typical week of a regional airline pilot...
 

I'm interested in becoming an airline pilot and would like to know what I can expect my life to be like as a FO for a regional airline. Thanks for any replys!!

The flying is great, you will love it! Everything else pretty much sucks, for a lack of better words... Prepare to have management mistreat you and violate your contract as much as possible. Be ready for furloughs, bankruptcys, base closures, mergers and displacements. Reserve life at some carriers is better than others. If you are more senior reserve, I have found that you spend a lot of time at home (if you live in base... highly recommended!). Lines are great, you know your schedule and can usually build something commutable. Everything about this career is unstable... so when you get into it, make sure you are choose the best regional for you (live in base, QOL, etc.) and have a backup plan. I am one month away from implementing my backup plan...

There's about 10 really informative threads on the subject, just hit the search button. It almost has more to do with the regional airline you go to work for, and the current market forces, as well as, other variables such as will you be commuting. Either way just hit search, plenty of info there already.

can't wait for these response but for me my week is like this.....reserve till the 5th then the rest of the month off. i only work for five days and have the rest of the month off. (lol furloughed)

By day 5 of my week..

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...l/blowupii.gif

..Nuff said

WOW is it really that bad:eek:.

Go to www.jetcareers.com

You will find a ton of helpful information about life as a pilot at both the regional and major level. In addition, if you decide to pursue this as a career, you'll find a lot of excellent resources to begin networking and learning about how to begin your training and successfully build your career.

Good luck!

What that guy say on Caddyshack?.. " The world needs ditch diggers too"

Or pole dancers. :D

I work four days a week, usually thursday to sunday so I can hold better trips. I report early on the first day and am usually off by 2 pm on the last day. I was commuting to a hub domicile and would report around 1 pm the first day and finish about the same time on my final day, however now I basically live in base (due to the amount of dead heads built into an outstation domicile's trips).

Management treats us very well, our trips are built to be productive and most guys are staying positive through out this turmoil.

Your quality of life, or QOL as it is commonly known, will vary tremendously from carrier to carrier. I'm with a "good regional" and the only thing I dislike about my job is having to shave every morning. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt. E.G. I actually enjoy a few nights a week in hotels. Reading, relaxing and having somebody else clean up after you can really help you to unwind a little bit. I'm also single, which can make a big difference.

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?

I too am on reserve.

5 days of reserve followed by 2 off, and one 4 day-off stretch a month. It is a 2 hour call out so I can sit reserve at the place I have near the airport. They rarely ever call. I would say I fly about maybe 15-20 hours a month, if that. Nice if you live in base because you don't really mind. But not nice if you are trying to make some money and move on in life. The flying is great, but like another poster mentioned almost everything else sucks. I was all happy and excited when I first started, the regionals will ruin you... though nowadays the majors arent that much better.

For me, I would be able to turn a blind eye to a lot of it if I was paid for it. I can't believe nobody mentioned the poverty level wages yet. After taxes, sitting around all week I make roughly 1,450$ a month. Try living off that, especially if you have debt and bills to pay off, or even a family:eek:. It will make you want to drive your head through a wall. If I got paid at least even 2,500$ a month, I probably wouldnt notice some of the things I do, and they wouldnt bother me as much as they do at 1,450. So for me the poverty level wages is the biggest issue I have, and it should be for many more then it is. The rest of the stuff I could live with if I made more.

But when I do get called I am happy to go to work, and I forget about all the rest of the BS even for at least a couple of hours. Sitting around for a week you have a lot of time to think about things.

1: Low pay. You actually make half of your hourly rate, since you only get paid for half of your work time. less if you are a commuter.
2: Gone alot.
3: Constant war with scheduling.
4: Infinite responsibility. Everything is your fault.
5: Commuting sucks.
6: No jobsecurity.

There are positives too though.

Tell us some positives...I need something to brighten my day.

I don't think I ever got my question answered, do pilots need to live within a certain number of miles of an airport to work for the airlines?

Normally for pilots on reserve, it's a specified time from phone call to airport. It varies from airline to airline and may be different at different bases.

Well, aside from everything else... the flying is awesome! I absolutely love it. For me, it pretty much counters everything else. I get a lot of self satisfaction flying raw data departures, hand flying tight visual approaches and rolling her on the runway in gusty winds and low visibility. Every once in a while you get a really good compliment from a passenger. My favorite one was about a month and a half ago after greasing the landing on in MSP from an old lady as she was getting off. She asked me, "son, did you land the plane?", I said 'yes' and she said, "I have been flying for over 30 years several times a month and that was by far the best landing I have ever had." Things like that brighten your day and I will never forget that flight or her compliment.

