Does Flying for Regionals really suck?
 

Hi Everyone,
This is my first post. I have been lurking for a while. I have seen a lot of *****ing on the website about flying for the regionals and I was curious if it's really that bad. I know we all have bad days and forums like this are great to come and blow some steam. But I am considering making a jump to fly for the airlines so I am curiuos is the QOL really bad or do people enjoy working for the regionals? My background...

I am 28 and currently a business owner but am looking to possibly sell a do something else. I've been at it for almost 5 years. I have been flying for 10 years and own a 2004 Cirrus SR20. I love flying for fun but have always thought about flying for the airlines. I live in Virginia and would probably want to work at Colgan since pilots are back at base each night for the most part. I live near SHD & CHO so I have two bases in less than a hour drive. I am someone who enjoys taking weekend trips with my wife and traveling a lot. I know starting out weekends will be filled with work but after 2-3 years, does the QOL get better? I would have no plans on upgrading to majors because I don't want to be away from home 5 days a week.

The pay doesn't scare me off starting out because of the wifes salary and investments, I can get by. Plus after making captain, where I live, that salary will work.

Sorry for the long post, just curious if flying right now has gotten really bad and if people are really jerked around a lot by mangement. I want to fly but I also want mangement to respect QOL. Any thoughts? Thanks everyone!

T

I've been at my current regional for 2 years, hold 17 days off a month, and I am making decent money. I am way ahead of the average salary for my age group (20's) and always have a 3 day weekend. I look at my friends working 50-60 hours a week for about the same and I don't regret my choice. I'm on the road 4 days a week at the most, and its a one flight commute, so there's nooo stress. It's what you make it. If you are considering a regional I would strongly suggest doing some research on the company and QOL. I would steer clear of the Trans States, Go Jets, Mesa, and Pinnacle, but thats just my personal opinion. Those companies do not provide good work rules for their pilots such as duty day, compensation, days off, etc. Good Luck

Johns... Do you mind me asking who you work for?

T

ExpressJet, might not be the best opportunity for you. I got in at a really good time two years ago. Great work rules, decent pay for regionals, and the company treats you well. The whole company is in for a ride in the next 1-2 months. We are about to find out whats happening to the 69 airplanes that CAL doesn't want us to fly for them any more. Thats too long of a story to into, but I'm sure if you search this sight you'll find it. Point being, I would highly suggest staying close to home if possible, especially if you value time with the family. Colgan pilots are a good bunch of guys and gals, and 1900 or SAAB flying is fun. I don't know what their QOL is like, even if you are senior. 1900 flying can be hard on you though, especially on the east coast with that wx. No autopilot, so you gotta hand fly those ILS's to mins and doing that 5-7 times a day can wear on ya.

You can't get away from not being home, this industry requires it. It's something that you have to talk to with your family and have to agree on if you want to pursue pro flying. Trust me, Colgan and some p135 cargo that let you come home everyday, are NOT the best places to be thinking about making it a long term job. Also you have to remember that yes one might say they get half the month off, but it's not continous days off, it's here and there. There are exceptions however, some fractionals/cargo have 1 week on 1 week off schedules, so if you want to be home longer that's your best bet.

Business Owner
 

Working for others bites on any level. Just keep your business and forget about it. Perhaps in a few years if you can't stop yourself you could get any regional or commuter job that you can. Stick with it for three to six months till you wake up to how awful it really is and then quit. Whatever you do don't throw away a good income for this.

If you have enough money to afford your own plane then you are already far ahead of the game. Why risk what you already have for a life of indentured servitude?

It is all relative. Some broke CFI's will enjoy a one to three year honeymoon once they reach a regional only to realize that they have been duped. My guess is that you wouldn't be happy working 21 days a month and earning 20K. Often airline pilots are in such a deep state of denial that they only look at the very best case situations. The reality is that most are working their tails off for peanuts and are gone most of the time and are dead tired the rest.

On top of all that the flying is about as much fun as watching paint dry. If you don't believe me then try sitting in front of MS flight Simulator for 6 hours strait during a level flight across country. Do that for three days strait then you will begin to get the idea.

