Advice for best regional.
 

Hello,

I’m looking for some advice on which regional you guys would pick if you could change and start your career over? Are you happy with your current regional. Or which one would you pick now? I really have no preference on where I live or what major airline I end up with. Just looking for advice on what I should be prioritizing. It seems to me the regionals with the most flying have less security (no guaranteed flows) but you are getting more hours? What is more important for getting to a major, a flow or a lot of hours to make yourself marketable? Thank you.

PSA has a real good mix of decent pay, schedule flexibility and great QOL once you have a little bit of seniority and flow.

There isn't ONE answer to your question for everybody. The right answer depends on your own geographic or social constraints, your aspirations, your risk tolerance, your prior experience.... A whole multitude of variables.

For example, the regional where you can progress most quickly might have cr@ppy pay and work rules and overall quality of life, but it may get you too the majors years before a regional that you would find preferable if another economic downturn trapped you at a regional for a decade.

'Flow' generally is a sucker play, like the house edge on slot machines, the extended warranty, or that true coat they put on at the factory, but if you've got three DUIs, four training failures, a FAR violation or two, and a breaking and entering conviction, cr@ppy though it is, it may be your ONLY possibility of getting to the majors.

Everyone's situation is different.

This argument about the flow is simply false. The WOs don't hire those guys any more.
There was a bunch who got in around 2016 when they hired pretty much anyone, but those days are long gone.

Great Lakes Airlines

I know someone with multiple training failures who got rejected from a WO, went to another regional for about a year, and then got hired on by the original WO. Maybe they're not taking the most egregious cases but they're still taking people who would likely really struggle to get a call from mainline.

A recent 121 training event plus recurrent does help a lot. But going back to the post i replied to, convictions etc are a no go.
And with 5 or more failures, they wont take you at a WO. That's when you get stuck at RAH etc.

You seem butt hurt about YX. Couldn’t pass the interview or what?

I did, want a copy of my CJO? RAH interview was a total joke.
The only pilot I know with 8 checkride failures is at YX.
And the only pilot I know who 100% falsified his logbooks, and got fired from his previous shop because of it, and lied about it, is at YX. He's a real winner. Got fired from FAA ATC before he started flying. He is very vocal on your union FB site, and doesn't use his real last name on his FB profile. I think most YX guys know him by now.

So I just have a problem when people paint WOs with that brush. Every airline has a share of their winners. WO's are more selective today than many others.

ohh please do tell. There is one a-hole on there who loves to argue that you shouldn't tip van drivers, even if they handle your luggage. I bet you that is him.

If his first name has 3 letters and he has a fake last name, that's him.

Best Regional
 

I have to agree with a lot that has been said. My suggestion: You said it doesn't matter where you live, so, choose 2 or 3 locations that you would like to live, (commuting sucks, especially if on Reserve). Look at those locations and which airlines have a domicile there. This should help you narrow down your options.

I've heard the AA flows can take 5 years or longer. Unless AA is the only one you are willing to accept an offer from, as good as they are, I would recommend one without a flow. I know individuals who have went to a Major that didn't have a flow after 3 years at a Regional. On the other hand, if you are young enough and have enough years that waiting another 3 - 5 years to go to a Major won't make much difference in the long run, then don't overlook them.

Don't just look at the bonus' and the first year pay. You will be there a few years, so look it as a three year investment. A few offer good bonus' the first year, but by year three their total payout is less than others.

If you read enough of the forums, there are a lot of doom and gloom comments, regarding how terrible this regional is, or that regional, and how they will be going "bye bye" soon. If that is a concern of yours, and I suggest you ignore these comments, then look at those that are growing, adding planes.

It's worth noting that flow can be beneficial - even if you don't plan to use it - in the sense that the most senior people leave. It's been my experience that in regionals without flow, your top 20 or 25% of the list tends to stick around.