The best regional near SYR
 

I am from the Syracuse NY area, and will be finishing my CFI-CFII-MEI ratings soon and am wondering what are the best choices for regionals if I want to continue to live in the Syracuse NY area.

you can live just about anywhere and commute. Comair has bases in JFK and CVG, both within a reasonable 1 leg commute. I know there are many others in the northeast

Well Colgan and Piedmont both have Syracuse bases... but Colgan is obviously far from best choice. (Can't speak for Piedmont as I don't work there.) If you don't mind commuting, it's not a bad commute (many 1 leg flights) between SYR and many of the regional bases in the Northeast.

I think CHQ has a BUF base.

When commuting on reserve, how near to the airport do you have to live? I currently live aproximately 55 minutes from SYR ( I live closer to rinky dink ART), so I'm wondering if I would have to move.

Don't choose to fly for a lousy Regional just because you can live at home - sure it makes life a little bit easier (in the short-term), but you'll be miserable there. Turn your life upside down and go somewhere you can be happy for several years, where life will suck on first-year pay only.

Piedmont has a 90 minute call out for reserves in SYR. Once you are off reserve, which could be pretty quick it doesn't matter how far you live.

CHQ has a base in BUF that's very junior right now. I'm not sure how far the drive is, but it beats commuting to JFK, I know that.

PDT hasn't been accepting any new pilots in SYR for the last few base bids. Both the number of hard lines and planes overnighting there are being decreased. I think the general consensus is that SYR is gonna get shut down as a base.

I'm having a blast at PDT, but if you don't wanna move or commute, its not gonna work out for you.

Does this mean in terms of just PDT, or any of the regionals?

Thats just PDT. I'm not sure who else has a base in SYR. Colgan might, but PDT is, in my opinion, the better regional to go to. Why take an airline that voted down ALPA representation?

Do you live in base or commute to a domicile? How's the flying over there?

Stop saying we voted down representation. Jeez, there were like 15 NO votes.

I live in base. I'm young and single so why commute? Commuting is a pain, especially with high load factors and weight limited a/c. Flying in MDT is almost all northern flying, but we fly into every base nonstop from here but LGA. However you will do a lot of LGA flying either by deadheading or going through PHL. There are a lot more out and backs for Nov but its still mostly 3 or 4 day trips.

As far as Colgan. if there were only 15 no votes, how did ALPA get voted down? I'm just going be what I see and hear from other Colgan pilots.

You must be new and still listening to those 59 year old PDT CA's.

Only 49% of our pilot group called and voted. If you don't call, it counts as a vote "NO".

Let me tell you what happened with ALPA at Colgan. Everyone thinks that Colgan pilots don't care, etc. There was too much talk around the line that it was going to pass- no big deal. Well some of our pilots took this as "If its going to pass, I wont worry about it". Well we fell 4 votes short. We had well over 4 people who never got their card from the NMB-but once again because it was going to pass no problem, guys didn't go through the head ache of writing a letter to the NMB, getting proof of residence, etc.

COLGAN PILOTS DID NOT "VOTE DOWN" ALPA.

This is a great pilot group...probably some of the best pilots in the airlines. Flying Slant A in the ice and snow 6 legs a day is a lot tougher than flying a coupled ILS into EWR in a barbie jet.

BTW- I don't know of ANY Colgan CA who would deny a jumpseat to anyone other than GoJet. PDT guys have this disgusting personal vendetta for Colgan guys and are denying jumpseats to our pilots and it's not fair. It wasn't me, but it's just rediculous that these 59 year old guys hate Colgan.

Hey I have nothing but respect for fellow prop pilots. I was just going off what I had heard. I also heard a rumor that your management threatened to take away the Q's if you guys voted in ALPA. Any truth to that?

NO! The Q is coming to Colgan and coming fast.

In 4-5 years, Colgan will be an ALL Q400 fleet. Mark my word. And we don't want to steal it from PDT like many people think. If Airways gives it to us, oh well.

Hey you guys could use something good like new airplanes just like we do. I must say I'm suprised you guys file /A. I figured you would have a basic RNAV unit like we do.

Who knows whats gonna happen to the Q here. They talk about getting them and yet they're repainting planes. Our MEC said no to the payrates because, while the CA rates might be good, the F/O rates are junk.

You only fly 6 legs a day?? Dude.. how do i get that schedule??? Mainline Saab guys have it so easy.
Truth is, DME is exactly right- people just didnt vote and its a shame. Next year when we are 600 strong it wont be so easy to keep a union away.