KelvinHelmholtz

no it was 2015. Hundreds of FOs a month were leaving through 2014 since upgrades were 8 years and PSA was hiring street captains after they backstabbed Eagle for more shiny jets

Cujo665

It was in late 2015. The majority of improvements happening at all regionals started in 2016. Some isolated stuff did start in late 2015 though. Some managements held out later than others. The one thing that was for sure was that EVERY regional pilot group was voting no on every concessionary contract from 2012 to mid 2014 when PSA broke the unofficial consortium wall. It was amazing watching pilots from every regional pilot group everywhere finally stand up and say enough, no more. From Silver, Mesa, Republic, TSA, Compass, everybody voted no. The whole Stop the Whipsaw movement was in full swing, the kitbag stickers were showing up everywhere. It was amazing to see. Even ALPA national was forced to actually do something, which is how the second Executive Administrator position (which they called the Regional Coordinator) came into existence. Moak came to our MEC in closed door and asked what we wanted. We told him better representation at National, and the Regional Coordinator Executive Assistant was born.

You've got about 4 years left on the "shortage": before things smooth out for the pilot supply. Use that time wisely to structure contracts to prevent the next round of whipsaw concessionary negotiating because I guarantee you..... it is coming.

I'd work on scope to include something that protects the existing flying or planes from being transferred to another carrier without union consent or agreement. In other words, remove the ease of the financial incentive aspect of the whipsaw.
If you are a WO I'd be working on a single list with your mainline sibling company.

Above all else, the moment you finish IOE at the regional, you should be instantly applying to every major and legacy. Your number one job once finishing training at the regional, is to get out of the regionals.

If you are close to retirement (10 years or less) with the increased pay and improving working conditions, finishing your career at the regional is absolutely a decent option now. Choose your regional carefully though. The shortage will get a bit worse, and I'd expect 1 or 2 more regionals to fall or get otherwise absorbed. Any WO should be fine, then Republic/Skywest/Mesa are all going to survive along with CommutAir. Shrinking is going to happen. Don't plan your future on what their bases are today, that can and will change fast. The other smaller places are in for a tough ride with lots of shrinking and a few will likely vanish.