PilotsLife YoHo

Thoughts? Suggestions?
I have a CJO with both. Will have to commute either way.

Varsity

Compass.

Envoy is a dumpster fire right now.

UnderCenter

Titanic vs Lusitania....tough choice

drivinghome

I should’ve done a poll I guess. Looks like the choice is obvious already.

amcnd

You have had 2 responses!! Your crazy to base your choice based off that, and this website!!!

Cujo665

Compass will be losing the AA flying. This will result in increased upgrade times. Envoy has a lower QOL but you will upgrade sooner, and have flow in your back pocket.
Another consideration as a commuter is travel benefits. As an Envoy pilot you have the same travel benefits as an AA pilot, including non-rev priority on all AA/AE branded flights over offline jumpseaters and non-revs. The AA travel benefits will also allow you up to 13 friends on your travel list in addition to the immediate family. The immediate family will also come before offline jumpseaters and non-revs.
If AA is on your target list, your time at Envoy will also count towards earning lifetime AA travel benefits... you can’t get lifetime travel on a mainline from subcontractors.
Then there’s the whole “all regionals are not alike” thing... which unless you’ve worked at more than one, or specifically gone on a side by side comparison may not be so obvious, but is definitely true. At some regionals you’ll be doing manual W&B for each flight, and at others they’ve been doing EWBS and ACARS for TOLD data for decades already. You’re also hitting at a time when the shortage is expected to draw the flying back into the mainline and their wholly owned regionals. Keeping the flying in house will keep the upgrades moving and the new hires coming to where the movement is.
Do your research carefully in this emerging market.

drivinghome

To be clear, I’m not the one wondering. I was just making a sarcastic comment.

Excargodog

Not enough info for a meaningful response. Single? Married? Kids? Living where? Can't move because? ATP? RATP? Age? TT? Any 121 time or 135 equivalent? Training failures? Civilian? Military? Where do you want to be in three years? In five years?

The only thing worse than predictions made on garbage in/garbage out is NOTHING in.

dvtpilot

I think Cujo has a lot of valid points here. Envoy isn’t the top of the stack by a long shot but it’s one of the few that has light at the end of the tunnel. Life at a contract carrier can be tough every few years when they put the screws down because it’s CPA renewal time. Nobody at any regional is safe but I like to think that given the changing market a WO is the place to be.

That said, if you’re going to choose one today I’d go to one of the AA wholly owned. As of today, being on the west coast I’d still choose Envoy over PSA just for commutability. If you can move close to or in a PSA base, I’d go there. I would not goto Piedmont.

PilotsLife YoHo

You're right. I didnt give enough info.

Married with kids. Cant move because in laws are older and not doing too well. Live in ABQ. Total time 2900. 700 Prior 121. No military time.

Cujo made some great points too. I've done a fair amount of research but I'm having a hard time.

Envoy said to expect an upgrade within 6 months. I'm worried about a bunch of FO's who are senior to me upgrading after I do and then I'm perpetually stuck at the the bottom of the reserve list. I do want to enjoy some quality of life.

Compass doesn't have this problem. I'll upgrade in seniority order, from what I understand. Will they be around in 2 years though? That's anyone's guess. People seem much happier there.

I feel like I'm choosing quality of life over possible longevity.