If You Had to Choose living in Charleston, SC
 

Hello All,

Will be living in Charleston, SC and will not be able to move for at least three years (law school for significant other... long term plan is to have her buy me a seaplane and fly that in flip flops, however will need to fly for a living until that happens). Have a choice between Endeavor, Skywest or Republic. With the various bases, leaning towards Endeavor (NYC, ATL which is sorta drive-able) or Republic (NYC but no drive-able bases from CHS... BUT most of the flights out of CHS are on Republic metal)... If you had to choose, which would you take (looking for ease of commutability)? I realize I am in an enviable position to be able to choose, and am thankful for the opportunity.

I also searched, but there isn't much specific to this situation so if anyone lives in Charleston, SC and does regional flying/commuting their input would be greatly appreciated.

Haters gonna hate, flame away if deemed necessary.

Assuming class dates are the same, Endeavor for commuter policy and eventual ATL basing, as well as the 5 day fully commutable trips. Reserve is generally commutable day of as well.

Edit: trying to commute to ATL for Skywest would be exceedingly difficult given their low priority for the jumpseat/ lack of commuter policy/ positive space second attempt.

If 121 is not your long term goal there are several 91/135 operators at CHS that are good outfits. Send me a PM if you would like some recommendations.

Agree with FlyDiamond, I’d go Endeavor in your situation. Hopefully they’ll have more flying by the end of the year and the ATL operation will open up even more. Either way, you’ll eventually hold it and they have the best commuter rules currently.
Charleston is a great town, but it’s a tough commuter city, ATL is about the only city that’s an okay commute from there.

ZW has a CAE base. This would be drivable.

ZW and CAE would be a good option but I am currently stuck with choosing between DCI carriers.

I have been leaning towards Endeavor based on the reasons stated so far in the thread. I was afraid CHS would be a hard commute because it's such a great place to live vs. Atlanta, but at least in a pinch a 5hr drive is manageable if absolutely necessary.

Thanks for the information everyone it's much appreciated

Are you Propel?

I am part of the Propel program, which limits my choices to the DCI carriers.

*curious to see whether 9E folks go radio silent*

Then get off my lawn!

You probably won't encounter many friendly faces at Endeavor since Delta decided to give you better career progression than us that are already flying for their wholly owned carrier.

Skywest - You can get ATL with in 6mo. Endeavor from my understanding isn't hiring till the end of the year. It would most likely take you over a year to get to Atlanta. Skywest is only a few months out on class dates and you will go straight training. You might do Detroit for the first 3mo online before getting ATL. I talked with one of our FOs last week who is from CHarleston. He said no issues getting to Atlanta. I have been here for 1 year and very happy I choose Skywest. I didn't go to Endeavor because I didn't want to be based of of NYC. Skywest is a good choice. Best of luck

Indeed. Filler.

Personally I don’t have any issue with these sort of programs but you may not want to mention that you’re in that program to anyone on the line.

Thanks for the gouge Bonanza. Pretty excited about CHS. I've got some friends at Skywest who love the company. Seems like a great place, and if I can make it work it would be hard to turn it down.

I expect shade thrown my way, it's not something I'd bring up in casual conversation due to the sensitivity of the topic and hard feelings for some. Tact goes a long way. If someone asks directly, however, they'll get a direct answer.

So with the propel program, if you go to a DCI carrier other than endeavor, are you required to only operate DC flights? Just wondering if Delta places any stipulations on you not operating flights for United Express or American Eagle at the other DCI carriers that fly under multiple colors.

Is the propel program where Delta hires directly from the aviation universities?

CHS-ATL is absolutely not an easy commute. I'm a 9E guy and perform USAF Reserve duty in CHS and more often than not (spring-fall), I have to drive from ATL. There are over 100 DAL pilots that live in CHS and most of them commute to ATL, all former/current USAFR guys/gals.
NYC is a bit easier thanks to non DAL carriers that don't regularly oversell their seats.
No hating on SkyWest but you enjoy that subpar pay and no union if you go that route...

[MENTION=68932]flynfish77[/MENTION]


How does that work as a 9E getting on not DAL flights other than the jumpseat? There’s quite a few CHS-NYC flights between the carriers

You have to do what? 30 months at a DCI carrier prior to your Delta class date? Own metal commute on RAH would probably be easiest depending on frequency compared to offline Jumpseat/5hr drive option.

Also Republic vests your 401K contributions immediately which would be a bonus since you know you’re going to be there a short time.

CHS to NYC is a piece of cake, part of the reason I've strongly considered moving back there. Also, our commuter policy gets you 2nd flight positive space (on Delta) if you can't get a seat on the first one (any airline). I should have mentioned that the first time around but I only make that commute for mil duty so I was not thinking about it.