Next summer I retire from the U.S. Army after 20 years. I am a UH-60 SP/IE and a C-12 IP/IE. I have over 5000 total hours of which 738 (without any sortie conversion) are C-12. I have about 410 hours of PC/IP time in the C-12 and over 3000 PC/IP time in the Blackhawk. I have my MEL ATP, 1st Class Medical, FCC license, CFI/CFII (ME/Rotor), and a smattering of other items on my certificate.

I have applied to all the Legacy, an assortment of cargo, charter, regional, and fractional. I have only received request for interviews/direct hiring from the regionals. I understand it is because I don't have enough total/PC turbine fixed wing hours or 121 time.

With that being said, I have no issue starting with the regionals, but trying to follow the threads on the regional categories is painful. There is alot of information I don't understand regarding ALPA and labor union requirements of the airlines. Or, the pilots ***** and complain about each others' company. Trying to ascertain which airline provides a good QOL, enjoyable atmosphere, or just plain fun to work with is also difficult.

From your military, straight shooting, no bulls$%t perspective, what do you think? Thank you

 

The answer is easy, all regionals suck. Some slightly more than others. Go to the one where you can either live in base or has the easiest commute.

 

If you're flexible, by all means live in base. In no particular order Skywest, Compass, and Horizon are probably the best regionals as far as stability, labor issues, and working for a professional organization without sweat-shop shenanigans or mom-and-pop cult-of-personality issues.

Envoy after those three.

If you think you need a quick upgrade, avoid Horizon.

Air Wisconsin has historically been a good company, but I'm not sure what their future holds you'd have to research that.

 

I am flexible and live near to IAH which puts me with Skywest, XJET, a third which I won't consider, and a commute to DFW for Envoy. Thank you for the explanation of those regionals.

I am not particular to any airframe either.

 

+1
I was fortunate not to have done any regional flying but if I had to, this is an excellent advice.
I've flown with several new FOs from various regionals and it seems like Skywest and Air Wisconsin are pretty good regionals. If I had to prioritize, I'd go with the quickest upgrade (pretty much every regional these days) and commute (better yet, just suck it up and live in base until a major picks you up). Medical and other benefits won't come into play for you so you just need to accrue more fixed wing time.
A few rotorhead Coasties whom I've met have gone this route and they made it to the majors in a couple of years.

 

Make sure your clearance is still good and apply to the ISR contractors... Lots of Army pilots are making the transition...

 

My TS is still valid. Thought about it for a moment but hadn't looked too far into that option.

 

Start here: http://www.pilotdomiciles.com/

Avoid commuting if possible.
I would tell a someone to look at SkyWest, Compass, and Endeavor. You could take a look at Republic as well if they have a base where you live.

 

Thank you, zondaracer. That is a fantastic reference for airline vs. domicile.

 

I agree with rickair7777 about avoiding a commute and his observation about Air Wisconsin.

Someone mentioned Republic. I don't believe they have a crew base near you. If you consider Republic, then you might as well consider TSA, PSA and Commutair, too.

Good luck, soldier! (from a fellow, retired soldier)