forgive my newness to the airline thing. When do you find time to move after finishing up training? Is there a few weeks or something to relocate? I do not live out West so i am trying to figure out if it would be even feasible to do something like GLA. I suppose you do not know your base until the end of training?

Haha, a few weeks? Are you serious? The or something is much more close, maybe 3 or 4 days if you're lucky. Enjoy the suck..

Well, they try to give people a few days after training to get situated. Basically, I live out of a suitcase and wasn't planning to moving. So when given the option I finished training and went straight to base. It wasn't that big of a deal to me. I'd say about 3 or 4 days seems to be what others got. So if you plan on moving to base I'd say have everything packed, in storage and ready to go before headed to training. Then your move would be limited to load u-haul, drive to new town, unload u-haul, ready to work. I know moving to base seems like the better thing to do. I'd say if you have roots somewhere, just try commuting even if only short term. Then when you know the town your in and when you know the place you want to live, you can make a better decision and probably get a better deal on a place. And you will perhaps be in a better situation to get more days off in a row. Just one guys opinion though, I'm sure there's a million more out there.

On the other hand, when others try to make you feel like you're in a miserable situation, or that you've made a terrible mistake, such as by telling you things like "enjoy the suck". Just remember they choose to be miserable. Make the best of your regional career, "it builds character" some old and wise guys have told me ;)

Rationalization has always been my favorite defense mechanism. Stay classy :)

Ben's just being positive. He is happy with his career choices and his "rationalizations." He doesn't need your opinion or comentary. Go spread your hate elsewhere.

1. There are legitimate reasons to applying to and working for Great Lakes Airlines, however modest the company is, and
2. Once you are there the best thing to do is make the best of it and get what you came for- turbine time.

What part of this do you disagree with? We do not want to wear rose color glasses all the time but it pays to be at least slightly positive.

Your outlook may not be as "rose colored" once you obtain employment from a regional airline. I remember my outlook before starting with my first airline, experience will change your views on the industry.

Get hired at a poor regional, work a year, and see how your attitude has changed. I started at a poor regional with the "plan" of getting my turbine time and getting out. I pretty much did that, however it is impossible to focus on "getting your time" while constantly being subjected to the tortures of what actually makes that airline a "poor" regional airline to begin with.

Do not doubt you one bit there. I have never worked for a bottom tier regional, but I am convinced they are the gritty equivalents of the bottom feeders I knew and loved in the trucking industry. There were always a bunch of companies in trucking that existed for and by exploitation of the abundance of unwitting entry level drivers. Same thing here, these companies scrape unwitting newbies off the floor and exploit them without conscience. You'll be on food stamps, literally. No problem- you signed up for it, so it must be ok to exploit you.

There is a classiness that does come with working at Lakes that you will get very few other places (Silver air, Cape air, Commutair, Kenmore, and a few others). That's the classiness of knowing you didn't fly a mainline route on mainline equipment (jets over 50 seats) for pennies on the dollar of your mainline counterpart.

I have my first interview with Great Lakes in the morning. Any advice anyone can give me.