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-   -   How long till you can go to the majors??? (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/regional/14859-how-long-till-you-can-go-majors.html)

JoeyMeatballs 07-20-2007 09:37 AM


Originally Posted by JetJock16 (Post 199032)
You're kidding right? "Feeder" for now but “Stand Alone” with true code share (like Air Tran & Frontier, United & US Airways, Foreign and US carriers) down the road. Mark my words, SKW will start making the moves by the early teens; actually they already are gearing up if you look closely. Remember that SKW tried to by Alaska/Horizon once and they have enough money to buy almost any Major/National.

You can ramble on about United and DAL contracts; there are ways around them that keep SKW from breaching.

Well in this business thats a long long...................................long time away, but would be interesting to say the least, as long as your payrates go up on the larger A/C

Lab Rat 07-20-2007 09:42 AM


Originally Posted by trackpilot (Post 198910)
Let's say you have 500 hours and just got hired at a respectable regional.

Isn't that an oxymoron? :D

JetJock16 07-20-2007 10:29 AM


Originally Posted by SAABaroowski (Post 199123)
Well in this business thats a long long...................................long time away, but would be interesting to say the least, as long as your payrates go up on the larger A/C


I Agree! Time will only tell.

threegreen 07-20-2007 10:55 AM

i guess you can always throw in "who you know" and "timing." Not to mention who you want to end up with, SWA will be much harder to get with F9 or B6(not bagging on F9)

Window_Seat 07-20-2007 11:50 AM

Worst thing is that can happen is you actually get hired at those airlines that will interview you with that lack of experience. (Mesa, TSA, Pinnacle, and Go Jets).


Originally Posted by threegreen (Post 198952)
good point. the second i meet the mins i am starting to apply. i am not going to be one of those "i am just going to build more time to be more competitive." if you meet the mins why not just apply. worst thing that can happen is that they won’t call back


rickair7777 07-20-2007 12:05 PM


Originally Posted by JetJock16 (Post 199032)
You're kidding right? "Feeder" for now but “Stand Alone” with true code share (like Air Tran & Frontier, United & US Airways, Foreign and US carriers) down the road. Mark my words, SKW will start making the moves by the early teens; actually they already are gearing up if you look closely. Remember that SKW tried to by Alaska/Horizon once and they have enough money to buy almost any Major/National.

You can ramble on about United and DAL contracts; there are ways around them that keep SKW from breaching.

Most likely all wrong. While SKW could probably find loopholes in their feeder contracts, the contracts are only good for so long.

If DAL and UAL see SKW competing with them, even a little bit, they will drop them at the first opportunity. Those contracts are too lucrative for SKW to risk.

Similar problem with buying a major airline...SKW Inc. might buy some national airline but they would havre to operate them at arms length from SKW/ASA. Such an acquisition would have little impact on SKW pilots. They are not going to buy Alaska and staple them to the bottom of the SKW list :rolleyes:

SKW is good company, but they are not going to become a major airline (real-world definition). Actually JA is probably smart enough to know that's a great way to lose a ton of money.

Led Zep 07-20-2007 12:14 PM


Originally Posted by JetJock16 (Post 198948)
Times are and have changed. It won't be long till the majors are pillaging the regionals.

BTW, with today’s upgrade times it will only take pilots 3-5 years on average to become qualified for the Majors. Not like it’s really that big of a deal seeing that once at the Majors we’ll be FO gear slammers for 6-10 years before upgrade comes calling again.

Now, it's more likely that it will take a pilot 10 years to get to UPS or FedEx. You need to fly a “Heavy” cross the pond before you can go to UPS and you can't do that at a regional!

A lot can happen in 3-5 years. Don't be surprised if you spend 3-5 years getting qualified only to find the hiring has stopped once you are qualified. Then you may end up spending 6-10 more years at your current regional or wherever you may happen to be.

rickair7777 07-20-2007 12:17 PM

7-10 years at a regional is a safe guess... to have a good shot off the street you will need several thousand TPIC hours and check airman experience which you can't get in three years. Also don't forget age 65.

This might come down in a few years, but only if the economy and airline industry stays strong.

A few factors might get you time off from your regional sentence...

- Knowing someone really significant.
- Many senior regional captains passing on the opportunity due to pay/QOL issues. Maybe. A whole lot of regional guys repeat this mantra like a broken record...while they furiously apply and interview at every major in the country (plus Emirates and Cathay). They do a 180 the instant they get the good news... :rolleyes: We'll have to wait for hiring to pick up to see how many stay voluntarily.

trackpilot 07-20-2007 10:14 PM

Hmm 7 years doesn't sound too bad. But 10 years!?!?!? If that's the case then why not just go in the military and do the required 12 years and get paid more and then just go straight to the majors??? I dunno i was just thinking...
I know a lot of people aren't cut out for the military but this makes me think twice about the regionals and living below the poverty level for the first couple years.

Freightpuppy 07-20-2007 10:38 PM


Originally Posted by JetJock16 (Post 198951)
Good way to think about it but remember most of those who have 10+ years experience are comfortable with their seniority/pay/QOL, older and have no desire to start over. From my experience that’s probable around 50% of the regional CA’s.

In addition, there are a TON of people I have run into that are so frigging lazy I just can't believe it. They say they want to go to FedEx and UPS but do not do a damn thing to get there. They don't even know what the mins are or what website to go to to apply. It's kind of messed up really. That's ok though. It just means less competition for my buds that actually have some motivation.


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