Out West

Still haven't, even if you're right.

Though, as internet King, I grant 1/2 point for a hint of a sense of humor.

minimwage4

Thanks a lot.

Out West

I am generous. And kind.

And probably the most humble person I know.

StlLifer

Gojet and Mesa are the places to go, without doubt. Don't even look at the others. Each has just signed flow through agreements with Auschwitz Air, no interview.

There is a rule when dealing with recruiters, the nicer they are the more they intend to destroy your life. Have you done anything to research these airlines? Based upon the evidence you might want to do a little more research. What are the reputations of the airlines, their owners, the chief pilot and DO? What types of lawsuits have been filed by employees? What do their training departments look like? Do they even do their own training or do they have to farm it out to flight safety?

Don't go to an airline that does not have planes on order unless you want to sit in the right seat for a long time. But wait, airline X has no new planes coming but they are hiring into the left seat or only have a 6 month upgrade wait? Be sure to ask the next question, what is happening to the guys above, why are they leaving so fast?

There is no substitute for quality in this industry. You do not want to have a low quality carrier on your resume. When a Skywest pilot walks into a Delta interview he already looks good. When a pilot from a bottom feeder airline walks in he spends the first 15 minutes explaining to the interviewer the unique circumstances of why going to a bottom feeder was such a great decision. Kind of like someone explaining what a great job he did in saving the airplane after he flew into the thunderstorm but cannot really justify flying into the thunderstorm in the first place.

Glad2fly

Wrong.... Pay and QOL at some of the regionals is now much better than 135 operators. The 121 CREW experience is vital too. Don't get me wrong, I liked 135 and flew for a few of them, but things have changed drastically and majors like prior 121 crew experience.

minimwage4

It doesn't matter. You can try and tell a new guy that crack is bad for them. He's still going to want to try it.

StlLifer

So true. Imagine you are a Delta pilot interviewing applicants. The first guy who walks in is from Skywest. You know they have high standards in who they hire. You know they have high standards in who makes it through training. You know they have their own training departments that gives the students a full understanding of the plane and the job. You know that they focused on how to properly analyze problems and respond to them. You know the variety of environments the guy has flown into. You know that when the pilot upgraded to Captain that Skywest did not pass him because they needed someone desperately but the guy deserved to be there.

Next walks in the Gojet pilot or the Mesa pilot. Trained by Flight safety. Put into the left seat with no experience at the airline. To some degree the guy placed getting his PIC time ahead of being in a safe environment. But he did survive those first few months, yea! But, did he deserve to be a Captain flying around or did he get there because they were desperate to have a pilot? Maybe he's a great guy and a great pilot? Who do you take?

Green Needles

In walks an Endeavor pilot. Delta won't hire him, because Delta knows he'll do the same job for Delta for 1/3 the price!

Flymeaway

You guys don't need to be sarcastic jerks. You were new once too. That's what this board is about. Choosing the right regional is NOT an easy thing to do. You can go back and read 100 pages on any of the regionals' threads and get an equal mixture of: 1) Don't come here, it sucks, 2) I've had a great time here, it's fine if you live in base, 3) ALL regionals suck, go to whoever will upgrade you to captain the fastest, 4) Get a CJO to an AA WO who won't OBR or JM you and I know you don't know *** I'm talking about.

To the original poster: I agree with the guy(/girl) who said to figure out where you want to live, and check the "airline profiles" section to see who has a domicile there, and start there. If you're young and don't have a family and willing to move wherever they send you, then you can worry about other factors.

I also agree with the guys(girls) who said to take anything a recruiter says at a job fair with a grain of salt. Understand what their job is. They may be great guys, but they'd probably get fired if they told you the truth about any big reasons you should avoid their airline. Additionally, the more FOs that come to their airline, the more senior they get comparatively, and the better their lives are.

Skywest is the largest regional, with lots of growth and domiciles, and most people on this site tend to agree that it's a decent place to work, compared to the other regionals. However, they don't have the big first year/signing bonus which can be a LOT of money at some other places.

The American Airlines wholly owneds (Envoy, Piedmont, PSA I believe) have a "flow" program where you get a big leg up into American eventually. The flow is a long ways off though, and most folks feel you're a lot more likely to get hired outside of that "flow" before you ever reach that point, unless you have some nasty skeletons in your closet.

PSA has something called an SAP which basically means that after about a year there, your ability to adjust your schedule to your liking becomes much easier than at any other regional.

Most people on this site tend to feel that your number 1 priority should either be to live in base, or to upgrade as quickly as possible. Regardless of which you think is more important, it's going to take a lot of reading on this site, and posting in the individual airline threads, to feel like you have enough of a handle on the different airlines to make an informed decision.

Good luck.

frankgh

You can SAP at PSA dang near right out of training at most of our bases and right at 7 months for CLT. It is not a year long wait.