SkyHigh

Do not, I repeat, do not listen to Skyhigh.

is that how far you made it in your career?

sorry dude, that does suck!

Smoke / FP
 

I can't expect you guys to understand. You are still wage earners. However, this guy has something going for him. Why would you want to bring him down?

SkyHigh

i would keep my own business and plane and fly on the side

all the fun, none of the bull****

While he is bitter, he makes sense. This guy is 28 and owns a sucessful business. He owns a $200k+ plane.

He'd be making the MISTAKE OF HIS LIFE if he left that all behind, IMO.

Yeah he would...At first I was going to replay my go www.allatps.com broken record...Then I read his post more carefully...

Stay where you are.

-LAFF

This is a special case in my opinion. If i was in his position with my own business thats obviously successful since he could afford his own plane, no matter what the make and model, i dont think i would go to the airlines and leave what i made for myself behind.

It would be a much different situation even at 28 if you were just breakin into a first career. I dont care what skyhigh or anyone else says, but this isnt a bad career choice. Its got potential to be an upper middle class blue collar job if things fall into place, and i think theres so much opportunity for it to.

Bottom line if you feel passionately about it and you are in a position to handle go for it, but you would be leaving behind something much more stable and probably more lucrative to take a calculated risk.

If you really want to try your luck at the regionals go for it. I just find it kind of stupid that you want to stay and make your career at the bottom. Most pilots pay their dues and go forward, but it seems like you want to stay there. I would say go ahead, if your main goal was to reach the airlines, but to stay there at colgan, no! If you do try it make shure you leave someone in charge of your business, it seems like you love your wife and hometime more than aviation, and thats nice but its not enough to succeed. In my opinion go for it go for the airlines, from what I see women dont want there husbands home all the time. They want to have time for themselves then see you every 4 days it keeps things exciting:D

I hope your wife/girlfriend didn't tell you that or you may have a surprise waiting for you if you come home early from a trip:D

I am not advising you to quit your current job. For 99% of people in your situation that would be foolish. For 1%, it is a better life - I'm in the 1%.

At 28, I owned my own business, made enough to fly plenty on the weekends in a plane I had 50% share in, and was home every night, albeit very late most of the time.

But I was miserable. Absolutely miserable. And it was bad enough that it was even affecting my wife and our marriage. She'll tell you that if I hadn't changed careers, we probably wouldn't be married anymore.

For me, the pay cut and the nights away were a tradeoff I and my family were willing to make. My wife supported me 110% even though it meant huge sacrifices for her. I am home more now than I was when I was the owner, and I'm far less stressed and in general a much more pleasant person :p, but I'm out of town if something urgent comes up.

If you aren't okay with being out of town, you need to rethink your plan. It won't work long-term doing out and backs. Really, it won't. Best of luck.

Freightpuppy, you and I are like apples and oranges to this guy. Because we are female, there is no denying that we were given certain breaks and what not......breaks that this person may never see.
I would say that at your age, stick with your business. Fly for fun, not for a living. Just my two cents.....would you like change?

regionals
 

OK guys I'm another who has been reading all the posts for some time.
I too am considering a possible second career at a regional. Although my case is slightly different in that I am retired law enforcement, you know 25 and out. Relatively young but not 28! So I'll jump in and ask if all of you young puppies would mind riding with a folically challenged ex-cop? The pay end for myself is not an issue.:) Sooo tell me your thoughts!

I, personally, would have no problem with it. As long as by "folically challenged" you mean bald and not some other crazy disorder where you shed like a dog. Because then I may have an issue.

And as long as you don't sell those of us out who still need to make a living on regional pay just because you don't care about the money. The shedding thing is important too, that would be gross and makes it harder to pick up girls.

There are plenty of regional pilots that essentially fly part-time, and make their real money with a side business (real estate, insurance, consulting, financial planning, etc). The key to this would be go somewhere with work rules that allows for easy dropping and/or manipulation of trips. It would also be important to find a company with bases near your home if you cannot or don't want to relocate.

The people I know that have 2 careers have lots of cash but work their asses off, and come to think of it many of them are in their late 20s-early 30s and single.

