What is a "regional"
 

Why do we accept this notion that we are in the minors and are paying dues and are not worth the guy at the "majors"?

We fly aircraft that are as sophisticated, if not in some cases more so than at some of the "majors". We fly 200 some times 300 passengers a day. There's really nothing "regional" about our flying. We do the same exact thing as the guy at the next gate making 200k. Why?? Because in 1970s they flew props and were called regionals and somehow that correlates to today? It makes 0 sense. The money is coming from the same place that pays the 200k guy, so how come you're only getting a tiny fraction?

Sounds familiar, right? Probably a term coined by ALPA. And rightfully so, because they and the crusty pilots that came before us decided to sell away the industry by voting in scope concessions so that they could fluff their own paychecks. So now, those same old guys tell us we must "pay our dues" at the regionals even though they never had to! :rolleyes:

Anyway, the "regionals" are just the airlines flying under the scope that ALPA and company decided to sell away. It doesn't matter how similar our routes and equipment are, or how much the technology has improved over the years. All that matters is the scope we fly under.

Why do we accept the notion? Because the majors won't hire low-time pilots as long as there are people still applying at the regionals. If that goes against your principles, one can always join the military and gain jet experience there. Or, ask your mainline buddies to sacrifice their paychecks and retake scope so you don't have to spend time at the regionals. Good luck with that.

Hmm dead horse is still dead.

The term regional or commuter is a bit misleading. It alludes to a time not too long ago when the airline was relegated to a small corner of the country. Atlantic Southeast, Atlantic Coast Airlines, Air Wisconsin, Chautauqua, et al that operated in their named region or out of one or two hubs in that region serving regional markets. Obviously, it has significantly morphed since then as scope compliant regional jet aircraft were literally invented to fit nicely within those cutouts.

Now, I'll be the first to say that regional pilots need to be compensated better than they currently are. Unfortunately, from an economic standpoint, regionals are just subcontract labor and only exist because they can do it cheaper than the mainline entity. They are able to staff this model using lower wages because, during a major labor surplus, people would take any job especially one that was seen as a "pathway to the majors." While that concept has since died, the regional model is using an apprenticeship model to staff their flying.

So, to your question. This isn't about skills. At one point, during the TProp days, it was. As long as the regionals exist in their current form, they will always be an apprenticeship for the majors and will pay apprentice wages. As soon as the economics no longer support this model, the regionals will shrink dramatically until it does.

Well, from what I've been told, us regional pilots aren't skilled enough to fly mainline passengers around in mainline jets. So, they let us fly mainline passengers around in regional jets instead. Gotta keep payin' those dues!

This industry is a joke.

I've never once been told that at an interview or by another non-regional pilot. As I said before, it literally has nothing to do with skill, for the most part. It has everything to do with economics and capitalism.

It's a complex.

Says who though? Management? Up untill a year or two ago you would have been laughed at if you said one will make 60 to 80k first year at a regional. It was the norm to get paid 25 bucks an hour. Now obviously we see that they could have paid way more. I just feel like most are just blindly following this im in the "minors" mentality and have to go through it? But why?? You do the same thing as the other guy. There's nothing entry level about it.

Yes exactly, we have made it a joke.

Too much complaining in this thread. Just concentrate on being competitive to be selected by a major/LCC one day. Regionals will never go away, and the working conditions at them will only improve marginally. The goal is to stand out by proving that you are a leader and a good aviator. You can do that by rising through the ranks at a regional carrier/crappy LCC like Spirit/part 135 charter or more preferably if you're still young, go military. In any case, it is not worth the time lamenting the shoddy conditions at regional airlines. Just focus on improving yourself so that you can move on.