Best Case Scenario At Regional
 

What's the best case scenario at a regional with respect to schedule? For guys with decent seniority as FO's, how good can it get in terms of days off, weekends off, etc.?

It really depends on many things. I have been hired at 3 different airlines, sat reserve for a year then furloughed for the first two airlines. The 3rd one, I sat reserve for 2 months then 2 months later held a 16 day off 90 hour line. next month I'll have 18 days off and 77 hours. What do you consider best case scenario? Some people will consider best case scenario to get hired, upgrade fast, then get on with the majors. Some people consider it, not getting furloughed and having a job/stability. Some people who have seen their best case scenario (based on personal preference) have also seen that turn into worst case scenario. I hope that answers your question.

I can tell you that most of the lines here at Eagle for a Dfw based FO are pretty sweet. Many have a bunch of days off between trips, many of the trips are 3 days with overnights in base, plus the first 8-10 days of each month off.

Reserve sucks, on the other hand.. No getting around that.

Generally, a line is better than reserve.

Living in base is better than commuting.

Living in base and holding a line is great.


Basically though, lines that are worth a lot of time in the shortest period possible are typically best. (we do event bidding here and the days that are 7+ hours go quite senior)

16-18 days off if you work four 3 day trips a month. Depends on how much you want to make, the min 70-75 hrs or max 90+hrs?

Best case is to live in base, bid reserve, and not fly.

I'm lucky... Not the norm. I live in base (cmh) and am number 5 out of about 45. I get almost all one day tips ( home every night). I average about 18 days off. Some months I will trade o about 14 days off in order to take a bunch of easy turns ( leave home at 5 am be back in my front door by noon), a few days a week. But again, I'm not the norm.

Norm, is that you? :D

Won't happen until we are all fully staffed. As it is we are flying critical coverage out of all bases as it is.

Why are there guys still on reserve for 6-7 months in ORD, yet everywhere is so short staffed?

Is it really that bad?

The day you resign.....

With that kind of schedule I can understand why a FO would choose to postpone upgrade.

That is the typical Eagle schedule for any FO or CA with mid level seniority or higher.

Three rules of airline careers:

--Stay married your first wife

--Do NOT commute

--Pay your taxes

That was given to me 30 years ago and still true. Commuting usually results in violation of the other two.

GF

I've been holding 17-18 days off with 90+ credit, weekend, holidays and other days I need off. My trips are 20-21 hrs 3 day, 29 hrs 4 day or 15 hrs 2 day, all commutable, and getting done around 6:30 on the last day. I'm bidding in the top 5% as a 5 year FO. This is all by choice. I can do this or be a CA with 12-13 days off and working weekends and holidays.

Do all regionals have these kinds of lines for relatively senior FO's and CA's?

This year I've had 4 on/3 off for the most part. I live in base and when day trips popped up, I flew those. The past couple months our schedules have sucked. 11-12 days off max, 5 and 6 day trips with 5-6 legs each day, a lot of swapping between afternoon flying one day and AM flying the next. Two days off between trips, or a day trip tagged at the start or end of a sequence. Commuting hell. Next month is no exception. At this point nobody knows what to expect other than get in, get your time and get the heck out asap.

1. Get hired.
2. ???
3. Profit!

somewhere in there you need underpants!

I think best case is a matter of perception and mindset. If you are independent, don't mind traveling, can roll with change, like airplanes and adventure, then this job is never bad. If you like being at home, like set schedules and predictability and really enjoy the company of others.... this job can be hell. I say that because being an airline pilot is more of a lifestyle than a career and if you sign up, hoping to make this job as close to a normal job as possible (day trips, weekends and holidays off, etc) you're taking a pretty big gamble with your sanity.

