will eventually have another small business to pay for college tuition, but the work and financial demands should not be diminished. In the same light, even after a decade of blows, this job still has better bennies than most White Collar jobs. I get 9% more in my DC than my wife who is a Controller, my insurance is better, and I get paid more to be home more. That is the reality. (It does not mean we are worth less, it means that the other side has taken hits too) Go talk to Doctors and Lawyers as well. Most do not have a DB if they have been in practice less than 10 years, and most have seen their pay go down a little bit too. (25% or so on average)

I say, jump to a major, even if jet fuel goes up, big jets will be flown by pilots. We as an industry are going to larger jets, and the future really is here at a major. By 50 you will be a Capt here at DAL making over 200K a year (assuming raises). You will be getting at least 30K a year in your DC, and you will have a company funded life insurance policy. I know what that costs for a start up small business. It is wise to not put all of your eggs in a new basket until you know that basket can hold those eggs. Worst case you come here, spend 15 years in the right seat seeing the same cities you do now, but making more for it. You still have half a month at home with the family, and live a comfortable life. Not one of excess, but a middle class life. Not what dreams are made of, but at least you know one thing, you will be present in your children's lives. For me that is more important than money, or other opportunities. We always have time to make money, but only one time to watch them grow up.

Choose wisely.

 

so far so good for me, I'll let you know more in 30-35 years...

 

acl65pilot,

Great post! Ironically, spending more time at home with the family is precisely why I'm considering getting out, but I agree with you of the many hardships with running a small business and no, it's not a strip club guys.

So far, it looks like the majors aren't so bad after all. How far up the equipment list does one need to be to hold 18 days off? It is currently unrealistic for me to do so at the regional level (top .01%).

 

I started a small business after being furlouged from UAL. It has its pros and cons, like everything. The pay is just enough to cover my bills, about like a 2nd or 3rd year regional FO. However, the time off is very minimal. Even on days off, my employees call with questions, or I have customer e-mails to answer, or bills to pay, or whatever. It is impossible to ever "get away" from work. If you are OK with that, then I would recommend going into busiess for yourself.

 

They do say the only people allowed by the government to work for less than minimum wage are small business owners.

 

If you are willing to fly the 88, we had guys getting 18 days off a month four to five months after getting hired. Of course that depends on when you get hired in the wave as well.

 

haha! nice bro!

 

United was the biggest mistake of my life. 14+ you should have been a Capt 5-7 years ago. As a early 2000 hire I'm on the street for a second time along with 1,436 other guys. No recall until 2012 maybe?

I have been on a training freeze and reserve for my entire career at United. If you don't have the PIC overseas airlines don't want you, they think there is something wrong if you have been FO for 12+ years. Also regionals don't want to hire furloughed major guys. Hell CAL doesn't want any UAL guys either.

i'm happy out of the rat race. No more UAL cool aid for me. Good luck with a new contract.

 

Start your own business..... If you want to start this business and have thought it out and done the appropriate planning and are passionate about what you will be doing, then what are you waiting for???? Just by asking the questions you asked show the passion is fleeting from your flying career, albeit maybe just a little. Plan on working long hours and a few years to get your business off the ground, unless you get extremely lucky at first. I started flying when I was 32 and progressed through the corporate ranks. I opted for expat flying because the salaries were considerably higher. My quality of life improved and in the free time opened several businesses for myself and my wife. You'll be happy you did.

 

Yep this place is a joke and it's getting worse. At the moment UAL flying is shrinking and CAL flying is picking up. In fact they are going to be taking the DEN Hawaii flying from us in the fall and have opened their 737 base in LAX further shrinking UAL flying there. If this is a true merger it's unlike any other. This is starting to look a lot lot like the next CAL-EAL scenario.

There is no unity there is no "us" between Cal and UAL it's very divided and there seems to be no effort being made to merge the operations. Only lip service from J-Lo but nothing of substance.

I'm not sure that most folks understand just how bad things are on this side. I've been a captain, an international wide body guy and now have the equivalent of 2 years relative seniority. And oh the best part I'm making less money than than a RJ captain with my seniority is making.

I don't know if J-Lo understands just how close this place is to imploding. Or maybe that's his plan.

But yes Unitedflyer,

This place is a huge mistake unless things drastically change DO NOT COME BACK!