Regionals. Where should I go?
11-08-2018, 05:47 PM
#1
New Hire
Thread Starter
Joined APC: Nov 2018
Posts: 2
Regionals. Where should I go?
Hi Everyone!
I’m new to airline pilot forums, but after reading some posts it looks like it receives great feedback! I’m currently working for a 135 company and am close to reaching my hours. I’ve been doing research on a few different regionals but was hoping to receive some input from all of you. My current options are:
Air Wisconsin
Skywest
Compass
Envoy
An important factor is quality of life. I want to be happy wherever I end up and upgrade within a reasonable time. If anyone has any experience with any of these regionals, or ones that I didn’t mention, I would love to hear your input.
Thanks & fly safe friends 😊
I’m new to airline pilot forums, but after reading some posts it looks like it receives great feedback! I’m currently working for a 135 company and am close to reaching my hours. I’ve been doing research on a few different regionals but was hoping to receive some input from all of you. My current options are:
Air Wisconsin
Skywest
Compass
Envoy
An important factor is quality of life. I want to be happy wherever I end up and upgrade within a reasonable time. If anyone has any experience with any of these regionals, or ones that I didn’t mention, I would love to hear your input.
Thanks & fly safe friends 😊
11-08-2018, 05:55 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2018
Posts: 122
Depends where you want to be based. But if you care just about best regional right now. Id say Republic. I got offers from Republic, Skywest, and Endeavor. Im sure I could get more. But I chose Republic. Overall contract, and quality of life is the best. Plus I really wanted to fly the e-170/175. If you need help getting a call from them and getting the foot in the door let me know.
11-08-2018, 06:30 PM
#3
Perennial Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 11,501
Pick the one that allows you to live in base within a reasonable period of time. If it is unavoidable and you MUST commute, choose one that has a relatively short time in reserve and has a base that you can get that will be a SINGLE leg commute from where you will be living.
Next consideration is how much they will actually let you fly. You aren't trying to make a career of the regional's - merely to get your time and (hopefully) move on. Use caution about going to somewhere that you'll be on reserve for six months and only flying 30 hours a month. Yes, you would get paid the guarantee, but the hours and the upgrade are really what the job is all about.
Next consideration is how much they will actually let you fly. You aren't trying to make a career of the regional's - merely to get your time and (hopefully) move on. Use caution about going to somewhere that you'll be on reserve for six months and only flying 30 hours a month. Yes, you would get paid the guarantee, but the hours and the upgrade are really what the job is all about.
11-08-2018, 08:36 PM
#4
Gets Weekdays Off
Joined APC: May 2018
Position: E170
Posts: 152
QOL
How to optimize QOL depends on your priorities. Think long and hard about what these priorities will (might) be. Here are mine, yours may vary accordingly.
Domicile
I definitely highly extremely recommend being based close to the area you want to be in, and that you LIVE IN BASE if at all possible! Even if you don't have a significant other or kids, you can't go wrong with staying close to family and friends. If you do have a significant other and kids, it's especially important to stay nearby. At most of the regionals as an FO you can make it to just about any domicile during or within a reasonable time after completing training.
Ideally you want your preferred base to be the junior base at the company, that way you are almost guaranteed to get it right away. After captain upgrade this usually gets more complicated, but I'll get to that later.
Commuting
You probably already know from your research that commuting is no fun. I haven't done much commuting, but enough to agree with everyone else that it's best to avoid it if possible. If you live in base, and that base is a junior FO base at your airline of choice, that means no commute. That is a wonderful combination to have if you can get it.
Most folks though will have a commute for at least a little while. You might have to wait until you get enough seniority to bid into your preferred base that you live in. Or, you are already comfortably living somewhere that isn't a base for any airlines.
So at that point a commute and perhaps some form of temporary accommodations in base become necessary. I commuted while waiting for my preferred base. That's where crashpads and other forms of temporary accommodation in base come in. I chose to get an apartment in my base, and then "soft" commute home a couple times a month when I received extended days off.
Upgrade
Upgrading will allow you to move on to bigger and better things down the road. You should be able to upgrade in 2 years or less just about everywhere these days. But, something that gets overlooked is what will be your base when you upgrade. CA base seniority can be very different from FO bases. Example: you can hold your preferred base as an FO right out of training, but it might take 4 years of seniority to be the junior captain in that same base.