But, that being said, the conventional answer is (IMHO):

Best case is the company is staffed just right and you have the option to bid high credit or bare minimum. PBS at SkyWest will allow you to bid down to 58.6 hours and still get benefits, so if you can get by on that money, that would equate to about 9-10 days of work per month (where I'm based, MX base, long trips but 3 days pay like 4 days). Conversely you could pick up lots of flying and put money away for whatever.

So what is the junior base/ shortest reserve time at Eagle? DFW or ORD? My class starts in a week and a half and I'm trying to see where the best base will be.

Drop almost all trips and work0-5 days a month to keep insurance, run your own business as your prime income.

How hard is it to drop trips at the regional level?

At most companies, short of using some sort of sick leave or FMLA, extremely.

At tsa if you are not in the top 5 you are min days off (11 or12) with 85 credit.

Trip dropping is impossible due to the lack of reserve coverage because of the furloughs.

No no no, it's:

1. Get Commercial Certificate

2. ???

3. Transatlantic 777 Captain

:D

Dont even have a job yet and your looking to drop trips... somebody get this guy in class you should fit right in. ;)

If your looking to get into this job and work 5 days a month your making a big mistake... your first year or two is gonna be hell. 5 on 2 off and many times your gonna be commuting on your day off.

Forget about dropping trips

But...(sniffle, sniffle) ... but my adviser at Short Cut to Captain Aviation Institute said I could be in command of an A380 in six months, three if I paid for the Intercontinental Heavy Jet Course. IT'S NOT FAIR!

Ask them that at the interview, and I'm sure they will give all the time off you need ;)

Holy crap that whole post was AMAZING! AHAHAHAHA!:D

Thank YOU! Remember to tip your waitresses. I'll be here all week ;)

What incredible wit and humor in these responses.

Actually, it's not unreasonable for those with established careers and practices to inquire about the prospect of adding professional aviation to their repertoire. The airlines are replete with those who handle two careers given the flexibility aviation can provide with sufficient seniority. The point of this thread to gauge how flexible schedules can be at the regional level to accomodate already existing practices and businesses.

The short answer is they aren't flexible.

What, may I ask, is your "established career and practice"?

Attorney in private practice.

Stick with the ambulance chasing--more money, better company!

GF

Why in the world would you want to spend at least 240 days each year working a grueling schedule to earn what you do in one to two months?

For the same reasons why everyone else has gone into the airlines - a love of flying. But I'm not naive. I started the thread because I know the first two-three years are grueling - but at some point with some seniority I know QOL improves. I'm just trying to gauge how good it can get once you get through the bad times to see if I can get to the point where I can manage both careers. I know some lawyers do fly for airlines.

First couple of years can be bad depending on what phase of life you are in. First couple of decades can be bad depending on the life cycle of the airline (s) you hire on with. Its all luck. Even though I was worked to death the first couple of years and made nothing... learning a new airplane and flying to new places and working with new people made things bearable. Now that I have a family and am more settled i'm not sure I could do it over again. I have been at SKYW for 8 years and chosen to stay in the right seat, live in base, and have a good quality of life (20 days off for feb), money sucks though.

I doubt it.

If you "love flying". BUILD OR BUY AN AIRPLANE AND FLY IT! Join a flying club, etc.

I love driving my fast car, but that doesn't want to make me want to be a cab driver, sheesh!

One big problem is referring to a broken business model as "cyclic", it's not, it's broken.

If your a lawyer stay doing it... this isnt a hobby its a career. What your doing is the worst thing for this career because you would fly for 2$ an hour because you really dont care what you get paid.

So your looking to drop trips down to the min so you can fly and be a lawyer while there is people out there trying to get a job so they can make a career out of this. Go be a flight Instructor on the weekends.

My interest in having two careers will have no effect on the poor wages paid to regional pilots now. Supply and demand dictates that. Believe me, i agree it's sad that the only way I could even consider being a regional FO is because I have another career. But if you read the threads on this website, EVERY seasoned airline pilot urges young pilots to have a second/backup career. I just did it backwards - got the first career established before professional aviation.