Originally Posted by HotMamaPilot

who called me a horse?

Originally Posted by ryane946

I live in California, so the American Eagle over Republic seems kind of funny. Usually I would switch these two in order, but this is MY top 5.

1. Skywest
2. Express Jet
3. American Eagle
4. Republic
5. Horizon

Skywest, ExpressJet, and Republic are the top regionals to be at today. Skywest and Republic are growing, while ExpressJet is experiencing a lot of attrition due to CAL hiring. All three have good pay, good work rules, and a quick upgrade.
Horizon is a quality regional. In fact, they are so high quality that people stick around for a long time. So the upgrade is near 6 years. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, or you are looking to end your career at a regional (because you are getting old or like the northwest), Horizon would be a great place to go.
American Eagle is going to have about a 3 year upgrade (t-prop) if you get hired today. The flowbacks are leaving, more flowthroughs will likely go to AA, older Eagle captains are retiring, and AA will be hiring around 2009-2010. They are a quality regional, they just have been getting a bad reputation because of the upgrade. And that is changing. So they are on my list because of the LAX base.

Originally Posted by Korean1DR

Well, here goes...

If there is only one thing to remember, then this is it... This industry changes so rapidly, that a great carrier can turn into a memory overnight. It is true that at present time upgrade at AWAC is longer than other regionals. But this can change to be shorter, or longer depending on the company and its decisions... Just because it's 5 years now doesn't mean that it will be a year from now, or such. In a likewise manner, a 2 year upgrade now, doesn't mean that it will still be 2 years from now. My opinion? Go to a place where QOL is best for you. What does this mean? It means there isn't a universal "top regional" because everyones QOL has different needs. My top 5? Here ya go and they are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER...

Skywest
Horizon
Expressjet
AWAC
Republic

Originally Posted by sflpilot

Republic takes a hit though because they have a 2 year training contract.

Originally Posted by bizzum

Wow someone actually makes sense! I work for AWAC, sure we do not have a 2 year upgrade TODAY, but 2 years from now, who knows? We have CA's leaving by the truck load, and when you only have just over 700 total pilots, my personal feeling is that our upgrade time will come down fast. We have lost something like 98 pilots since October. We were "overstaffed" according to the company. Most of that 98 were CA's. Once the upgrade train gets on the tracks, things will move quick.