And a legitimate question for those who are in debt and/or have financial commitments so cannot afford all those lengthy duty days combined with regional pay.

The dream job for those of us in that position might be weekends and holidays of maximum flying supplemented by regular job and income during the week.

The financial reality has kept plenty of pilots away from regionals, many of whom would have jumped at the chance of flying weekends only.

 

Seniority based bidding system at most regional won't allow any of the aforementioned. My company, I think, will allow you to reduce your monthly schedule to a certain number of hours...maybe like 55, although I can't fully recall.

I think a charter gig might be a better option.

 

I'm curious.. If you will only meet ATP mins this fall and don't want to fly much (until you upgrade), how do you plan on acquiring the hours that will likely be required in order to take that upgrade? (The regionals I worked for all required a minimum 3500 TT +- , and a certain amount of time in type as well)

 

Valid point, thanks for bringing to my attention. Something I would have to consider. This would most likely delay my chances to upgrade.

Slammer and others bring up a good point. Charter might be a little easier depending on what company you work for. I know it is possible to do with charter, but wanted to see if anyone has done it on the regional side of things.

 

Like someone said earlier the best place to go is the place you get most senior quickest. For the last 14 months I've been working a consulting contract where I was required to be in the office 2 days per week. Because I got on at the beginning of the hiring at my current regional, I live in domicile and became senior in my equipment after a year which makes running 2 jobs much easier.

When I was junior I'd be flying 4 on 2 off all month. It meant I sometimes wouldn't get a day off for 8 to 10 weeks straight. However that was easier to deal with than it sounds. The jobs are both so different that the change was as good as a rest and after doing 12 - 14 hours 2 days in a row in the office I was excited to go fly for the rest.

Being junior I was flying the weekends anyway and I just got flexibility from my other gig on which days of the week I had to work. I'd provide my working days to gig no2 as soon as my bid came out. As I got senior I went from having 11 days off per month to being able to bid up to 18 days off by bidding higher paying trips and reduced hours for the month. Also I was able to bid better trips, locals, 2 days and stand-ups which made getting rid of them to fellow pilots easier. I was able to control my schedule to have at least 1 day off each week which made a huge difference to my quality of life. My airline allows you to bid down to 58 hours and still maintain benefits but I never needed to bid below 65 hours. (btw I was only able to bid below 80 hours per month once I became senior).

Last year I made twice as much working part time consulting 2 days per week than I did as an fo. Make no mistake, it was bloody hard work and I'm glad the contract is over and I have a few months doing only 1 job before looking for another contract.

At my previous airline (Mesa) commuting to Chicago none of this would have been possible. Too much time on the road and too much unpredictability of the scheduled. Additionally there is no way you will be able to hold down a full time job and maintain a flying schedule. Also from experience I can say that doing two jobs is unsustainable in the long term and your quality of life and reason for earning money become at odds with eachother. The other thing I did and it is something you should do is decide that flying is your no1 priority and nothing should get in the way of that i.e. you committed to flying for your airline, they are depending on you so no calling in sick to take care of job no2. You need to be able put everything about job no 2 behind your no 1 goal of being a profession airline pilot.

So here is a summary of my advice:

1) Don't plan on doing 2 jobs until you can live in base
2) Wait until you are senior enough to bid to have at least 1 day per week to yourself.
3) You might be able to do it being senior on reserve and have more days for job no2 but that depends onthe airline and you'll need the flexibility to leave job no2 when you are called to fly.
4) Do not try and fly and hold down a full time job as well. It can only be done with a flexible part time job.
5) Don't make any long term commitments. Start out by looking for a 6 month extendable contract to make sure you and your other employer can make it work.
6) Don't kill yourself for money. What use is it if you have no time to enjoy it.

Good luck.

Airfix