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I am a pilot at a university flight program, and I just finished up my instrument. I am working on my commercial right now, and I qualify for the 1,000 hr R-ATP. There have been several recruiters come to my school, and it's hard to know which one would be the best option. I've read through some of the forums on here, but it's hard to keep up to date with the current information. The top on my list right now is Republic. I like their variety of base options, and they have a nice fleet. Does any body know anything about some of their work rules? Deadhead pay, cancellation pay etc.? What other regionals would you recommend considering?

I know it may be a bit early for me to look into these things, but Republic will do a conditional job offer as soon as pilots finish their instrument. Since I have been looking into them so much, I figured I'd look into some others right now as well.

Thanks for your help

I am in a similar situation as you. Where do you live? Where do you want to live? What are you looking for? Pay, Qol, stability, movement, aircraft types. Gotta prioritize those items, then find a regional that meets your needs the closest.


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The closest base to home for me would be KMCI, but ultimately I don't care where I end up, I just want to live in base with cheap COL. I'm looking at considerable debt for my flight training, and I want to pay that off as quickly as possible. I would like to live somewhere cheap, and get paid well, so that I can pay off debt, and make it to a major.

Mesa is where it's at. If I was a youngin, I wouldn't go anywhere else. Go to lots of job fairs and hound them. They'll eventually call.

if you want, look for a cheap flight to Kuala Lumpur. there is a 737 sim ftd for 70 a hour. teach you flows start up and all the ifr you can handle.

What do you like about Mesa? I haven't heard a whole lot of good things about them, but I also haven't heard a whole lot about them in general.

Sounds like a good gig. How does one get set up with that?

Surely this poster is joking. Mesa is literally the worst possible carrier to go to. They make half of what everyone else is paying and have virtually no benefits. I'm shocked that people even consider Mesa. Commuting to another carrier with another base is 10x better than Mesa.

He's jerking your chain (hard) and probably subtly suggesting that you dive into the information already on the forums to get basic background information, which would let you ask more focused questions.

1. Do your research online.

2. Don't get sold on a regional because of your interactions with a recruiter. They are salesmen and very good at selling their product. Assume they are lying about everything, except locations of domiciles (they might even be lying about that too).

3. Be careful about getting sold on a bonus...there may be a reason they have to offer a bonus, and they usually lock you to the employer in some fashion.

4. Living in a larger, not-too-senior domicile is a huge QOL factor. Ideally you want to drive to work in well under two hours and be able to upgrade in that base in a reasonable time frame. This should probably be one of your biggest factors in choosing a regional.

5. Don't go to mesa, unless your criminal record precludes all other options.

I've read some of the forums but when there's thousands of posts under one thread it gets difficult to sift through all the information.

Your initial post correctly identified the challenges to acquiring useful information. Go to it :)

Honestly Republic is a really solid choice right now. Especially if you want MCI. If you want more info, click on the Republic Airline tab, and scroll through the threads. Just sayin, the only two carriers I'd look at is Republic and Skywest.

Skywest because of the competitive pay rates at 20+ years? Don't say quick upgrade since others offer equal movement plus better pay... I really am curious what the draw there is. How are they filling classes while paying less than other carriers?

Seems to be primarily their base choices.

It is nice to not commute, but d$&@ I like having some cash!

If any of the conditional offers have seniority attached to it, but no obligation, do it. All of them. For example, SkyWest's. There's no reason not to do it, they pay for the flight and hotel. Get your employee seniority started, just in case you decide to go there later on. Other airlines have other programs that you should also take advantage of as soon as possible. Keep your options open.

That sounds like a good plan. I'll have to look into that. Thanks!

What?! To the OP, do your research on every airline before you commit. Avoid commuting and avoid those regionals with poor reputations.

I'll save you some time and say that Republic and Skywest are the only two don't have commitments.

I have offers from Endeavor, Piedmont, and Republic and I see potential and different benefits with each. I plan on starting with on in September but honestly I'm having trouble choosing. I suppose I am leaning toward Republic due to the fact that I live in between 2 of their bases and could potentially drive to work, which seems to be a big deal on making a decision. Any other info is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I recommend combing through the Republic, Endeavor and Piedmont forums to get a solid picture. Flipping through a few pages will highlight the QOL pretty well.

To counter this statement....on the internet, every airline is the worst. They all suck. Every single one is terrible.

The happy people don't spend their time commenting on internet forums. The unhappy ones do.

Something to keep in mind while browsing.

This could not be more true.

You're going to get a different answer from everyone, because everyone's priorities and criteria for what makes a particular airline better is different. As a previous comment also said, you need to figure out what you want from your airline of choice, then find the airline that best fits that need. Each one seems to have its "thing". I have found that the majority of people I talk to choose whichever airline just so happens to have a crew base near their hometown. To me that seems wildly misguided, as I can live anywhere and be happy with it. To me, I prefer to find an airline that offers a better day to day qol and scheduling ability, and setup camp in a Jr base. Again though, to each his own.

That being said, you've got plenty of time. Don't fall for the pipeline program stuff, it's just a marketing mumbo jumbo to try to get you to commit yourself to an airline early on. If you really boil them down, they don't offer much, if anything at all. You've got a few years to go before you're gonna have your hours so wait and see what airlines are offering in a few years. Just my .02


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Pilots are moving very quickly through the seniority list at Piedmont. I was hired mid-summer of '15 and I'm at 44% seniority now. I was hired at a large Embraer operator in late '15 and I know there's no way that I'd even be close to that much seniority had I stayed with them.

I appreciate this input. It was helpful. Thanks!

Aside from not going to mesa, my honest advice is this. Do your research. You owe it to yourself. Pick a regional. Don't belabor the issue. Don't look back. Focus on enjoying your life. If you're happy at one, you'll be happy at em all. Same goes for being miserable.

Living in base is very important. That being said, bases open and close at the drop of a hat.

I can only recommend Air Wisconsin. We have the best pay and work rules of any regional airline. Yes, we fly CRJ200s. They're old and dirty. However, the type of RJ that you fly has zero importance on your chances of being hired at mainline, and the 200 is a very fun plane to fly.