12 month upgrades are expected at PSA for at least the next 18 months and will last longer if the rumors for even more 900s are true. Anyone hired in 2015 will have a bunch of movement, same goes for Compass and TSA.

 

I am signing in to this board for the first time since 2010, according to the info on the upper right corner.

I want ANYONE thinking of applying to Republic to know something important:

If you get placed in Chicago or Miami on the Republic certificate, you will have NO flight benefits.

If the recruiter denies this fact, ask her if she has American flight benefits. She will say yes. Ask her for a favor....ask her to look up the load for a flight from where she is in IND to MIA and to tell you how many open seats there are on that flight. She will not be able to do it.

Why?

They allow us to buy a ZED on American flights (including our own planes) and call that flight benefits. A ZED fare is a basic privilege that allows you to travel on the absolute lowest priority category on non-revenue travel. It allows you to be able to afford to fly to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific if there is a seat open.

There is an enormous difference between a ZED fare, and being able to check loads and list yourself in Jetnet on the plane you just flew in that is continuing to your home city.

There will also be no new tentative agreement.

In this country, corporations get what corporations want.
The fact of the matter is, our CEO wants to maintain the status-quo. He does not want to spend more money on us. He will continue to park planes and blame the weather for cancellations for as long as possible until he can escape with his very handsome golden parachute that you should look up if you have a chance.

He is a fantastic liar and can go on national TV on a show called "undercover boss" to promise the employees he worked with (at Frontier) the moon, and then lay them all off within 2 years.

Frontier Airlines to lay off hundreds of workers nationwide | News - Home

They will even cheat you on your paycheck.

Don't fall for the lies that are part of the culture here at Republic.

 

Spin it however you want to spin it, the quick upgrades are already on property... that is a mathematical fact.

 

I recently retired from the USAF and had currency/recency issues. I chose ExpressJet because they have a domicile that I can drive to and sit reserve at home. Don't worry about upgrade time and to a lesser extent, don't worry about pay too much. You will not see upgrade at a regional or LCC. I'm assuming you just want to get some 121 experience and stay current. Go where it is the least painful to you and your family for the commute. Some airlines have a "bonus" which simply means they want you to stay for a while. I would avoid those, however I know of a buddy who went to a LCC that had a training bond that they don't really pursue. My advice would be to go where you can complete your training quickly and tolerate the commute the best. Good luck!

 

That's the way AA treat their no wholly owned regionals. It goes by AAG employees, the AAG extended family and friends (d3, body pass, however you want to call it), then RAH employees.

The only benefit is that RAH JS goes by RAH pilots first, then everybody else in arriving order.

 

Well... They have told us that they currently have around 900 pilots on property and about 700 to 750 active at any given time (pilots not in training, on sick leave, or on military duty). And they plan to have a pilot group of about 1400 to 1500 active pilots and a fleet of around 140 to 150 airframes. Guy in the PSA thread said he is going about 15 to 20 slots up in seniority every month so there is attrition off the top and out of the middle too. You know, mathematical facts and all...

Choose a regional based on QOL/growth/contract. You want to enjoy your time at a regional as much as possible so living in base or an easy commute is key. An airline that has growth or attrition or both is good so you don't stagnate. And one with a decent contract that will help you out in the soft pay. Those are how I would choose a regional.

 

This is true even on own metal - An AAG employee (AA/Envoy/PSA/PDT) has cabin priority over RAH employee, and officially RAH employees are not allowed to sit in first class regardless of carrier - but what happens on the airplane stays on the airplane.

 

If you want to do the math, be sure you are asking the right questions -
YOU (whoever you get hired on with) cannot upgrade until at least 40% of the list has been hired in after you.
If you can see the quick upgrade, you have probably missed it.

Example: If when you get hired at XYZ, they project growing to 1500 pilots on property, they will have to hire at at least 600 more behind you before you can upgrade. You cannot work in the left seat without someone in the right. And once the word gets around that the quick upgrade has played out, what is the draw to get the meat in the seats? What gets the 600 below you in the door? There are not that many new entrants to the industry. What will get pilots to jump from ABC to XYZ? There is a reason this career is often likened to a Ponzi scheme.

I know, I know. This time is different.

To the OP: ACA or Skyway, definitely.

 

Very very well said!!! I often wonder how people overlook this fact, when there's no longer an upgrade to be had mathematically, the flow of new-hires stops in this climate. So many current 4, 5, 7 year FOs leave their current employers taking a paycut for the first few years to occupy the right seat there too.

 

Where do you live?
Envoy used to be good but schedules lately have gone down hill.
To many variables to say which is best but I would steer clear of the bottom feeding regionals.