When will regionals hire again?
 

Any ideas on when regionals will hire again? I have just under 2000 hours and fly Part 135.

They never stopped hiring; merely slowed to a crawl. However, the pace has picked up a bit recently but most (if not all) either have a contract, prioritize cadets, or both.

Judging by the guess'timated back log of in-house employees, cadets, and those who have already signed a contract and waiting on a class date, you, my friend, will be very low in any stack of applications. Good luck.

Airlines hire when they 1) gain planes or 2) lose pilots. (ie less supply or more demand)

#1 is a possibility as the captain shortage abates and dormant planes see more use
#2 is hard to say as the military/ULCC pipeline may meet all major hiring needs (and reduce regional captain attrition) for awhile

The pipeline of CFI > Regional > Career Job is probably broken or at least narrowed in the near term to special CFI > indentured regional > career job

As a low-time guy (and yes, 2000 hours is back to being low time) your best avenues are probably either 1) balls to the wall, do what it takes or 2) settle into a second tier career trajectory that doesn't require immediate cash/QOL sacrifices

the only thing I'd add is that "regionals" in most cases have become acceptable careers themselves. The compensation and contracts read more like an ULCC or LCC did just a few years ago. Many would choose living 20 minutes from base at a regional over a career of commuting. Are there outliers like CommutAir that still rely on pilots not being willing to sign a training contract, yep. But the better regionals are actually nothing like they were in the 2000's or 20 teens.

Most of these better regionals aren't even regional anymore. They operate coast to coast, Canada, Caribbean, Mexico and even South America. Many are more of a national or even technically, an ACMI with long term CPA's......which is probably most accurate. We just separate the ACMI from "regionals" by the plane size and type of flying.

There are many 737/767/777 operators that fly passenger sub service for other airlines, just usually short term contracts.... but it's the same general idea.

I'm not plugged into the sitch at every regional but I know PSA and Piedmont are hiring for exactly the reason you said. They finally have enough captains so airplanes that have been parked are coming back online.

The crappy ACMIs are probably still hiring so there will be a little movement as regional pilots get tired of waiting for flows and seek variety.

The Big 3 all claim hiring at least 1,000 each next year so that will help a bit but you are correct, military, Spirit, Frontier, ACMI and flows will be more than enough to fill those slots.

TPIC, degrees, check airman experience, sim instructor, chief pilot are all factors again. Some highly qualified regional pilots will still get hired outside of flow arrangements. We're also nowhere near the 'lost decade' level of stagnation.

Yeah that's what I'm trying to figure out how long before that backlog clears.

Typically, regionals hire based on demand and seasonal trends, so it might be worth keeping an eye on their hiring patterns often, they ramp up in the spring and fall. Networking with current pilots or checking in on company websites can also give you some insights. Best of luck!

Throw a dart. Not sure what that knowledge would change. Make yourself as competitive as possible at your current employer, get a resume review, and update often. At some point, start interview prep to be prepared when the call does come.

So you think I should sign a contract at SkyWest or Republic?

What's you hour level? 1500? A 2 year contract not fully terrible. A five year contract? Probably terrible.