The "Why did you choose your regional" poll.
 

There are many reasons for choosing a company to work for, and each choice is personal. There are many new people that come on here to look for guidance in hopes of choosing the company that is best for them.

Here's the question...Why did you choose the company that you work for? What are the biggest factors, and things that didn't matter as much? Rank them.

I would probably list that as "other" ;)

Actually, it seems that we get new people on here every couple of days asking the same questions. I thought a poll and thread like this could help them see the reasons that people choose the company that they did, and why. They can evaluate what is most important to them, and see what is important to people that have been in the industry awhile. I care more about things like living in base than I did when I first started. I found commuting to be terrible and choose my company based on base.

because SkyWest.





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I'll take the first three, and the last four. It was the first place I applied, so I have no idea if other places would have hired me or not.

When I was first getting in to the airline game, several people really helped me out along the way. I am trying to do the same on here. I have never tried to convince people to come to predominantly PSA, and tell them about the bad things as well as the good. I am not here for the referral bonus, and try to give good information whenever I can. I am not here to troll, and would like for an occasional thread that is informative and helpful to new pilots.

"Because the recruiter told me they had quick upgradezzzzzzz" ~half of APC

I can't stand all these idiots who jump ship to these bottom feeder regionals like PSA, TSA, or Mesa. ExpressJet has the best contract in the industry plus I live in base. The superior contract and not having to commute are the reasons why I work where I work.

Got a hook up with the interview at Whisky and didnt want to follow the dozen or so other flight instructors that were leaving for Skywest from my school. Reminded me of high school when everyone went to the same college all went to the same parties together without meeting anyone new... Also good contract and company

Bases--> movement --> money--> reputation.

Movement ensures a bit of money. Knew i could suck it up for 3 months to be making on first year at Compass as a line holder what i was making at envoy on second year rsv. Plus plans to move out west and be with a solid, small company. If i wanted to be east, I would have gone to PSA or Piedmont. Movement trumps "best contract" any day of the week. Just have to accept the fact that movement will eventually stop and hope you've moved as far as you'd wanted. It's a calculated risks that seems to pay off as much as it blows up in guys faces. You've gotta have more reasons than "quick upgrade" to make the lateral move.

Upgrade


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I really liked the length of reserve. It's like years of never knowing where you're going to sleep every night. HOW EXCITING.

I had offers at Mesa, Republic, Envoy and SkyWest. I went with SkyWest because of domicile selection, PAY and company reputation/quality of life. All this in comparison to the other 3. I would have had to commute with Envoy (PHX). Mesa was a no go because of pay (or lack thereof) & quality of life. Republic was a no due to domicile, pay, reputation & quality of life.

Have a long road ahead but this is helpful to guys like me who are hoping to be in the industry. Thanks for this man.

Movement. I rather spend my 3-~ years in a regional being able to support my family

It was a combo of factors for me. Mostly Base, movement & contract.

Base: Commuting sucks & moving is expensive..

Movement: Personally, I would be willing to give up some contract & pay for movement, but not so much so that if the quick upgrade does not pan out that I will be stuck in a miserable place. Also, movement isn't just about upgrade time... How long is it going to take to hold a line? How quickly can you get far enough up the seniority list to have some buffer if the economy tanks and airlines furlough?

Contract: I wouldn't want to be at a regional with a bottom of the barrel contract. I feel there is a big difference from the top end of the spectrum to the bottom. The places in the middle have alright contracts and I was willing to give up a 'top contract' place in order to live in base and, hopefully, only be on reserve for a few months at the most.

Pay: First year pay seems to hover in the low 20's pretty much across the board, so not much of a differentiating factor.

Flow: seems nice if it actually happens. In general, it seems that flow-throughs have so much fine print that not that many pilots actually end up benefiting from them.

Equipment: IMHO, a jet is a jet.

Combo but mostly these 2 things:

1) Domicile/Base. While it can be foolish to pick a regional based on a domicile (some regionals seem to open and close bases fairly regularly) for me it was a "no-brainer". I live somewhere that I'm going to be commuting no matter what, so why not pick an airline that will provide me with the ability to have a commutable schedule and a 1 leg commute? Makes life easier.

2) Movement. Chasing a "quick upgrade" can come back to bite you, but if you go somewhere that is adding airplanes combined with attrition from the top of their list, you should be in a good position.

Base location, company reputation, and upgrades. In that order kinda. Company reputation and base location were equally important to me.

This is an incomplete sentence, boy. Plus, sentences start with capital letters, boy.

So...chasing a quick upgrade, then.


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Base > contract > reputation.... Living where I work has made this job tolerable. Had I been needing to commute all this time, I would have long ago quit.

Domicile is #1 for me. If my upgrade happens in 2 years or 4 I'm fine with that.

I chose my regional because they had the sweetest tasting Kool-aid. After that it was equipment (no 50 seaters), domiciles, and upgrade.

Quick upgrade (9 years ago)

1. First year pay-left higher paying job and have significant school loans.

2. Travel priority in commute/flight benefits-I'm not moving for a job)

3. Contract-average or better, with pay protections and cancellation pay.

It worked out well for me. Our contract is decent. I rarely have an issue getting to work, especially with our priority and time of check-in listing. I also didn't have to starve on first year pay...still put into 401k, etc.,.

Life is pretty good :)

Because mine had an all RJ fleet. I didn't want to risk going to Skywest or Eagle and get stuck flying a prop.

Yeah, that would have been unbearable.:eek:

Good thing I'm not applying to be a sim instructor for 9E then.





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Where is the "Quick Upgradezz Bruh" selection?

Out of curiosity, how did you come to TSA being a bottom feeder?

Maybe he's heard about Hulas?:eek:

Mesa because 1 they had Chicago base....and 2 upgrade/money. I swore if the upgrade was bs I would leave after the year probation. The actual equipment is a far third.

all aboaarrdd!!

Certainly not a bottom feeder. They have an average contract.

Combination of factors....

Domicile/Base - Could have gone to another regional that was a base in the same spot, but the one I went to had a better contract and future, at the time.

Contract - One good contract, compared to the others.

Reputation of the company - A good company....well used to be I guess?

Commuting to ORD was not something I looked forward too. Did it once when there was mainline service between DTW and ORD. That was bad enough. If I'd been a captain, I probably would not have left my previous carrier and put up with the commute. Quick upgrade outlook didn't hurt.