Just curious, but how many years of employment before one sees above 50K annual earnings in a pilot position ?

70K ?

50K -year 3ish
70k - prob not as an FO unless you have no life and you pick up all the OT you can and bid conflicts. But with 150% OT and 300% vacation blocks ... Who knows.

There are almost 5X the number of ERJs as CRJs...thus more lines and variety on the ERJ. For over a year I only flew to 5 cities as a DFW CRJ FO....5 whole cities....

Don't get me wrong, I love my free First Class Meals, flying at FL410 and long legs (3 hours 40 minutes IAH-LAX) of the CRJ...but the QOL hit isn't worth it.

I took ERJ for mobility. Read this thread most of the stuff your asking is in here. You need to plan to be on reserve for some time, and with eagle that means you could spend months on ready reserve, which is an entire month of sitting at the airport 8 hours a day 20 days a month, with 11 days off. That is possible. You need to plan the worst, and its possible, you might be at the tail end of hiring too, you just dont know. You might also be off reserve quickly, but there is not a solid answer to the question because things keep changing, and are unpredictable.

In my class CRJ ORD was the most junior jet.

I was recently hired and have two quick questions: first since the medical exam is no longer the famed "astronaut" physical, what does it consist of now??

Also while at the interview we were told that the erj and crj are both seat locked, but a former eagle pilot friend of mine said he thought only the crj was seat locked. Which one is the case??

The LGA ERJ 08 hires would highly highly highly say the opposite of this statement. Not saying what your saying is not true, I believe it is true for DFW, but if you were in the Northeast CRJ over the last 12 months was the much better option.

I have not heard of anyone going ERJ to CRJ, but it is a union grievance right now, that is my understanding, and hopefully someone can shed some light further because I hear mixed stuff.

1. Medical: 2 drug test the same day

2. IF you get CRJ or ERJ you cannot move from one plane to another. Seat lock in any plane is 12 months.

IF you get the ATR then you can move to the EMJ or CRJ...but when you are in the jet you cannot bid laterally or back to the atr, since both jets pay the same and the ATR pays less.

Urine drug test and hearing test.


As far as I know all equipment is seat locked but it only matters for the ATR. You can only move to a different aircraft/seat if it means more money. First year pay is the same no matter what equipment you are on. After year one the jets are paid at a higher rate so the ATR fo's/CA can transfer to the jet. If you pick a jet you are there until you are displaced or make CA. Also if you pick a jet you will have the ATR guys/gals transferring over to the jet and they will be senior to you during your first year. After a year you will start gaining ground on the jet. I was No. 1 in my class and picked the ATR for QOL. I was on reserve for 4 months and started holding day trips on month 6. My advice is, if it's an option, take the ATR and spend your year there. You should hold a line after 4 or 5 months. Then, when your years up, transfer to the jet. You'll have a years seniority and you'll be closer to having a decent QOL. Who knows you may like the ATR and want to stay there.