You could commute to the junior captain base until you have the seniority to bid back to your preferred base. But, make sure you know about how long that will take. CA attrition is lower than FO attrition, which means it's bound to take more time to get back to your preferred base than it did as an FO. If the wait is too long, this could be a deal breaker with certain regionals.
Reserve
You'll probably be on reserve when you first start flying the line. This can be no big deal, or a version of hell. If you LIVE IN BASE, you take care of 90% of the problem.
Aside from that, airlines' reserve rules vary. At Republic for example, there is no airport standby reserve. So while on reserve waiting for an assignment, you're doing what you want to do at home. Most reserve however requires that you be standing by at the airport. That's no big deal if reserves get used. In other words you might sit in the crew room for part of the day and then be assigned to fly for the rest of the day. At Endeavor and Envoy, they are having some overstaffing issues, with a lot of pilots on reserve for many months flying very little (5-10 hours per month).
That could be a problem when it comes time to upgrade. You have to have the seniority to upgrade, but also you need 1,000 hours SIC part 121 and 2,500 TT.
Pay
Choosing the highest paying regional may not the best choice for highest QOL. If you can afford it, I would recommend making pay the final consideration after everything else mentioned.
Best of luck to your decision, you will be coming in at a great time! PM is always welcome.
Domicile
I definitely highly extremely recommend being based close to the area you want to be in, and that you LIVE IN BASE if at all possible! Even if you don't have a significant other or kids, you can't go wrong with staying close to family and friends. If you do have a significant other and kids, it's especially important to stay nearby. At most of the regionals as an FO you can make it to just about any domicile during or within a reasonable time after completing training.
Ideally you want your preferred base to be the junior base at the company, that way you are almost guaranteed to get it right away. After captain upgrade this usually gets more complicated, but I'll get to that later.
Commuting
You probably already know from your research that commuting is no fun. I haven't done much commuting, but enough to agree with everyone else that it's best to avoid it if possible. If you live in base, and that base is a junior FO base at your airline of choice, that means no commute. That is a wonderful combination to have if you can get it.
Most folks though will have a commute for at least a little while. You might have to wait until you get enough seniority to bid into your preferred base that you live in. Or, you are already comfortably living somewhere that isn't a base for any airlines.
So at that point a commute and perhaps some form of temporary accommodations in base become necessary. I commuted while waiting for my preferred base. That's where crashpads and other forms of temporary accommodation in base come in. I chose to get an apartment in my base, and then "soft" commute home a couple times a month when I received extended days off.
Upgrade
Upgrading will allow you to move on to bigger and better things down the road. You should be able to upgrade in 2 years or less just about everywhere these days. But, something that gets overlooked is what will be your base when you upgrade. CA base seniority can be very different from FO bases. Example: you can hold your preferred base as an FO right out of training, but it might take 4 years of seniority to be the junior captain in that same base.
You could commute to the junior captain base until you have the seniority to bid back to your preferred base. But, make sure you know about how long that will take. CA attrition is lower than FO attrition, which means it's bound to take more time to get back to your preferred base than it did as an FO. If the wait is too long, this could be a deal breaker with certain regionals.
Reserve
You'll probably be on reserve when you first start flying the line. This can be no big deal, or a version of hell. If you LIVE IN BASE, you take care of 90% of the problem.
Aside from that, airlines' reserve rules vary. At Republic for example, there is no airport standby reserve. So while on reserve waiting for an assignment, you're doing what you want to do at home. Most reserve however requires that you be standing by at the airport. That's no big deal if reserves get used. In other words you might sit in the crew room for part of the day and then be assigned to fly for the rest of the day. At Endeavor and Envoy, they are having some overstaffing issues, with a lot of pilots on reserve for many months flying very little (5-10 hours per month).
That could be a problem when it comes time to upgrade. You have to have the seniority to upgrade, but also you need 1,000 hours SIC part 121 and 2,500 TT.
Pay
Choosing the highest paying regional may not the best choice for highest QOL. If you can afford it, I would recommend making pay the final consideration after everything else mentioned.
Best of luck to your decision, you will be coming in at a great time! PM is always welcome.
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