bryris

So, I work for TSA. I can't complain too badly, I was hired out of a Cessna 172 with 750 hours into a jet and have had a pretty good run for the 14 months I've been here. However, with 10 birds going back to Eagle and the downsizing, etc, I am just waiting for my furlough notice. When I get it, I don't even know if I'll ever be called back because the 50 seaters are being phased out. I wouldn't be surprised of TSA as a brand gets phased out and any growth occurs on the GoJet side.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine works for Comair, and switched from the CRJ-200 to the -700/-900 and received an appropriate pay raise and it looks like he'll be escaping the furlough too. He was hired with Comair AFTER I was hired at TSA.

Why did I stay at TSA? I should have gotten a few hundred hours jet time and switched to a better company. My future would be looking a lot brighter right now.

Gotta stay positive....

Pontius Pilot

You can't fault yourself for this...so don't be down on yourself. You did what you thought was best at the time and things changed. All we can do is make informed decisions based on the information we have at the time. You couldn't foresee this downturn.

If you look, you can probably find some places are still hiring...or maybe you just weather the bad times/possible furlough and get recalled? Do what you feel is right for you - but don't beat yourself up about it. Keep on keepin' on.

Mason32

You have discovered one of the major differences of working for a wholly owned airline, or simple subcontractor.

Nobody here will fault you for taking a jet job when offered one. The only advice I would have given would to have been very selective about who you wanted to work for. Just about everybody was hiring for the last several years. Historically, the wholly owned airlines have been somewhat more secure to work at... while none is ever really secure, some do have better records than others, and they are typically the wholly owned ones.

So, if the time comes that you DO have to make a move, focus on the wholly owned ones. Don't pass up a job if offered because they are few and far between right now, but focus on an airline with a good track record.

Boomer

Then again, wholly-owned has its drawbacks. Take someone hired at Comair in 2003. Today they are still a year (or three) from any possible upgrade. About the same (maybe worse) at Eagle or ASA.

If that same person went to CHQ, SKW, PCL, or Freedum in 2003, would they still be a junior FO... or would they be a lineholder captain by now?

Mason32

That rapid level of turnover should tell you about the quality of life working for a slave/indentured servitude type of corporation. There is a reason those companies have such shorter upgrade times...

rahc

I wouldn't beat yourself up about this. You never know what is going to happen at any given airline. Every airline has it's ups and downs. Even if you chose to go to a "good" regional (such as horizon), it might have not given you security. I still truely believe having a great career is highly based on luck. All you can do is inform yourself of the information that is out there, and make your best guesses for career moves.

As a former waterskiier myself, I can tell you that what looks good now, might not look so great in a month. I remember TSA running upgrades on the J41, and then a month later they decide to park them. Air Hulas seems to make many spur of the moment changes and it drastically affects the pilot group. Since things change so quickly, some people have been lead to quick upgrades while for others it has lead to furlough just off of IOE.

Boomer

That's true. I should have said "would someone hired in 2003 by CHQ, SKW, etc still be a junior FO at CHQ or SKW, or would they be a junior FO at JBlue, Southwest, or UPS (or maybe furloughed UAL or CAL) by now?"

I chose to avoid the slave route and now I have to grumble about the 8-year upgrades at my regional of choice. STBM...

SomedayRJ

And that would be why certain mainline carriers have expressed rather large amounts of interest in terminating their relationships with aforementioned contracted regional carriers in favor of their own, in-house operations.

(DL, F8.)

Maybe there's a link between quality of life and quality of operation that has yet to be thoroughly 'quantified' and 'analyzed' by the MBAs-in-command.

poor pilot

Gota learn to live with regrets....who knows what the next day will bring. We all feel stupid sometime just for the simple fact that we have this flying bug.

AirWillie

So what, your friend is now going to fly a CRJ9, who cares? Still same crappy pay but with the extra FA. You still have a job flying a regional jet what is there to complain about there are thousands on the street right now. There are many who wished they would have done things differently knowing what they know now but flying is flying.