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Regionals...shady?

Old 10-02-2008, 09:30 AM
  #21  
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Comair used to be a good place to be until the bankruptcy last year that Delta dragged us into. Ever since then it has been one down hill spiral after another. Daily contract violations, started using a messed up scheduling program, empty promises, vacancy bids being canceled, furloughs announced, getting Freedom's 900's and then retracting that statement, more furloughs... the last 6 months have been one of the worst emotional roller coasters I have ever ridden... all to end inevitably in furlough. To make matters worse, they just decided yesterday to arbitrarily take our payroll deduction account balance out of our check in full. Some people didnt even get a check yesterday and those of us that did got maybe $100-300... for one check! No notice either... It really amazes me how mistreated and disrespected we are from management. Dont come to Comair, this place is NOT what it used to be.
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Old 10-02-2008, 09:37 AM
  #22  
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Getting with a "good" regional is a pretty funny statement. I guess a lot also comes down to what your goals are. Realize that many of the regionals you stated have higher minimums and are much more competitive to get on with if and when they actually start hiring for some of them. Do you really want to instruct for possibly an extra 2 or 3 years to get on with a "good" regional or would you rather get hired with a "bad" regional, prove you can pass training, get year under your belt, and then make a decision to stay put or try for a "good" regional. Also, the "good" and "bad" regionals may look very different by the time you are actually ready to start heading into the industry so be flexible. I would say, with an exception of a few airlines, any airline with a base that you can hold and want to live in would be a good one. QOL is going to be better living in base no matter what airline you work for. Battling for seats on full airplanes is no fun and no matter what you think, there is people senior and with higher priority commuting from any city you may try to commute from. I relocated to DTW after commuting for a month and a half and it is way better to live in base. DTW, even the most dangerous city in the country which what the USA Today rank it as a week before I moved, has good, safe, and fun places to live. In all, pick a regional based on what you want, not what other people want. Don't chase pay because its not worth it. Lastly, don't narrow down your choices too much because you need to get hired first.
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Old 10-02-2008, 09:42 AM
  #23  
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Originally Posted by widebodyjunkie View Post
(1) On an average basis, how long does it take a FO to upgrade to a captains chair at a regional? I've heard a lot of instructors say that is only takes a couple of years, but I've read on some other forums that it can take up to five years....any truth to that?
I know this is a Regional board so I hope I don't get whipped too bad with my comment.

All I want to say on this matter is to be aware of many paths other than the regional route. I'm not degrading this path by any means, but a lot of people get tunnel vision and become fixated on this path as the only path. Just my humble observation.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I hired on with a major and never flew for a regional airline or any 121 carrier for that matter. And all of my flight time is civilian.

Other avenues to investigate would be corporate and cargo.
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Old 10-02-2008, 09:50 AM
  #24  
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oh yeah....probably about 50K i'm guessing by the time you factor in private, commercial, instrument, and then your ratings and CFI, CFII, and ME, MEI. I would be willing to pay out of pocket, but it would take me close to five years or more to do that.
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Old 10-02-2008, 09:58 AM
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well let's say I decided to go Cargo, is it possible to get a job with a cargo airline out of instructing? I'm sure you could with the smaller ones such as Ameriflight, but aren't some of those a little shady as well in terms of pay, job security, and benefits? Plus, I would assume the traveling with them would be even worse because as a rookie, you'd be stuck flying mostly at night for quite a while if not for years. chip in anyone?
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Old 10-02-2008, 10:37 AM
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This is a great thread and I wish I knew more of the facts before I sunk my savings and sold my soul to get through flight school. If I knew then what I know now and predicted 9/11 would I have still done it? Yes, it was my dream and no regrets. However, always, always, always have a back up outside of aviation. And I don't mean have a degree in communications or philosophy. Something solid that will make you marketable during tough times. I met a guy at Mesa that is an RN, this guy will never be unemployed. And yes, you can get by without a degree but why try to limit yourself. Suck it up and get a degree in something that will help you if the airline industry crumbles. Which is does almost like a clock every 7 years.

