who are you with?

 

I do 2 day back to backs. I show ealy afternoon and get done early afternoon. So basically I work 24, home 24, work 24, home for 3 days. I also do some locals and standups. For me the job is pretty good. I just need to bid some trips put east, I've got the west pretty well covered.

 

I sit around my house all week doing yard work, fixing my truck, play with the kids and the dog, slept in my own bed every night but one in sept, of course I am on reserve and only making about 1500$ a month and trying to take care of a family of four on that and not being able to find any other work because I have always worked in construction and we all know how that is going. I do like all the time at home though

 

I sat on reserve for months.....not making much money and having a lot of time on my hands. Found a part time job that turned into a full time job making 7 year captain pay....resigned from the airline and am happy!

 

Well for some it's about the money, for others it's the fact that you get to fly a plane (awesome), see different places and meet different people... There are many out there that hold down kids and a wife... I'm still single (not married, but a casual g/f) so I'm looking forward to this life if I can get it... Then again I'm only 24...

 

so Duvie, what regional do you work for? Sounds like you actually like your job a little more than most. There are a few regionals I'd like to consider. Skywest, American Eagle, Comair...maybe ASA are some of the best, at least that's my conclusion from the research I have done. Any thoughts? What about tips to get into the best. How many hours would you recommend coming in with if you wanted to have a chance at getting a job with a respectable decent paying regional?

 

think i just replied to your other thread. The old magic number (in recent years) was a 1000 tt/100 me. Prior to say, 10 months ago, you could have your pick of regional airlines with 800TT/50ME , skywest might have still been requiring the 100ME. Things to note though, while the minimums will bounce around based on the need, the competitive times might be higher. When you see them come lower, it means, get your stuff in,we're desperate. The guy i was flying with last week made mention that in 04 when he got in (to my crappy regional) he had around 2000TT or so, and spent most of his time hauling checks to get some decent multi-engine time. Best of luck.

 

is there a general rule of having to live within "X" number of miles from an airport, even if you commute? Say I was commuiting out of sgf to dfw for my route, would I have to live close to sgf field or could i live further away if I chose? I realize if you live further away from a base or commercial airport, it's just added stress of having to drive to that airport each time you fly out. I don't know if there's a general rule or not though.

 

I'm on reserve and with things the way they are there is no movement. I am extremely low on the list...last to be precise. I live about 45 minutes driving from my base. I usually work 5 on with 3 days off. Those 5 days on are usually spent sitting "ready reserve" at the airport usually starting at 0530 (bc no one else wants to come in for that). At my regional we can "proffer" or bid for open trips the day before and we find out the night before if we picked up a trip. I rarely ever get a trip, it usually goes to the higher guys on the reserve list. Reserve can be great if you have the seniority to get trips or sit at home on the 2 hr call out. However if you're hovering near the bottom plan on spending a lot of time sitting around the airport. Last month for example I flew 31 hrs while some guys higher up on the reserve list flew 60-70 hrs. I spent 11 days on ready reserve at the airport and picked up 2 overnighters and 2 day trips.

 

Why does it seem that everyone hates their regional airline, I know the pay is low, and I feel the pilots are under paid, but besides that why so much hate towards regionals? Whats the big difference from the regional pilot life from the major airline pilot life, besides the pay?