Big Decision
 

My current situation:

1) Offered a class at CHQ
2) In the hiring pool at XJT and PSA, but both of these want at least 1000 total, which would take about 2 months of timebuilding (I do have a gig lined up for this flying if I choose to pursue it).

So do I accept my current 121 offer from RAH or built time for a few months and then go to XJT or PSA? I've heard a lot of people say to take the "first 121 offer you get," but the other two regionals seem to have less drama and fewer QOL nightmares as RAH (that contract website was an eye-opener). PSA, being wholly owned and just renewing their a/c leases, seems like a safe bet.

Thoughts?

There's more that should go into a decision than just the company. Where do you live? How would the commute be to either?

I'm from the Northeast originally, all my family's up there, but I'm currently living in the Midwest close to IND. Easier to live in base, esp on 1st year pay, so I'd be looking into relocating instead of commuting. CHQ has LGA and IND, which would be ok for my current situation, and XJT has EWR and ORD. PSA I'd be looking at CLT, DAY or TYS...not really ideal but hey

which one pays more and gets the most time off at home? that should be the answer.

What they said. QOL is huge in this profession and trust me, being a wholly owned is not a bonus. We (PSA) have drama just like every other regional. Our leases have been in place for a few years and dont start to expire till late 2015ish.

All regional pay is horrible though, right? Don't get me wrong, money is important to me, but I'd rather upgrade quickly to captain and move on to a major than spend over a decade at a regional just to hit halfway-decent earnings. I know that some regionals are branded as "career regionals," with the possibility of hitting 6 figures, but that is not my goal.
As for time off, I completely agree, and QOL is important to me. Stability (relatively speaking), upgrade time, and QOL would be the three things I'm looking for. Probably a lot to ask for in this biz ;) especially at a regional.

Based upon your info, If I was in your situation, I would build the time as quickly as possible and then try to get XJT followed by PSA. But only you can make this decision.

A question you might want to ask yourself - How long are you willing to "time-build" if the two pool offers don't work out?

FWIW

You don't want to sit reserve, especially at RAH, do you?

Go for XJT and then PSA. From what I hear, RAH is a nightmare compared to the other two.

Weird thing is, time-building pay would be far better than regional pay, but it's 3 weeks on, non-stop flying, then 1 week off. I could do it for a year, maybe two, not sure if any more than that. Thanks for bringing that up :)

Is that a rhetorical question? ;)

Sounds like what 5,000 other guys are trying to do, maybe more. Everyone wants to upgrade quickly and almost everyone wants to move up to a major.

Many guys at RAH are holding lines right out of the school house, especially on the S5 side. IND and CMH is where everyone's going right now. You might want to look into PSA's reserve language. You'd be surprised. My buddy is on reserve at XJT and since the ASA side has taken over, reserve is a nightmare.

If you go to RAH can you transfer to other equipment/certificates?

I would go for the regional where if bad stuff hits the fan, you can see yourself spending some time at in regards to domiciles, pay and benefits. The quick upgrades can disappear overnight and majors freeze hiring.

It's all about being patient once you are in, right now you are faced with lots of tuff competition as there are highly qualified pilots with lots of experience who can't even get a response back from the big guys. Get in, build your time and good luck. But most importantly, don't forget to ENJOY your life! Too many pilots have forgotten that art..

First, well done getting three job offers. Second, I thought all three carriers were looking for TT of 1000, 1200, and 1500? Is the majority of your time mutli? I ask because PSA's website says they're looking for 1500 total and 500 mutli.

Xjet is a quality operator, not sure about rah but if you have the chance xjet is a safe bet.

All regional pay is NOT equal. You also need to look at things like 401k and insurance, days off per month, min monthly guarantee, vacation, etc. But the 401k and insurance are things many, many folks overlook and shouldn't.

Don't just look at the hourly scales. They are important but you need to look at other factors too.

Additionally, turning down a class date waiting for another airline to call you is hazardous as the ones you hope to call you may or may not call you, leaving high and dry.....

Make a chart if you need to compare contract things.

Saab, thanks. You raise another point that concerns me. Pinnacle is about to lose a bunch of guys, right? So that's hundreds of pilots with lots of time out on the street that will get priority job placement. Assuming I built up time and waited for XJT or PSA, those guys would get called in from the pool to a class first, and I'd be stuck in my time-building gig...not good.

Thank you! I have 840 total and 100 multi. I applied at PSA months ago when their mins were around 900-something. Most of my multi is in the 1900, which I got sic-typed in. Dunno if that made a difference. Just kept updating my stuff online and checking in until I got called. I know two guys in class now at PSA who have around 900/50 each.

Can anyone at RAH answer this 1?

Thanks everyone for the responses, every piece of advice helps :)

I always thought RAH had a two year lock on equipment, but that was back in 2007.

All I know of now is a 2-year training agreement

You have valid concerns with all the Pinnacle/eagle guys going to the street but you are also qualified and it comes down to attitude, which you have a good one. Do what your gut says, if you are who I think you are, we filled you in with alot of stuff at the interview 2 weeks ago but the choice is ultimately yours. There basically is all risk at this point, get screwed by republic or get screwed on a class with PSA or XJT. Tough to say what will happen with any of them. XJT did say the classes are now scheduled in "Pencil" instead of Pen... Apologies if this isnt the person I think it is. Regardless I think the info is still valid.

