Regional lifers. Why are they stuck?
 

Just curious. I'm sure you all know several lifers at your regional. Of those lifers that cannot move up and are not a lifer by choice, what are the most common characteristics and flaws that most of them share? What are the main reasons you think they can't get on with a legacy or at least a good LCC/ULCC?

Are they socially inept, weird, a-holes, slobs, unprofessional, not likeable?
Training failures, incidents/accidents, DUI's, criminal record?

Is it their personality holding them back more than their flying record, and or, their personal history?

We can use this thread as a cautionary tale. Thanks.

Old pilots used to being the boss don’t want to give up being on top of the seniority list where they’re revered, have a better schedule QOL and in some cases a pension to take a pay cut to go to the bottom of another seniority list. That’s part of why that groups of folks don’t try to leave.

For lifers who try to leave but don’t, often times they’re 40+ year old RJ captains who’ve been in their seat 5+ years and only fly the line, don’t do anything extra to stand out amongst their peers in the industry. They think they’re too good to try to go to LCCs and turn down job offers from them in an effort to hold out for something better that doesn’t ever come.

Sometimes you’ve got pilots who have marks criminal or work history (2+ checkride failures, multiple jobs in the span of a year, withdrawal from training at a 121 airline, failed CQs, long gaps in employment etc.) who make them appear to be a greater risk of not successfully completing training, or not sticking around or being a liability to the company.

I originally read the title of that thread as "Regional lifers. Why do they suck?".

That conversation was going to go in a very different direction.

Some are just lazy and dont want to put in the time required to move on.

The ones who are "major material" that dont move on are almost all tied to their domicile for personal reasons. They dont want to commute to reserve and the "paltry" regional schedule that they know they'll have for the rest of their career let's them take care of stuff at home.

And then theres the bunch that are just poor pilots. Age and experience doesnt guarantee skill or aptitude. Thats the negative side of the seniority system. Some of the best captains/first officers I've flown with are relatively young/low experienced guys.

So you think it's more of a personal choice and not so much to do with their personality for many of them?

Obviously, you're going to have the ones with sketchy records or employment history, training failures.

So it's a mixture of both choice, and blemished records?

The bolded paragraph is just shocking. Don't they realize that they could make so much more money with just a few years of sacrifice if they moved to an LCC or major? Can they not do the math?

There are as many reasons as there are lifers.

Yeah, I was just trying to get a handle on the ones not stuck by choice, but because they can't get hired by a major or LCC.

Personality doesn’t get someone an invite to interview. I have seen personality end application processes with TBNT though.

It’s case dependent on the individual but there are categories that many fall into.

Oh I know this. I flew with an old CA that was doing 270 KIAS below 10k, and I pointed it out and he told me, "Don't tell me how to fly my airplane." :mad:

This was a POS CA that was busted by the IRS for setting up a fake church with him as the preacher to try to avoid paying income taxes. Total a-hole.