On a different subject, can someone post for this newby here, what your typical schedule looks like say, one for reserve, one for holding a line? Or about how many trips a day the ejet flys? Or, if money wasn't an issue or having to get home to kids, are the conditions flying Still rewarding? I hear a lot of terrible stuff about regional life which I sympathize for many but is it mostly about pay and advancement or is it the day to day grind also? Thanks much in advance for any true insight.

 

Do you envision yourself living in your home, or visiting your home? I do not like the pilot lifestyle. As a regional pilot, you only visit home, unless you can get 13 to 15 days off a month. At least with 15 days a month, you can be home for half the month. Huge difference between being home every night and not. Living on base is the single greatest thing you can do for QOL.

 

Thanks RC, I get that living in base is the only way to have any life but living where I do, it's not possible. There are no bases in San Diego. Was more curious about life on the road and any of the other stuff I asked about would be most appreciated. Thank much in advance.

 

Can't help on schedules, as you are able bid for schedules that fit your preferences once you have enough seniority. Starting off, on reserve, you get 11 days off a month. You bid either am or pm shifts. This means you either fly in the night before, or fly out the following morning. You can expect to get mostly, only two days off between trips, with a 3 or 4 off inbetween. As a commuter, anything less than 3 off between trips will eat you away internally until you either quit or move to base. You have a family, so I'd imagine you'd give it 6 months before you say its enough. Should you hang around long enough to have seniority, you could possibly get 13 days off a month with 3 in between on the CRJ side. I can't answer your questions with the United side of the operation. Generally the United side is considered to have much better schedules. Your primary consideration should be an easy commute, don't underestimate the importance of having a higher priority while commuting on American. If you are on United, you won't have to worry about any wholy-owns bumping you.

 

Thanks RC, I think I understand most of that. Not much left for family as my kids are grown and gone and the wife is dying for me to go somewhere else for a while.

2 or 3 days off with a 3-4 in between, what does that mean? Is the Ejet the United side? American side? Both? How many trips a day average do you fly? Like I said, coming from 25 years flying helicopters for a living, I'm a noob on this side of the fense. Small simple words with ample explanations work best. Still, thank you for your time.

 

When you're a line holder you'll generally fly 3-4 days and then get 2-3 days off afterwards, rinse, repeat. You'll get a minimum of 11 days off a month, but more senior pilots can get more than that.

On reserve you'll be on call for a minimum of 2 days in a row up to a maximum of 6 days before getting some days off. Reserves get 11 days off a month, period, no more, no less.

The EJET only flies for United in IAH, along with 20 CRJ 700s based in IAD. All the CRJ900s are on the American side in DFW and PHX.

I think you're getting confused on terminology. In our world a trip is a 1-4 day stint of flying (those who live in base go for the 1-day trips for obvious reasons). How many legs/flights you fly in each day varies. On the EJET you fly 2-4 legs a day. The 4 leg days usually involve shorter flights and usually occur on either the first day of the trip or the last day.

Here's an example for a junior reserve FO on the EJET in May:

1-3 Reserve
4-5 Off
6-10 Reserve
11-12 Off
13-15 Reserve
16-20 Off
21-24 Reserve
25-26 Off
27-31 Reserve

 

The E-175 is only out of IAH on the united side.

A typical line in the AA CRJ side is composed of four four-day trips each month with 2-3 days off in between.

I've been here a year as an FO and can now usually get the days off I want. I'll be in the window to upgrade at about 2 years here. YMMV

 

Real good stuff Dash, thank you. During reserve, if you're not flying, where would you be hold up? Are you provided with a place to crash or sitting in a pilot lounge for the idle time? I realize that I probably won't be trying to commute back on the 2 days off so just curious how that works. Thank you. Keep it coming..

 

On reserve you are required to be at the aircraft within 90 minutes of being notified of the flight assignment. Where you are when you receive the notification is up to you. Most will rent a bed in a crashpad or rent a house/apartment with a few other pilots. Hotels get to be expensive on reserve if they don't use you much. You can figure on around $60 all-in per night at the discounted rate for hotels. Crashpads run around the $250 a month mark I think. It's been a while since I was in a crashpad. You can see how more than 4 nights a month in a hotel will make the crashpad more financially viable.

 

Absolutely, so I can see where it would make more sense to be out on the road on their dime instead of sitting in a hotel on yours. Especially if you have to commute. Amazed at how you guys do it the first year. even if the asset/liability issue zeroed out it may be doable but it almost seems that I would be paying out of savings to make it work. And I can live lite! Appreciate your responses. I've always wanted to do the airline route but was sidetracked 25 years ago with the swing wing thing. No regrets, it raised my kids well. Just trying to figure out if, at my age, it makes sense to start an airline career. Be safe out there!