Huh? Nope. Envoy DECs fly as Captains.

 

What's your career worth to you ?

Back in my day, uphill both ways... there was only regional sub forum and each airline had a thread thousands of pages long. I read through most of them.

Its really not that hard, just start with some simple questions -

1. Do you live in a base ?
2. If not are you willing to move?

In other words, apply locally and if not - I don't know about you but if I'm going to move or commute I'm going to apply where I make the most money/quality of life. All the other crap you talked about - with the exception of how to long to start class - is crap.

Good luck.

 

This.

The way I look at it is this. If I get an easy base to commute to as an FO, when I upgrade I likely won't be able to hold that base and will have a longer commute anyway, so I'm taking a DEC position and deal with whatever horrible commute I have. It's a short term sacrifice for a long term gain.

 

Ok, I’ll bite - what the hell does “DEC” and “CQF” stand for?

 

I'm not with a regional carrier anymore, but I believe the following is correct:

DEC: Direct Entry Captain

CQF: Captain Qualified First Officer

Someone please clarify if I am wrong...

AU

 

Commutair. And yes, they are a thing here, but based on various discussions in the crew room most of our CQFs are flying in the left seat since we're short CAs and a bit thicker on FOs. Really, a non-issue, at least for now.

 

The first two are easy answers to get from recruiters, or at least once you have a job offer. And you should go to more than one interview. If you get two job offers and one place says you can start next week while the other place says October, go with the job that starts next week. Heck, if you love the place that starts in October just park any bonus money you get, then in October turn in your two-week notice and go with the other airline if you want.
Usually, there is a correlation between how quickly you can start class and get through IOE and how much you will fly/sit reserve. It's usually an indication that the company is very short staffed.
Reserve. People talk about reserve like it's the end of the world. Now if you are commuting, yeah. It sucks. But if you live in base and have a good contract reserve can be nice.
Good luck.

 

I live in base (30 min commute) and loved reserve. Flew 10 days and took kids to park or wherever the rest of time.

 

When I was on reserve I was at the park so much with my kids all the mothers got to know me. They would joke that they thought I was a drug dealer at first as I never seemed to work.

 

How much time do you guys have to report if you are called in while on reserve?