top 5 regionals
 

strictly based on overall company quality, contract, and pay, what are the top 5 regionals right now? What are some to stay away from based on the above? Are there any that would be "risky" to go to?

Yes; all of them.

5-10 years ago I would have said Comair and Eagle, but things have shifted and now I'd put best regional votes in for the Republic group, AWAC, and XJet.

Heres my list
 

1) Has a base where you live
2) Industry average pay
3) Industry average upgrade
4) A good contract, with either a union, or a pilot group that is "in-house"
5) A good diversity of flying......


Remember a few things.....
- the regional that is the "place to be" one day could be a sinking ship in a year or two...........

-Airlines that hire "street CA's" usually dont have enough qualified FO's, you might want to ask yourself why?

-Dont go to an airline to chase an airplane, the 170/Crj-700/900 is super but its no 75/6.

-Past performance is no indication of future results, or however that saying goes...........

-Dont assume you are only going to use a regional as a stepping tone, you never know when the music is going to stop, and if and when ti does you are going to want to be at a company that has decent work rules/pay, because that TPIC is not going to do much for you if/when the big boys have thousands of pilots on the street

-I will play devils advocate here and also say I would'nt want to grow old in the right seat of a "good regional",

-Also dont stab your airline brothers and sisters in the back by going to a low-class Alter eGO-airline.................Go-Jets for all the new guys that dont know what I am talking about

-ok Im done with the ranting time to go to the Delilahs Den ;) talk to ya guys tomorrow........

DOESN'T EXIST AIRLINES.

The one that's closes to your home as long as it's not mesa or gojets.

Watch out for ASA, let's see how this new TA plays out.

AWAC, Republic, and Xjet are still up there.

Republic has about one billion to one trillion domiciles, so they're good for those who are looking for base flexibility.

And i'd have to say Comair, the work rules aren't terribly bad, the pay is somewhat competitive (as saab said, you can't look at what the past was like ) and i think Comair is set up to grow big time. Time will tell.

As was said earlier, every regional is risky..you can only pick one thats best for you at the time..and gander at what it's going to be like in 5-10 years.

I'd personally stay away from eagle. That's just my 2 cents.

Could not have said this better. Saab pretty much covered everything. Choose with wisdom rather than excitement (aka SJS). If you want a list of what I would do now, knowing what i know now, and after being in the regionals over a year (which I admit is limited)... here ya go in no particular order...

AWAC... Skywest... Expressjet... Republic... Horizon

Where NOT to go...

Mesa (freedom, go!, air midwest)... TSA... GoJet... Mesaba... Pinnacle... and so many more.

Nothing wrong with 9E, especially if they have a domicile in your town.

Yeah the pay and workrules stink (for now), but we'll see what happens once they get a new contract. With shareholders to answer to and a 2nd codeshare in the very near future, the only thing that will limit what those pilots can get is themselves (and the NLMB, but I digress).

What The *******, over?!?