Watch what you say on APC there, Diver Driver! Folks 'round here don't think it is "proper" to manually manipulate the controls to fly a Jet :rolleyes:

Good to see a real Pilot though ;)

Hey bro, I gotta do something to still feel human... most of the time it takes so many buttons to get the AP on board its just easier to fly the plane in a tight situation... a lot of guys dont hand fly much and they start to lose their skill.

Typical week for me this month.
1. Wake up at 3:30AM and get to BOS to take the 6:00AM to EWR to make a 7:10AM show. I could commute the night prior with ease but I just dont want to.

2.Get to EWR just in time to walk to the crew room and meet the crew and check my inbox for anything important.

3.At the plane 30 minutes early to do the walkaround etc. and do an out and back.

4.SIT FOR 3 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES

5.Fly to non exotic location and overnight landing at 4:40PM.
DAY 2

1.Wake up at 4:30AM and eat some breakfast, take the 5:15AM shuttle and get plane ready just like the day before.

2.Fly back to EWR then fly an out and back and then fly to next non exotic location for an overnight, this time ending earlier around 1:00PM
DAY 3
1.Wake up at 4:30AM again except this time no breakfast because the hotel doesnt start breakfast until 6:00.

2. Go to airport and get plane ready again.

3.Fly to EWR and then sit for 1 hour 20 minutes.

4.Fly to PWM landing at 10:00AM

5.The good part.....DRIVE HOME BECAUSE I LIVE 45 MINUTES SOUTH OF PWM.
DAY 4
1.Wake up obsurdly early again and head to the airport and prepare the plane.

2.Fly five legs (at least 1-2 legs too many)

3.Get done just before 4:00PM

4.Catch the fist flight back to BOS, typically no more than an hour wait or so.

5.Land in BOS and wait 1 hour max to take a bus to where I park my car near my house and walk in my door typically 3-5 hours after ending work in EWR.


3 DAYS AND 4 NIGHTS OFF AND DO THE SAME EXACT THING ALL OVER AGAIN.

The flying is good. I enjoy doing trips and even getting into some bad weather. CAT II approaches are awesome. I'm single and not home much. Flight benefits is another reason. Pilots get the best flight benefits of all because we can jumpseat pretty much anywhere on any domestic airline and not pay a dime. I'm always going places on my days off, visited places and old friends from college. If something is going on across the country tomorrow, I can hop a plane and just go. I've done a few desk jobs for some summers where I get up at 6 and work behind a desk from 8 to 5. Not for me. So those are the good parts.

Bad parts....well my airline is having some really bad management/labor relations right now. So thats adding to the stress of this job. And no I don't work at a bottom feeder either.

it's kinda like having the lifestar pager for atlantic...

i spoke too soon with my earlier post. i just picked up a reserve trip for this weekend. 0540 show in kbos tomorrow...fly one leg to krdu...get to the hotel by 9 am...sit all day...the next day is busier with a kcle overnight and then i find my way back to kbos on sunday. the thing with reserve trips is they usually involve really long sits or non stop flying.

i prefer the long days of flying with shorter overnights...makes things go by a lot quicker.

Makes me glad I got the EMB-120. Sat reserve a whole 2 months of my short airline career. I'm sure if I had to pay for all the flights I've non-revved or jumped on, the amount would exceed what I made my first year. haha

Forgive me I'm just getting up to speed on the tread but; I actually like my airline.:confused: I got into ZK knowing full well what to expect, pay, MGMT, aircraft, schedules, WORK RULES, ect. It is what you make of it, nothing more. For most the regional is not a career job (unless you may be at SKW or Horizontal). ZK is deffiently one of those places you dont stay.

As for being paid poorly and being ****** on all time, that sucks. But from what I read here on APC and from the airline lifesyle that I grew up in things at the majors are changing also. The majors have better schedules, pay, equipment, WORK RULES, ect.

Honestly, moving from a CFI to an FO at ZK was a step up. We all have to pay our dues, and we all do it differently. Feel free to PM me fo r more direct questions!

Cheers

Well, I'll tell you right now, a week of a regional airline pilot really varies according to any number of given factors ... where you live, how senior you are, who you're working for, your base city, etc.

I've been with Colgan for almost exactly 1.5 years, and I will tell you that I truly love it there (awaiting comment from SAAB :)). There are things that I would like to see changed, and some of them have actually happened since I've been there. Overall though, with one exception that happened at the end of June, the company has treated me very well and fairly. I have built up quite a bit of seniority in IAH and am now 9/40+ guys/gals there.

