Sounds like a good idea.

They have no problem with regional pilots, and usually prefer them over corporate pilots. If I had to make a blanket statement, I'd say they like military pilots best. Some airlines make a point of diversity in hiring, and all hire some of each.

Some legacies have very low minimums to allow them to hire the children of senior employees and affirmative action ticket holders. Those minimums to not apply to you and I, you need to learn the "competitive" minimums for each airline you're interested in.

US Majors often don't specify a ME requirement because they hire a lot of fighter pilots, many of whom flew single-engine aircraft. Regionals don't usually get a lot of fighter pilots, but they prefer folks who have some ME time.

Second-tier majors may have higher mins than legacies because they expect their pilots to upgrade very quickly. If DAL, UA, etc hires a low-time regional FO, they know he'll sit right seat for a decade.

This is a fallacy to the extent of my knowledge of the industry, and I know a lot of people. 121 experience on top of a military background can only make you more qualified for a major. I've heard the rumor too recently, not sure how it got started.

A few guys get stuck at regionals, but it's not because of "regional stink" it's because there's something going on (other than low flight time) which prevents them from getting picked up by a major ...dui, incident, personality, etc. If your only problem is low flight time, a regional should fix that.

Now obviously if you can get a decent-paying turbine job that doesn't involve relocating to a third-world dung-hole, I'd take that over a regional.

 

Rickair7777,

Thank you for your thoughts on this, great info. Now I have to do some research on the "competitive" minimums.

 

I'm curious if anyone on here has recent experience of being a military guy going to a Regional for some time building/121 experience? Is a Regional going to look negatively on a military guy with an ATP and is just under current Major "competitive mins" thinking he'll be out the door as soon as he gets a call and won't get much return on investment or would they rather have the experience? I was a prior Instructor Navigator before going to Pilot Training and upgraded to Aircraft Commander/Instructor in min time. I am good with ME Jet PIC, but being a C-17 guy I have a bunch of the dreaded "other" time, so I'm looking to build up some 121 and Total Time. I honestly have no idea what kind of turnover they have at most Regionals and am getting used to the idea of guys on here saying military guys have to let go of the concept of "loyalty to your company" on the civilian side, but figured I'd ask guys who have "been there, done that".

 

Had a buddy retire from the AF, go to a regional for a year and a half, then get on with UAL. He said the regional was upfront and knew he would not stay there forever. I suspect they are just trying to fill right seats now with guys that have the hours. FWIW, I separated from the AF, went and flew 121 for 5 years and then got on with UAL, and I think having a mil background with recent 121 experience helped out immensely in getting my current job.

 

I sent my totals to an old Boss (Reservist) who is a Capt for a Major and has done some of their hiring stuff and he said as is I will eventually get a call from Majors, but it may take a up to a year for them to get through a bunch of the 4000+ hr military guys with their Apps in now. He suggested jumping on with a Regional for 121/time building. I have no problem paying my dues to get some 121 experience; 500-700 hrs added would put me right around where several of my buddies are who got offers from 2-3 Majors in the past few months… just a little concerned because every Regional knows what the competitive totals are for military guys are today and they may not want to waste their time/money training a guy who could get a call anytime.

I by no means think I'm anything special or that I'll be having Majors (or anyone for that matter) knocking down my door with job offers; I'm just one of those guys who wanted to be a pilot since I was a fetus and am looking to move on to flying career #2.

 

To each their own and living in the states is considerably better than being "here" but I made in 5 days what I made in three months at AWAC. If that's important to you, something to consider.

 

Trust me, the regionals are having a very difficult time filling training classes now with the 1500 hr requirement. They do not have the luxury of be overly picky. They know you will leave eventually, but you help solve their short term problem. Study the Regional thread, apply to a bunch of them and once you have offers, pick the best one, according to any of a variety of criteria.

Leaving the military, the hardest thing you will have to do is to learn to be selfish. You have a long term plan, don't feel bad about going to a Regional with the intent to leave within a few years. That is how the industry works. You are an independent contractor and should not apply the same sense of loyalty that we all had in the military to the airline industry. Here, there is a contract, that is negotiated on your behalf. Everything you do in this industry is done to improve you and your family's QOL. In the military, we all pushed and accepted waivers to get the mission done, here, no favors, no waivers.

 

Atlas mins are 2000TT.

4 years from now the hiring situation will be WAY different, so don't even worry about it.

My opinion:
SkyWest and Horizon are the best regionals, Compass, Air Wisconsin is next. If you live in your base, going to a "good" regional is not bad, if you can take the low pay.

ATP is now required by all -121 pilots. Almost all regionals are DESPERATE for pilots: Example: Endeavor (the old Pinnacle) is losing about 50 pilots/month. They wanted new hire classes of at least 30 in Jan/Feb. Got 3 in Jan, and probably 3-4 in Feb.

Some overseas carriers are parking planes, for lack of pilots, and more and more are opening US pilot bases. The US majors are even being affected, because they are worried about not having enough regional aircraft flying to fly the feed into the hubs....if the situation gets worse, they will have to add more planes to mainline and hire more mainline pilots.

Good luck!

 

After reading this thread and threads like it, it sounds like the Regional's are a perfect place for military guys with 1500-2000TPIC, but low on the total time. The TPIC we already have allows us to choose a Regional based on location and not on upgrade times so that we can try to live in Domicile and live at our Guard/Reserve base and spend 2 years or so building up that Total Time until a Major calls.

 

Be careful about going to a really hard-up regional. When staffing gets short many or most of the regionals have contractual loopholes where they can cancel vacations and assign you trips on your days off.