comair guys also royally screwed themselves with DAL during the furloughs. they could have had a sweet little agreement to be first in line to get hired at DAL but whatever its in the past.

My point is, things change fast in this industry. Todays "best" regional is tomorrows furloughing, pay slashing regional. To say that 2 years from now, RAH will have a 2 year upgrade is like saying you are gonna win the lottery. Sure it could happen, but is it guaranteed? Probably not.

ok so what should people do when it comes to picking their regional. yes its like picking a hamster at a pet store, theyre all pretty nasty and you dont know for sure what its gonna be like, and yes it could die on you or be a pain in the ass. but hey you really wanted that hamster.

All I am trying to say is that when picking a regional, pick a place that seems like it will have a stable future, is near where you want to live, and has good pay/work rules. But going somewhere just because they have a 2 year upgrade is just setting yourself up for disappointment. It seems right now people go to places because they have the "quick upgrade" and think that the minute they get 1000 PIC they are gonna have companies knocking down their doors with job offers. It just doesn't work that way. Also a good relationship with management is key, because a hostile management can make your like suck.

Even if I would for some freakish coincidence I would get on with some better airline (like a legacy or UPS or FedEx) after being at Republic for 1.5 years, I wouldn't care at all about that training contract. I'd pay the fine for leaving early, if they assessed me, because it would be better for me to move onward and upward instead of staying at the same place. Then again, I doubt I'd get hired somewhere bigger and better with less than two years experience.

As for my top regionals....

Republic
AWAC
Skywest
ExpressJet
....all the rest are equally mediocre (aside from Mesa and GoJets, which are in the bottom rung and not a consideration whatsoever)

Horizon for location, routes, pay and equipment. Not for upgrade time at the moment.
Skywest for location, routes and seemingly stable growth and possibly one of the 'more' happy pilot groups. Not for the pay.

Those are my top two pics the others are all in the same ball park with similar equipment, QOL and Pay (not including smaller operators like Great Lakes etc). That's for ME anyways.

Cheers and blue side up...if that's your intention.

Do it based on personal needs, and on the better contract.

I've looked at the contract for multiple carriers and no one gets even close to the contract at XJT.

SKW and RAH have ok contracts, but we have guys making more money flying 50 seaters.

My buddy at CHQ just told me that they are "buying" back vacations because they're so short staffed, there goes your QQL.

Again is whatever works for you, but I say stick with the better work rules and contract. And as someone mentioned earlier, be mindful to the fact that anything can happen in this industry.

Republic, Skywest, Comair, ExpressJet are not good regionals. They are MAJORS! They all have revenues high enough and large enough pilot groups to be considered majors by the DOT. As such they should be considered against other majors and nationals.

So when is your leader actually going to have you guys drink the Kool-Aid so you can all go "home" to the mothership...

Don't blind yourself to all reality when picking a company.
My top 5
1. CapeAir
2. Big Sky
3. GreatLakes
4. RegionsAir... uh?
5. Corporate Express... what?

These are really my picks in no particular order...
1. Horizon
2. Skywest
3. AWAC
4. Expressjet
5. Republic

but... those could all be in the gutter tomorrow... All of them.

They sure don't pay like majors...... :p :D