Question about work rules
 

I've decided that I want to go the regional route because flying learjets for a charter with no schedule doesn't seem appealing to me. What kind of work rules can I expect at the regionals. How many days off can I expect? Is it possible to have 15 days off like you have at the majors?

My second question is about pay. Since many are starting to stay at the regionals instead of moving up and they are flying biger more sophisticaed planes, is it possible that regional pay will go up? Some I know are saying that I can expect to be at a regional for 5+ years before looking for a major airline so it sounds like I should be looking for a regional with good work rules. Any suggestions?

Selecting a Regional is a tradeoff...you probably need 2+ years experience as a regional captain to have a shot at a major airline job.

A good one could pay 100K down the road, have 15 days off/month, and basic benefits. The downside is that many folks chose to stay at a company where they have a decent pay & benies and good seniority, so upgrade can take 5-10 years.

A less desireable regional or commuter may have crappy pay, work rules, and benefits, but people are falling all over themselves to leave, so you can often upgrade in 2 years or less.

So you need to decide what is important to you. If you're an ambitious youngster you wants to be a 777 captain by age 35 or an older career changer who wants to make it to the majors, you may need the fast upgrade.

If you're willing to hang out for a while in comfort, or if you're older or don't have a degree and plan to stay at the regionals, then pick a good one.

Keep in mind however that the great drawback to a regional career is that no matter how good the company, your livelyhood is at the mercy of the major airline partner(s). If they fire your company or relocate your company's aircraft then you can get furloughed or moved to the other coast with essentially ZERO warning.

Don't scare the kid. The only regionals I know of that have anywhere near a 10 year upgrade are Eagle, which sucks, and Horizon, which rightly so has a long upgrade due to work rules, QOL in the NW, etc.

I would consider AWAC a "decent" regional, certainly better than a company such as Mesa, and AWAC's upgrade in the CRJ is just under 3 years right now and dropping because of attrition. Contrast that with Mesa's upgrade in the same a/c...(I can't, I don't work at Mesa), but I'd assume it's pretty close. However, I've heard the Freedom ERJ is down around 15 months. That's certainly lower than most turboprop outfits.

Now, if you compare upgrades in turboprops vs. jets, generaly TP's are lower. Colgan in the 1900 is running around 18 months or so, SAAB a bit longer. Commutair is 2+ years in the 1900. Regions Air is around 12 months in the J41.

You're taking a gample that the majors will still want to hire TP guys over jet guys in the future. I had a friend that worked for CommutAir (1900's) and those guys couldn't get on ANYWHERE, and it wasn't for lack of trying. Yes, some places will take them but you've got a sure thing taking an RJ over a TP. They specifically had problems getting on at Allegiant. He quit and went to ASA.

Horizon's upgrade time is 6 years and dropping.

As opposed to Eagle's upgrade time, which is forever and increasing.

I admit I'm a little biased...a regional isn't really a good regional unless it has bases West of Mississippi. And Philly is almost the worst base I can imagine (BTDT). If you are from the eastern US and actually LIKE living there, you should sign up to be an airline pilot immediately...eastern seniority at most companies is way, way better than out west.

Why the attrition at AWAC? Is it good attrition (people going to majors) or bad attrition...fed-up pilots dropping out of aviation to work at Wendy's?

The East coast is great and New York City is the best city to live in! Particularly if you are young and single; not necessarily so if you have kids.

You just have to know the ins and outs of the big city and enjoy life. Sure a Broadway show can cost you $200, but if you are not picky about the seats and can wait in line you can get a ticket for $20. Same with everything else. Also, contrary to popular belief there are nice, safe and reasonably priced apartments in both Brooklyn and Queens. So you can live 20-30 minutes away from Kennedy and LaGuardia (and a little bit more to Newark) and at the same time you are 20-30 minutes away from Manhattan which, of course, is arguably the most exciting place in the USA!

I think everybody SHOULD live in NYC for at least a couple of years of their life! Call me biased if you will. :)

Little of both. People have left for UPS, CAL, jetblue, etc.; however many have left for corporate jobs so they don't have to commute out east. The bonus for the junior guys is that almost all the people leaving are the senior guys, hardly any junior people are jumping.

I personally don't care much for the midwest and west (lived in the SW for 12 months), so it worked out well for me. Living in base in ORF is pretty nice. But then again I'm a beach bum who wears flip flops in the winter.

As for living in NYC, f*ck that. I lived 25 minutes from Manhatten, and it blew. I can't stand the large amount of people in that cluster. But if you commute it can be a good base with lots of flights to 3, possibly 4 different airports (LGA, EWR, JFK, and HPN, all with good public transit access).

South of Washington DC the east coast gets a lot nicer. Charlotte is nice, basically the east coast version of Houston. Cheap houses, large plots, etc. If AWAC would open up a CLT base I'd head there in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the replies. I live in Los Angeles and I would like to continue living here so the airlines I'm looking at is Skywest or Mesa. I know eagle has a base at LAX but a friend told me to stay away from eagle. I know the PHX base for Mesa is said to be senior but since I see many young guys flying HPexpress it probably doesn't take that long to get that base right?

Right now it's about 16 months to PHX CRJ FO. It's 15 months to east coast ERJ CA if that puts things in perspective.

PHX may become less senior later this year, there are rumors of additional aircraft coming to PHX.