Also, don't rush through flight school in hopes of grabbing a great job and paying the debt off later. Try to go slow and pay as much as you can then. Unless you have a rich dad or won the powerball it is almost impossible to get through training without debt but no need to go from zero to CFI in 3 months like some of these accelerated programs claim. Flying once a week may actually be more benificial to retain in the long run.

Make a plan now and even have your eye on which regional you want. It will help you make decisions about which is the best route for you to take. Of course you can change your mind and adjust when you get farther along but there are different tactics on how to get to your preferential airline.
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Old 10-02-2008, 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by widebodyjunkie View Post
well let's say I decided to go Cargo, is it possible to get a job with a cargo airline out of instructing? I'm sure you could with the smaller ones such as Ameriflight, but aren't some of those a little shady as well in terms of pay, job security, and benefits? Plus, I would assume the traveling with them would be even worse because as a rookie, you'd be stuck flying mostly at night for quite a while if not for years. chip in anyone?
First of all, if you are trying to avoid instructing, it may not be the job for you. Very few make it without instructing. Again, depends on your budget but the cheaper route pretty much requires you to instruct for at least a year. I am not even going to cram down your throat how much you are going to enjoy instructing because most don't but will never admit it.

Cargo is a great job but also not a way to avoid instructing. Most cargo operators are 135 and single pilot so the minimums are much higher than the regionals. Others are much more dodgier operations than all the bad in the regionals combined.

Great questions but know that there are few ways around instructing and you will 'doing your time' before you get to sit in the right seat of a 737. Coorporate is also an option but again, you have to have some experience before someone is going to let you jump from a Seminole to a multi million dollar aircraft.
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Old 10-02-2008, 10:49 AM
  #28  
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Thanks for the input. I have a plan in place, i'm going to wait about another year before I start seriously taking lessons. I plan to pace myself to get through the training in about 1 year - 1 1/2 years.

Hopefully moving slower will allow me to retain more of what I learn. At that point, I'd like to get into instructing, do that for a year or two and build up some time, then i'd like to go into the regionals.

After the Thread that I have opened up, it seems that the veil of mystery is beginning to unfold in regard to the airline world. I'm not soo certain that commercial flying is the best way to go. Currently I'm single and have no kids....so life is easy in that regard, but I can't honestly say I want to go into my 30's with an unstable job outlook, and Sh*ty pay.
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Old 10-02-2008, 11:20 AM
  #29  
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Your plan sounds good. Don't rush, enjoy it. Learning to fly is sometimes hard but should always fun. I loved my training. Actually, I do think you retain more by not rushing it.

Not all regionals are crap money. I know several regional captains that make $90,000 a year and feel they can't leave because it is a big paycut. It took them about 7 years to get there but all of the majors are starting off at half that, or less. It will take another 3-5 to get back to that range.

There are good jobs out there but you have to be patient. I think all pilots prefer you turn down the bad ones in order to help bring up the standard.

It is more difficult when you are married but it is workable. Especially if you can be based somewhere you want to live with the family. Being on reserve and sitting in your living room watching TV can be great.

It is an unstable industry but have a back up and a good savings. There is no stratedgy to avoid the downturn, it is unavoidable. It is luck where you are on the seniority list when it happens that will determine if you have a job or not. I know many that were fearful they would be furloughed but instead found another job and volunteered to leave. They saw it as a nice change and saved someone else from being forced out. If your back up is solid, you can be that person that leaves and may even make more money while you are gone.
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Old 10-02-2008, 11:26 AM
  #30  
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no i'm not trying to get around instructing...I think my verbage was wrong. What I was asking is can you go to a cargo airline and start working after instructing for a while or are the regionals your best bet?

And kinda off the wall question, are perdiem's taxed?

Last edited by widebodyjunkie; 10-02-2008 at 12:30 PM.
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