ChillBillPilot

Happy Holidays fellas... I am hoping to get some input on these three companies... Concerning upgrade time, QOL, pay rates, domiciles, management, etc... I am wondering which one of these is the best regional to fly for. My hope is start out at one of these, then move on to a legacy carrier. I know that PSA and Piedmont are wholly owned by USAirways and supposedly give preferential hiring, but I heard that Piedmont is going downhill and upgrade times are terrible. I haven't heard much about PSA although I know that they pay less than PDT. ASA is based in Atlanta and I have heard some good things about them such as upgrade time isn't as long as the the other two carriers I've mentioned. If anyone working at these companies has any input please feel free and thanks in advance.

boilerpilot

Unless you have multiple contacts who know YOU, not somebody in your family, don't choose your regional based on getting PIC time to get to the majors as quickly as possible. Judging by your choices, you want to get in with USAir, which is fine, but don't limit yourself to the "wholly owned" thing. When and if US starts hiring in droves again, it's not going to make a huge difference where you've come from, so why not set the bar high and go for one of the best regionals? ASA, while not without it's problems, is certainly a good regional. Think also of SkyWest, RAH, and XJet. There are plenty of good regionals out there, so if you want us to help you out better, might you give us a little more info on what exactly you're looking for?

ChillBillPilot

My long time career goal is to get on with a legacy airline...I would prefer US Airways or Delta...My mother and father both used to work for Piedmont Airlines before they were bought out by USAir, then after the buy out they worked for USAir. We have family friends who are still pilots for USAirways and I was hoping that maybe they would be willing to help me get on with a regional and then to a major... As far as choosing a regional I have no idea as to who is a good or bad regional.. I choose PSA PDT and ASA because I want to live in the southeast and those three have bases in Charlotte and Atlanta. I want to work for a regional airline that is relatively stable, has potential for growth, and has a short upgrade time, I don't want to be stuck as a FO forever in a company that is downsizing or stagnant. PSA and PDT are wholly owned and I saw that USAirways gives preferential hiring..is this true? In your opinion BoilerPilot what is the best regional and why?

CTPILOT

I know Piedmont has a New Bern, NC base not a Charlotte but you will go through Charlotte all the time to begin ur trip.

schoolio

PDT doesn't have a CLT base. ROA and EWN are the closest bases to CLT.

Air Wisconsin is supposedly opening a base in RDU this coming summer, and I thought that CHQ had a base in GSO, but maybe they've closed it. Check APC to verify.

I'm not certain if US Air is giving preferential interviews/hiring right now, but I do know my sim partner from PDT (CA upgrade) just got hired by US Air for a Mar/Apr class date.

FWIW, I heard that ASA just got a new TA and more money. Again, check APC for that info.

Just trying to throw some info out there for you so you can make a better informed decision. If it were me, (my opinion) I'd stay away from US Air and their wholly-owned companies.

Jetjock87

I have been studyin up on PSA because i was recently offered a job there........Upgrade times were at 3 and are supposedly going down to 1.5-2 years. They are hiring 40 per month for a little bit. With how small the pilot group is that means alot of movement or more airplanes or something. First year pay is better then ASA. Second is better at ASA. So they average out in a 2 year span. I have friends at PSA and they like it very much. Reserve supposedly is rough(alot of flight hours) but hey...you just get paid more. Reserve is a couple months. Holding the line and scheduling is i hear very nice. They are not hiring into CLT for FO. A couple months flying and you should be able to get it (or so i hear). I didnt go there for the wholly-owned operations. They are a great bunch of people and treated everyone who interviewed very well. (maybe that was the trap to get you in!). I interviewed with ASA and the people in charge of the hiring were really 'blank' and boring. Just my opinion....SO go figure...Test the waters yourself!

JetJock16

Negative, first year's the same and second year tops PSA by $5, add to it their Rigs and no comparison.

cbram

all of them are retired acey capts. theres definately characters there, especially joe a. had a good time in the interview and have been really happy with the training so far. dale, who teaches indoc, is absolutely hillarious as well. there will be things people will gripe about at all regionals. all i can say is im pretty happy here at asa so far.

Bill Lumberg

Why fly ancient props when you could fly reasonably advanced (glass) jets? Avoid PDT and join the RJ revolution... Seriously, you will be trapped at slow speeds and low altitudes in those Dash 8 relics...

Jetjock87

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