To quote a very recent statement by Roger Cohen of the Regional Airline Association:

" . . . as more and more flying has come to the regional airlines, it is a career now . . ."

For those of us who currently fly for a regional airline, I hope we are happy with what we have. It is very possible that the vast majority of us will never move up to the CAREER we thought we were working towards.

 

Airline flying is not a career anymore. It's a JOB. Just like an assembly line worker. Until such time as ALPA and the unions like Delta stop cowering in front of the airline execs, it'll stay that way.

 

Thats why its important not fly a EMB-170 for EMB-145 rates, I know I know, "well who gives a rats ---", Ill upgrade here and I am off to FEDEX.............

 

You got that right!!! After losing my excellent airline career job I will not entertain starting(again) at some regional to progress through a career track that offers so little. Especially when one considers the likelihood of being undercut/outsourced at some point in the future. Maybe when retirements begin in 4 years there will be some opportunities at the majors but I see some ominous signs that regional airlines will continue to erode whats been, until now, good flying career jobs. I would change your words to say "likely" instead of "possibly". If you will be happy with the possibility of retiring from your company then by all means keep on trucking. If you have adopted the career expectations of pilots in the top half of the legacy carriers list then I hope you are really lucky. I'll leave my spot in your new hire class for someone who feels lucky.

This career is/has fallen so far that I dare say it is not worth it anymore.

 

I don't mean to be the optimistic weasel here, but does everyone really think that the majors will never hire again?!

I know the industry is going through one of the worst periods in decades, but still, pilots can't live forever (even if they could, they can't go past 65 now), and unless the ENTIRE economy folds, the show will go on and pilots will be needed as the cycle continues. Sure, the days of going to a regional and then hopping up to the majors in 3-4 years may be over, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

Stay strong, and keep your heads up, the show must go on!

 

Even if the majors do hire again (which they certainly will), you will be at your regional for so long, that leaving your $80,000 captain pay at your regional for an FO spot at a major making $40,000 the first year and sitting on reserve and Ready Reserve will be a very hard decision. The quality of life issues, pay issues, and the fact that there are no more pensions to look forward to are things that will keep people at regionals until retirement.

 

Well if you work for a regional that pays low enough you won't have an issue when it comes to a big pay cut, lol. But I hope that since we have ALPA now, we can get a contract sometime in the next few years that will increase our pay by a competitive amount.

The seniority, QOL, Reserve are all extremely valid points though. But, still, would it not be worth it to make the move to a company that you can comfortably retire with? As far as retirement goes ... I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not relying on an airlines retirement program. I'm relying on my own money I'm putting away every month. Although a 401k matching program would be REALLY nice

 

I hear this all the time. "I'll only leave for FedEx or UPS." Good, more seats at majors for me. But I agree with what was said earlier, regionals will keep eroding flying at majors. The today show today was reporting 50 percent of flights in the US are by regionals. Then they said regional pilots are less experienced. So who knows...

 

You know it’s funny because I was just thinking about this the other day. How many of you out there would really be willing to leave a regional job that pays 80-90k a year as a captain to go to a major (excluding FedEx and UPS & maybe Southwest)? I mean you would be giving up a high seniority number, a decent schedule that you are probably comfortable with by that time, and you are close to a six figure job. Now granted it’s a regional and you could be outsourced at any time, can you give me the same guarantee the major that you are moving to will not be outsourced, close up or shut down? No one really knows, so why not just stay where you are and enjoy the seniority that you’ve already worked hard to build up?

 

The problem is 80K is not a lot of money anymore. Throw in a mortgage, wife, kids, car and your living paycheck to paycheck. I left my RJ gig making 85K to start at 50K, but after 2 yrs I will be making more this year than I did, and if I stayed, with their paycuts I would make 80K. There is nothing wrong with making a regional a career, have lots of friends that did, but driving to work, doing no more than 2 legs a day and not worring about someone else " outbidding " my flying is nice to have.