A typical week for me is commuting in from Dallas either the night before (if it's a REALLY early show the morning my 4-day paring begins), or the day of, and getting to the crew room to realize that there's really nothing to do before we actually leave besides maybe check the non-existant weather in the area, and stock pilot more load manifest forms. After a few min I meet up with my crew, and we head out to the lovely Saab-y-poo sitting out on the ramp waiting for us (yeah, we don't use jetways in IAH ... so if it's pouring down rain ... sucks to be us). I then proceed to do the preflight, and make sure the 15 year old girl is still in one piece with most everything attached, and then join el capitain in the cockpit and begin the lovely paperwork and begin the day ... work/rinse/repeat as necessary until your 4-day pairing is over ... or so one would believe. It's never a thought in my mind that when I complete my last round trip that I'm actually going to go home, because that way, when you get extended you're not nearly as pi**ed off.
Anyway, after I complete the eventual end to the 4-day pairing, I find out exactly what flight I'm going to take back home, and hope it's not Expressjet. No offense to any of the guys there (they have always treated me with respect and professionalism), but I always seem to get screwed out of the jumpseat at the last possible minute because there seems to be quite a few XJT guys/gals that live in Dallas as well that want to get back home. Once I eventually make it home, and enjoy my, anywhere from 1-3 days off, it's back to work/rinse/repeat as necessary.

I agree with everyone that says living in base makes life about 100x better, but the problem with living in Dallas is that you only have one choice ... and I didn't want to work there. The commute from DAL-IAH really isn't bad at all considering you have CAL, XJT, AA, and if necessary SWA to HOU and a $35 super shuttle to IAH. So, there's usually always a way to get there ... and worst case scenario, it's a 4 hour drive.

lol sometimes when i'm feeling dirty i hand fly those DPs that are "Runway heading to 5000 ft".

i've also figured out how to manipulate the A/P on the ERJ so that it has an CAT III autoland system.

That is what management wants you to think.... My friend; the old days of doing a few years at a regional and going to a major have just about completely vanished. Majors are going BK, shrinking, reducing capacity, or in Midwests case... outsourcing mainline flying to regionals. There are no longer enough jobs at majors for the people at regionals to have someplace to go after they "pay their dues."

For the VAST majority of pilots currently flying... whereever they are now will be their career airline for a long long time. If people keep accepting all the BS from management about cutting costs or else, then they will keep pushing the profession even lower. Face it, if the majors have work rules and pay scales that are THAT much better, why don't we? Smaller plane... yes... but they also have proportionally lower aqusition costs, lower operating costs, and importantly, lower fuel burns... the reason we get treated the way we do is because management has the majority convinced that they can NOT be profitable if we are paid properly and have a normal QOL. That is all BS of course, but the majority buy into it, and they continue to hire new kids with shiney jet syndrome who honestly think they will be here.... just a few short years before they get that dream job at the majors... meanwhile management continues to get rich at our expense.

The unions all suk! and exist primarilly to give the union execs a cushy job with some clout... they had one train wreck and the max duty work hours are about to be changed for train engineers.... we've been "trying" to get our duty hours and rest rules changed for decades with no success... so much for our unions and elected reps.

Like the vast majority, I fit in there too. I fly because I enjoy it, but I hate the company and everything else on this side of the hold short line. Once the door is closed, I'm happy again. :)

I don't know of any companies that require you to live within a certain distance. The requirement is that you show up on time or before. You can live in Europe if you want, as long as you make your showtime. That would be hard on a regional schedule, but you get the point. A "one-leg" commute on your own airline is the best case, but living in domicile is the best and safest choice especially until you can hold an easily commutable schedule i.e late shows and early finishes.

Someone asked about majors vs. regionals.. having done both, the differences not surprisingly come down to pay and days off. Then to a certain extent the quality of hotels. When I was at a regional, I never had more than 3-4 days off at a time. Now, I routinely have more than 10 days off at a stretch followed by 5 or so days on.

Obviously there are contract details that vary from major to major but differences are becoming less amongst like companies, with the exception of Southwest.

Go find a quality inn or holiday inn right beside a highway. Stay there for 18hrs. Don't bring your car. Then try to entertain yourself for the day/night. good luck finding a healthy place to eat. Better yet, get a smoking room with a view of that highway. Find some fat, old or gay person to eat dinner with. Watch them order water, and an order of fries. And listen to them ***** for 2 hrs. Then risk your life walking back to the hotel so you can inhale some toxic mold from the a/c machine.
Now do this for 4 days 3 nights. 4 or 5 times a month. 200 times a year.
Then the company will reward you with $20k/year for all your troubles.
Oh, you will work Christmas, Thanksgiving, all bank holidays, your birthday and weekends. But you will get a to say hello to all the fat trailerpark slobs that are boarding your 50 seat airplane. They hate you because you make $140k/year and only work 80hrs/month.

Go home to find that after paying your school loans, bills, rent etc... you have $40 for the month for food and beer.
Ahhhh but your an airline pilot!

Like alot of people said, the flying is great, some of the overnights are fun, and you meet new people. However, today was supposed to be my day off, and I just got back from the airport a few hours ago because yesterday I got extended!!:(