Regional upgrade time
 

Anyone care to comment on the current upgrade times for regional airlines?? Which one's fastest??

Well the one guaranteed thing I can tell you is.......... Useless to forecast what your upgrade is going to be, This is one horse that is beaten beyond recognition. As a new FO the last thing you need to be doing is "projecting" your upgrade time. I dont mean this for you, just in general.

The best way to prolong the misery in the regional world is to chase an upgrade.

truer words never spoken.........

go for quality of life... the upgrade isn't as important as you think. happiness is. besides, continental is hiring RJ FOs without turbine PIC. food for thought.

Well.....................FO's that have Some pretty nice internal Recs.......... Its funny I have been looking at the lines for the real senior people here at XJT, and they are amazing. I mean anywhere from 16-19 days off, sometimes there is like 10-12 days off in a row. I would love to find another way to make enough money so I could just stay an FO until I could hold a decent line as a CA. QOL is what motivates me, but then again so does CAL, SWA, UPS, FEDEX, DAL, AA, United, etc............. I dunno I hope this industry turns around, its ashame so many great people that have given their lives to this thing only to get their pay, benefits, pensions stolen from the greed of Corporate America.

your guaranteed fastest upgrade will be in something like a B1900 at lakes or commutair, or the Brasilia at Skywest. with the RJ's it will vary based on what happens with growth and current and future contracts (skywest and republic), and how quickly captains are leaving (stagnation at eagle).

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Originally Posted by MTBrulz (Post 132300)

Anyone care to comment on the current upgrade times for regional airlines?? Which one's fastest??

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From the looks of it seems like you are left seat in a 135 operator. So you should be fairly familiar with the uncertainty of the aviation industry. Upgrade times can quickly change XJT was at 5+ years then for those hired around March/April of 2004 it dropped to 2 years, then for folks hired in June/ July 2004 its running about 18 months. At American Eagle the upgrade time is at 8 years or so, but with a few extra planes and maybe 10 AA pilots flowing back over the next year that may drop to a 4 Year upgrade for those hired in 2003 and maybe in the future will be a 2 year upgrade for those hired in late 2007.

The important thing may be to look at quality of pay/work rules/benefits at the airline you would like to work for. 1000 PIC turbine doesn’t mean you are getting hired at a Legacy anymore, any even more importantly, getting hired at a legacy is not the final stop anymore. The Avg Part121 captain now has about 4000 hours PIC because of Sept 11. So with 1000 Hrs you have to be very competitive in other areas to really match up. Maybe you are related to a pilot, have an internal recommendation, whatever the matter it should be known that airlines try to get the most experience pilots that are available in the market.

Back to your fast upgrade question, what are your goals? If you just want the 1000 PIC then you should just stay with the 135 job, if you want money, get hired with a well paying Part 121 like AWAC, XJT, etc...

The DC9 used to be a happy ending at a Major for a pilots career in many cases, pay was about 191/Hr in many cases but now that DC9 is called the CRJ900/1000 or EMB 175/190 in the haste to get to the big pay as pilots we may eliminate many of the well paying jobs out there.

The APC website shows most junior Captain hire dates and that would be your best bet at a guess to what the current outlook is. You might also look at the 10K reports and stock info for your favorite airlines to see if expansion is on the horizon.

Good Luck

I'm with SAAB on this one.. found out the hard way. Just like he did ;)

I'm currently on a 135 gig, pay is not bad but QOL sucks (to me QOL is just as important as $$$) so I'm just feeling the ground to see if the regional world is a viable way to go...thanks for the thoughts...

Short of a major catastrophe in the US, based on the current number of retirements and industry growth (particularly at the regionals); you're looking at an average of 2 years at most regionals between now and then next 5 years. Again this is a rough estimate based on the data available, companies fold, merge, and sometimes reduce capacity and things could change. Industry wide however, I think the 2 year mark will become standard.

I dunno 2 years kinda scares me,:eek: A lot of responsibility, wish I could find another high paying job, wouldn't mind sitting right seat for a while, 17 days off, all day trips :)

You mean something like the age 65 rule that's gonna pass in the next few months?

Aren't you on reserve?

yah, I meant when I was able to hold CA, if I stayed an FO I would have a great schedule.........................

ps Lineholder for APRIL :)

I agree with you, in someways 2 years seems like a short amount of time, however, everyone I know that upgraded in two years or less, has done a great job. I suppose it's up to every individual to determine when they're ready. Like you said for a lot of folks, FO for an extra year or two is not so bad if they upgrade and get the schedule and base they want.

Dont suppose theres anyway for a non-employee to see what kind of lines are out there, is there? For various companies

About the only way is to contact someone at the company you are interested in who is willing to send you the bid packet.

If QOL of life is whats important to you then upgrade time is the last thing you should be looking at. To maximize your QOL go to work for the most stable company that has a base closest to where you want to live. If there aren't any, find the one that will have the easiest commute from where you want to live. Example: Eagle upgrade is uber long (6-8 years at current estimates) but if you live in Dallas its probably the best gig going.