Actually, men call 'em "Thunder Sticks"

I agree, Cicks dig BETA:cool:

As far as I'm concerned all highs schools kids should be given a Mustang on their 16th birthday and a new BMW for graduation. Once in college all education should be free, and upon graduation should be awarded the job of their choice, at a minimum of $100,000 per year (if they're a pilot, left seat in a 747-400 and $200k) and no less than 4 weeks vacation per year, working no more than 4 hrs per day. This must all be done so they can feel good about being assertive, even when they haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

Couldn't agree more. I hear these little snot-noses coming up with myself that have never had to work for anything they have and it makes me sick. My parents raised me with a strong work ethic. Then again, I've had to work for everything I've accomplished. Hell this is the first time since I was a college freshman that I haven't had at least two jobs.

Since we've had the thread shift, I'm going to have a little fun too. Props are for boats :p

Little girls dont fly HERCS.... maybe some women... but I didnt know any little girls......

the time was in this country when you worked hard for that first car ( not new )... and saved for years for a house... or any other number of examples. Today... younger people but many older as well think if they dont have the best of everything right away, that somehow they are being screwed. Its called working your way up... gaining experience, etc.

Bottom line as to the question above.. is that it will take better pay and better work rules thus giving a better QOL to get better quality candidates to the so called regionals. Time was that most commuter or regional pilots moved on.... now there are guys and gals that would be just as happy flying a RJ700 for XXX company as flying mainline for some legacy carrier. And quite frankly thats okay, not every wants to or can go on to a major carrier. the lines have been getting blurry for many years and I suspect they are going to get even more so over the next few years. If in 10 years I am not a legacy carrier and I am making 90,000 a year in TODAY's dollars... I will probably be okay with that. Everybody has different goals in life.... some of those peoples goals just might be flying a 70 seat jeat with nice QOL for a "jet" carrier.

And here I thought I was the only one.

Spoken like a true liberal

It seems that the vast majority of professional pilot students and regional airline newhires have the goal of getting on with a major and are willing to put up with the low wages and poor working conditions with the thought that they will only have to put up with it for a few years and then they will be on at a major and living the dream that they signed up for.

Then they start to realize that only a small percentage of regional pilots will make it to a major and now that they are "stuck" at the regional level, and have to fight to make it a "career" position. Then they fly their next trip with a newhire who tells him that they are only going to be there long enough to get their 1000hrs of turbine PIC and that they will then be off to their major of choice. Seeing that, reality sets in for the regional "lifer" that he's fighting a battle that's not winnable because of the never ending supply of newhires with dreams of flying the heavies at a major.

A few things, it will be much larger of a "small percentage" of regional guys going to majors, thats where they will be getting most of their new-hires from. It's like these really low paying PR jobs in Manhattan or a "starving actor", you put up with the bull**** for a long time hoping to "get a break".

Kind of contradicting myself but I think if you keep persistent, the road to a major, though long and hard, is certianly achievable

It's amazing how blind people are. It's only been six years and yet they seem to forget how bad the industry was. Prior to 9/11 airlines were hiring with similiar minimums and a lot of people had this mindset of being a captain as soon as they hit ATP mins and being at a major in less than five years.

All it takes is a look over at the captains I'm flying with. Many had to wait four years to upgrade, didn't get hired until they had a couple thousand hours. Some of my fellow newhires need to realize how good they have it and shut up.