DC Regional w/RTP - Advice
 

I am narrowing down what regional to consider in the DC region (pretty much equidistant to drive to BWI/DCA/IAD). I am a military rotary wing pilot that would need a RTP program to get up to speed. I am looking for any advice from folks that have gone down a similar path. It's a strange world we are living in - a helicopter pilot has options about what regional airline to go work for.

PSA - radio silent.
Mesa - internet says is terrible but IAD is junior.
Commutair - internet says is terrible but flies out of DCA; recruiter said I'd probably end up in EWR at first.
Piedmont - huge training backlog is a detractor. PHL is still sorta drivable. I was told they'd start interviewing in October for class dates "some time in 2019."

I am currently also looking at commuting to NYC for Envoy (Strong RTP pipeline with full funding, lots of commute options as far as I can tell, generally positive reviews aside from lengthy reserve times which are going down) or Skywest in LGA or ATL (The commute would be tolerable if the new TA bears fruit).

Are the complaints about Mesa and Commutair from a vocal minority or are they legit?

What do you mean about, “radio silence” from PSA?

Last person who posted about getting the silent treatment from PSA blew off an interview date with them... if that was you, sorry but don’t expect a warm welcome after something like that.

PDT just washed out a group of MTP pilots within the last month or so... so the training center folks have to take a look at whether or not they’re doing applicants a disservice by bringing them onboard. FYI NH FO, NH FO pairings where both have only RTP backgrounds is not a recipe for success in 121 training.

I’d probably go CommutAir over Mesa with the plan that if you don’t pas CPP but are otherwise successful you can go to an AA Wholly Owned regional as a DEC.

Thanks all for your replies. Radio silence with PSA in that I contacted them but had not yet heard back. I definitely didn't blow off any interviews or communication attempts.

I had not really considered jumping ship to be a DEC somewhere once I have the requisite experience/if CPP doesn't work out. Good idea.

I have read elsewhere to be sure that I don't end up with a sim partner who also had a RTP background. That got me thinking about Envoy since, sure I'd have to commute, but they have a lot of RTP folks (300 as of a Q3 newsletter I received) so the company must have the transition training down to a science.

Best bet with PSA is probably have someone write a referral, or hunt them down at a job fair if they don’t respond.

If republic has an RTP program, you’d be foolish not to consider them. They’ve got bases within driving distance, decent QOL for pilots and their pay blows the AA WO out of the water.

I have seen some rumors on APC that Republic is formulating a RTP but I have found no facts to substantiate them. I suppose your advice above all is to avoid a commute even for a company with better pay/reputation/the possibility of some time potentially maybe flowing to AA?

With the Skywest and Expressjet TAs, the AA Wholly Owned regionals just became bottom of the industry pay wise, with no WO and AA management saying they have no intention of raising pay.

If you can drive to work and pay is low QOL can be okay, but to commute to an industry bottom paying regional with 10+ year flow, with no hope of living in base over that 10 years... I would not recommend that at all.

CommutAir is not as bad as the internet makes it sound. There are people getting IAD now while still in training. Lots of growth with lots of opportunity. They do have rotor transition program if you need it. If you need the full 1000 hours before upgrade, you could be at UA through the CPP within 3 years if you do more than the minimum. The pass rates have gotten a lot better than they were when it started.

Give Mesa a shot. It’s no worse than any other regional and better than some. IAD base is easy to get.

The last 4 or 5 classes at Envoy have been all ORD and DFW. I would not count on getting LGA at Envoy.