upgrade vs. wholly owned?
 

The time has come for me to apply to a regional. I've got ATP mins/70 multi/ATP written. I'm a single guy that is willing to make just about anything work. Which regionals should I be targeting? I know a lot of ppl say not to chase an upgrade, however I find it hard not to when is see "most junior captain hired 2007" vs "most junior captain hired 2012". Seems like a no brainer. Am I missing something? I also think that given the volatility within industry that flying for a wholly owned regional is a smart move.

Can anyone throw me some insight on which airlines to target and why?

I was going to say something that might get me banned, but I will refrain.

Chase the upgrade. It is the biggest regret in my career. The worst thing you can do is go to a stagnant regional. Keep in mind, nothing is guaranteed and things change all the time, but any regional with 2000+ pilots would have to hire a 1000 below you for you to upgrade. Think of the feasibility of that the time that takes vs a regional with 1000 on its list.

Not that I'm going to suggest my carrier, but do some research before you overstate the stability of the wholly owned carriers.

I'm not saying any regional is immune from hitting low times, but many wholly owned regionals have a poor history of stability simply because they are wholly owned and not flexible or diversified. When the major partner pushes them for cuts or else, they either accept, die or get bought off. ASA, Comair, Mesaba, Endeviccle with DL, Expressjet and Continental, AmericanEaglevoy and AMR. All pretty rocky history in last 5 years, mostly for having no leverage. Horizon I hear is a decent place, but has stagnated as it cant pursue new opportunities being AS only, and has a long upgrade. I'm not an East coaster and know very little about Piedmont & PSA, though everyone is aware of the reputation PSA pilots paved for themselves recently.

Wholly owned carriers don't seem to have any more stability than contractors, if by stability you mean predictable seniority/upgrade progression without furloughs. If anything they have been worse over the last decade...when mainline needs to dump capacity fast, the wholly-owned carriers have served admirably as capacity accumulators. If you cancel a contractor's flying before the contract expires, you still have to pay the contract unless you can work out a deal.

COMAIR: They got shafted so bad a new word had to be created to describe it: "Comaired"
Eagle: Raped during BK.
XJET: Extorted for concessions under threat of being sold, then sold anyway, and soon to be dramatically downsized, perhaps even comaired.

Every flow-through agreement to date has been a total abortion, with just a handful actually flowing up. In fact at Envoy, a number of senior folks were flowed up against their will (large pay and seniority cuts for their twilight years).

From a pilot perspective I can't see any real reason to prefer (or avoid) a wholly-owned. All else being equal, with a wholly-owned you might get slightly better non-rev priority for your family.

Go for somewhere smaller, that is currently getting plenty of airplanes (hopefully positive growth when it comes to total fleet number), has a fast upgrade, isn't stagnant, and with bases you are okay living in. Since you want the fast upgrade you might end up on reserve as a captain for a while if things slow down at that point, or you might end up holding a decent line stuck as an FO for a while. Just because a place has a fast upgrade now doesn't mean something won't happen to stop that.

The only good choice you can make is based on the facts now. Rumors are just that and this industry is full of them. Things can and will change and there is no telling where you will end up, but hopefully you can get on somewhere that has lots of movement. That means people are generally pretty happy and moral is higher. Once it's gets stagnant it gets negative quick.

You must not be a pilot. You obviously don't understand how the industry works. Your response has nothing to do with the OP question.

With that said, asking that question on this forum will get a thousand different responses. Everyone has different experiences. I worked for a wholly owned and it turned out bad. The mainline partner can do whatever they want...not having to abide by any contracts. They can give and TAKE airplanes as much and as often as they want.
Quick upgrades are happening at several airlines. SKW and ExpressJet have long upgrade times while Compass, Republic, Mesa, etc have quick upgrades. Research their contracts or what their pilots have to say if you can't get your hands on a contract. If you're willing to relocate...that might be your best move. I'm a little biased..Compass has super fast upgrade times, a decent contract, adding 20 more airplanes over the next year and a half, and flowing 160 more captains to Delta. No brainer. But like I said...I'm biased. I have really enjoyed my time at Compass so take that for what it's worth.

Don't forget Endeavor. Nothing good has happened since Delta made them a wholly owned.