Couldn't agree more with the other comments. Steer well clear of Republic. Until an acceptable contract gets negotiated (if that ever happens) you are far better off flipping burgers.

 

I left RAH 3 1/2 years ago as a very senior 170 captain living in base making $90k/yr. I have never looked back. My career goal at that time was "Anywhere but here with anyone but you" and I was fortunate enough to achieve that goal.

I am still a FO at my new job and am making about $20k less than I was at RAH. Not a day goes by that I do not appreciate my departure from that nest of vipers. Nest of vipers in any and all respects

I would sooner drink Liquid Plumr than I would go back to that miserable, hostile, toxic, dysfunctional environment.

New hires/applicants take heed.

 

Hetman would you mind explaining what made the environment so hostile and and your experience with RAH so negative (that is except for what other have mentioned, i.e. no cx pay)

 

I left RAH for a LCC around the same time as Hetman. I can tell you then it was miserable. The company did not even follow the horrible CBA we had. Numerous time I was told fly "it and grieve it". No cancelation pay is huge in the winter. The CP at the time was a total company guy, and the DO wasn't much better. Many were on IFMLA because of the very punitive sick call policy. RAH is a very lean company (cheap), so lots of little things fall the the cracks. You will have to double check your pay report monthly, because they screw this up. If you go there, you will regret it within a year. Maybe not too bad if it's your first airline though.

 

I've only lost money one time in 8 years from a cancelled flight. We have pay protection and also line guarantee with completion factor. I've always been reassigned, even if it is a quick 40 minute deadhead to replace a 7 hr turn we get paid the full trip for the day. Nobody will ever tell you about pay protection on the forums. I've enjoyed my time here, its not perfect but it's not bad either. There are some FedEx and Delta Captains out there making close to 300k with good work rules and if you talk to them they will be more disgruntled than most ex Comair guys. Most of the disgruntled and negative pilots are the ones posting on the forums.
I've enjoyed 15-16 days off as a new hire and 19-20 days off as a senior FO. Yes this is still going on in my base, I see 1st year FO's with 17 days off and all day trips! The other bases dont have it quite as nice though. I'm on reserve now and love it, last month I only was called and worked 11 days and enjoyed 19 days of not working. We do need a raise here and a new contract but it's not as bad as people make you believe. We are the 4th most profitable airline in the world and we havent had problems lately securing new flying in this cutthroat regional industry. If we get a new contract in the next year this place will be great.

 

Thanks LAXSAAB. It would be my first and I do understand the frustration with the company's culture. However, I'm sure everybody would agree that the single most important thing is leaving on base, in my case - NY, and unfortunately I don't know of any better options with NY base.

 

What base are you in because this month I have the most days off in base of any FO at 17 days with no vacation. That was a fluke and I normally get around 12-14 days off. Most pilots at RAH get around 12-14 and if you use vacation probably around 17.

 

THANK YOU SIR! Finally a glimmer of hope. I am leaving an on demand charter company with no schedule and mediocre pay and 4 days off a month. I can't imagine a flying life worse then that, however everyone in this forum makes RAH/S5 sound like hell, which really has me second guessing my decision to move to the regionals right now. Ive turned downed offers from 2 other airlines to fly for Shuttle America on one concept, things can only get better. Ive spoken thoroughly with a recruiter from Republic during my sim ride, she was very positive that a new contract was coming soon for RAH pilots as early as 1st quarter 2015, some new elections/meetings are taking place October 22nd. Upgrade times are expected to fall to 3-4 years. Who knows what the truth actually is. I am going to roll the dice and take a chance with Shuttle. They have a pretty good route network that takes you all over the country, not stuck in one region, they fly pretty nice planes, they have been doing a good job securing new aircraft and routes. Republic could be the airline to be at in the next year or two, or it could completely tank and i could be banner towing. Looking at the newer contracts and LOAs out there and what RAH flies, I feel that RAH might have one of the better contracts comings. Like i said, who knows, I'm completely new to the industry and could be believing this just so i don't think about the other airlines i turned down.

 

first mistake!

I'll be honest, there are potentially worse jobs out there, but 7 years of contract negotiations with no end in sight is not a positive sign at all. Also, it's not just the schedules, it's the company's consistent and almost pathological focus on doing whatever the beancounters say will theoretically save them $1, when it actually causes them $1,000,000 in ill will that they sadly couldn't capture on a spreadsheet. Witness endless base closures and displacements that absolutely screw pilots over and over again. DEN, for example has existed 3 separate times as a base, and each time a different set of people gets forced into the base or can no longer bid it, and people there previously who settled in can't get there no matter what. This scenario has repeated regularly. You want QOL? Not possible when those sorts of things occur all the time. You can read the rest of this thread and many others for all sorts of other issues you'll face here.

As for "Karma's" comment on: "I've enjoyed 15-16 days off as a new hire and 19-20 days off as a senior FO", this is an exaggeration or a one-off experience at a minimum, and a blatant lie at worst - that is simply so far from the norm it's not worth considering. Plenty of bases see consistent 12-14 days off for lineholders with only some commutability. That really doesn't add up to a lot of time at home no matter how you slice it.

And "Karma's" "I'm on reserve now and love it" comment... well that's a new one. I know a few of our Captains who have spent 5 or so years on almost permanent reserve and it's tough to find people more beat down by their profession. We had a 190 Captain leave and start fresh at Skywest. Read that again! That is what reserve can do to you here.

Good luck to you either way and if you come here, come in eyes wide open and don't be too bitter if you're on year 6 here at $36.62 with health insurance premiums eating up half of that. But sure, as the recruiter says, 3 year upgrade, so that's pretty sweet. Don't forget that training contract by the way.

 

I'm based in lga and live 10 minutes away so my perception is probably different than others. LGA has the most day trips and the highest credit trips than any other base. As a senior FO I enjoyed all day trips to dfw worth close to 8 hrs giving me 20 days off a month. If you look at the awards you will see junior FO's pulling 17 days off but yes this doesn't happen in the other bases.
It completely sucks if your home base gets closed but people act like the company does it just for the hell of it. Mainline shift around flying between regionals a lot forcing the company to close a base. i wouldn't want to work for a company that kept bases open after mainline pulled out the carpet, profitability would be low and new flying bidding would be lost. I don't like the way the regional industry is step up and I have my app everywhere now but you want to work for a cheap regional that is into pinching pennies and making money. Delta pulled the Atlanta flying a good 4-5 years before the company closed the base. All that was left in atlanta was a little united flying with most legs starting as a deadhead to another united base so the company doesn't try to ruin lives and kept the base open as long as they could.
Scudrunner- that job sounds pretty rough, sorry to hear. Yes, upgrade should drop to 4 years or less unless ebola takes over. We are at 08 now and there is nobody on the seniority list from Jan 09 to spring 10. I wouldn't recommend a regional as a career, it's just a place to be before mainline calls. 13-16 days off is more realistic for the other bases. We do need cancellation pay and better FO pay but other than that there are a lot of people here that enjoy their job. We have an awesome pilot group working here now and I honestly enjoy going to work every time. We look forward to having you if you decide to come here.