How long have you been in the pool at PSA? I say this because I was in HR yesterday and it sounds like we are going to have another new hire class soon and maybe another shortly after that one. We went from being fat on FOs to short in the matter of a few months. My 2 cents would be to go to XJT or PSA, I would avoid RAH like the plague unless u can live in base.

My advice would be this. If you're comfortable with all that's taking place at RAH, take the job. If the economy goes into recession before the end of the year, a growing possibility, at least you'll have a number.

If you take the RAH job and find you don't like it or all of the extras that are taking place there, you can always leave for XJet or PSA if they offer a class. Some may not like that I would suggest this, but the RJ world is basically survival of the fittest.

You cannot change equipment as an FO at RAH unless you've been displaced and the company can no longer put you in your original equipment or you upgrade.

I am, and thanks again!

A whopping 6 days :D

I appreciate the advice, but RAH has a 2 year contract that I could not afford to pay back pro-rata if I had to leave early :mad:

Out of curiosity, what was your interview at Republic like? I heard recently, they have been conducting interviews lasting 30-45 minutes tops.

Painless. 10 minute written, 10 minute HR interview, fill out paperwork for 30 mins, go home.

I'd personally go to PSA or XJet. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future if there is a US Airways/AA merger though. Still, my number one choice would be PSA, from what I understand they have a much better contract than RAH. Keep rereading the rah pilot website.

I left Chautauqua (RAH) 5 years ago, and would strongly recommend against going there. From what my buddies say, it's only gotten worse. Of the 3 that you mentioned, XJT has always been the best IMO. In many ways their contract is superior to most majors (except for the hourly rates). I have a few friends there that are FO's. They are able to manipulate their schedule (due to the contract) to credit way over 100 hours, every month. So even though the pay rates are similar, an XJT FO has the potential to make MUCH more than an RAH FO.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results though :D

Good luck to you

I've never heard of RAH going after someone for the training contract. Maybe they have, but I'm not even sure a contract like that is enforcable.

Thank you, good luck to you as well. What was bad about CHQ when you were working there, and how has it gotten worse? Looks like you're at Delta now, so it can't be all bad :)

I got hired at Republic 4.5 years ago and I'm only halfway to upgrade. 500 FOs senior to me and 500 FOs junior to me. The CHQ of 5 years ago doesn't exist. Those guys all upgraded in 1 to 2 years. At my current rate, I'll be lucky to upgrade in 9 to 10 years from date of hire.

About a month or two ago there were a couple of threads about RAH doing exactly this.

Whoops. Well, that was the case back in the day, or that's what friends who worked there told me. I guess if they're giving $5000 bonuses, they feel obligated to go after the contract.

Xjet, PSA, RAH. In that order.

I too have heard that the legacy Xjet side of Xjet can credit some crazy amounts if you can work it right and are willing to fly.

True story !

This might help your decision more/less.

Chautauqua Could Split from Republic
May 2, 2012 1500 MT

Republic Airways could put its Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary into court protection without affecting the rest of the company, although CEO Bryan Bedford suggests this is just one possibility as he attempts to revive the division.

“We’re focused on working with our stakeholders at Chautauqua to get a win-win opportunity, just as we were working with Frontier [Airlines], which also continues to be a completely separate corporate entity and business enterprise,” Bedford told analysts during the company’s first-quarter results conference call.



“I would hope at the end of the day that what we’re putting forward to our key stakeholders is something that they understand and can wrap their arms around.”

Republic says it needs to cut $40-60 million of Chautauqua’s costs to make the 50-seat regional jet operation profitable. Under previously disclosed plans, the company expects some of those savings will come from maintenance providers and other vendors, as well as from restructuring aircraft leases and debt. Bedford, however, has not discussed that happens if this plan fails, but under questioning from analysts during the earnings conference call he acknowledged that its operating division, which include Republic Airlines, Shuttle America and Chautauqua as well as Frontier, are all independent corporate entities and that each could become independent from the holding company.

Having to fanagle your schedule to make money is horse****. You should get paid decently by working and without being a scheduling loophole guru.

And I want a pony.

On topic though, this is a tough one. I mean, I hate RAH, and this is a tough one. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see RAH try to furlough again this fall, just because that seems to be their go-to position when they don't know what the Hell else to do. On the plus side, that would mean all bets are off as far as the training contract goes. Then again, on the infinitesimal chance that the pilots get released to strike, first-years with no union protection could be faced with a "scab or you're fired" scenario.

By all accounts, PSA and (especially) XJT are better places to work. Again, OTOH, how firm are these deals with the poolies? This wouldn't be the first time in airline history the company geared up for a hiring rush early in the year, somehow fail to take into account the annual post-summer doldrums, and told everyone not already on property to pound sand.
Then I don't know what to tell you. The time of the two-year RJ upgrade is over, and there are a lot of layoffs, consolidations and retirements to go at all levels of the industry before it'll even be a possibility again. RAH is a disaster for junior pilots, and if you go there, you will be miserable. That is pretty much a given. If I was still there, I would still be a fairly "junior" pilot, going into Year 5 on property.

edit:
I would add "But it would get reeeeally ugly for all involved." to that statement. Bedford pulled a lot of crap to force the "one company, one list" language, and breaking it up again would be almost as much of a mess as putting it together was.

Why you mad ?