Your mileage may vary.

I would trade you in a second! flying a cirrus with my friends/family vs. a rj on specific headings and alt. with the autopilot on? Look its fun for the first 2 days, then it becomes very monotonous. At the end of the day, no sense of accomplishment/fulfillment. If you put all the time and training that you will have to do to get into an rj, into your business, Ill bet you could buy a nice used citation.

there is a lot of good info in this thread... SkyHigh im curious as to why youre such a big participator in these forums if you truly hate the industry? sure your successful and have your own business etc, but if you still spend time on these boards, then something must be missing from your life. I dont mean that in a negative way, but it seems to me that a big part of you wishes you didnt pass this up.

This is an exciting time to go to the regionals. For years management at most companies have been able to rape their pilots but now the tables are turning with the majors hiring and a lot of companies not being able to keep up with attrition. work rules are going to improve, unions will have the upper hand at the table, and youll see a lot of respect come back to this once great profession... a lot of you naysayers wont agree, but im willing to make this interesting with a wager :)

I agree we are all in at a great time. SKYHIGH is bitter because he left the industry and no matter how much money he makes everytime he steps foot on an airlienr he gets sick to hiss stomach becuas ehe gave up, he sold out, why else would he spend so much time posting on an website that is called AIRLINEPILOTCENTRAL. Think about it, he has to live with regret for the rest of his life.

This is true. Airline people have a moderate advantage in real-estate or sales work because many people are interested in what you do...

Same reason that pro sports alumni can get high-end financial planning jobs.

Dont do it
 

I'm tired of looking at the 35yr old FO doing his walk around on the rj with the kool-aid mustache. This is a job for me, and there isn't a second income from my previous job or rich wife. If it is just FUN for you than fly your circus around and file IFR from IAH to LGA. But don't bring the bar down because the money isn't important to you. I don't mean to be spiteful or sound jealous (i am) but stay were you are. I work for Colgan and you will never see those bases for a long time, besides the fact of getting beaten down in either the saab or beech with hardly any work rules. Looking from the outside in seem's all rosey colored and i will admit i think most of us are guilty of the same crime but trust us in saying its not all that.

Thanks everyone for all the great responses. I have been lurking on this site for a long time and I do see that Colgan is a great place to start a career but not stay. I actually have talked to several PDT captains and I think that is the airline I would like to fly for if I do sell my business. I love the Dash 8 which I love flying on as a passenger. However, I heard unless you go to UND/Purdue/Riddle, you need to have 1500TT with 500multi. I have 1000TT and no multi yet. From what I have heard PDT has a better QOL than a place like Colgan. Just my thoughts from what I have heard so far. Thanks again for the great info.

kool-aid mustache


Is that like the rookie cop mustache?

-LAFF

There you go agian shooting your mouth off talking about something you know nothing about-----

You know I'm starting to believe that SkyHigh is another name for someone on the board who just like to play the Devil's advocate.

You willingly work for a company that pays only 18K. What kind of high-life were you expecting?

Is that your answer?

-LAFF

No sir i don't make 18k more like 27000 this year and probably 40000 next year, but that wasn't the point i was making. To many people willing to fly for free, i didn't go to college for 4yrs and get all my ratings to watch people come here and take it up the back side because money isn't important to them. So when the FO's that need to make more than 23dollars an hr their second year think they deserve a raise you get this guy coming here and saying no we don't need a raise. And this is happening all over the industry. "O flyings so fun I will do it for free". Hell ya Colgan would love this guy because he's basically said that he would fly for nothing because he just doesn't have any worries financially.

Mr. LA you are probably older than I am so I can understand your distaste at my comment. But sometimes it is better to listen than talk or in this case read and not type. It seems that you have only been on this forum for 6more months than me but have posted something like 1150 post compared to my 50. That being said, who do you fly for and what kind of experience to you bring to this particular post. I for one fly at Colgan and feel a little more in the know. Not saying that just because you don't fly 121 doesn't mean your not intitled to your opinion but try posting on things you know about and try listening a little more you might learn something. I come on APC almost every night and read a lot but don't feel the need to responded to things that i don't know anything about!