Items to compare among regionals
 

In doing my research, I have a short list of things I plan to use to help me compare regional A to regional B, C, etc. Of course, not in this list is the concept of local domicile; we all know that commuting sucks more than being close to home. However, some may not be able to move, so commuting is a must. :(

At any rate, please feel free to add any things you would use to select a place to work, and thanks for your constructive input!

Training Pay
Reserve Guarantee
Monthly Guarantee
FO 1st yr pay
FO 2nd yr pay
Sick days per month
Per diem
Uniform allowance
Hotel (in base)
Hotel (out of base)
Cancellation pay
(your turn)

In order of importance:

1) Bases, ( because you'll want to live in base)
2) Bases, (because if you can't live in base, you'll want the easiest commute)
3) Bases, (because you don't want to end up in a lousy, uncommuntable base)
4) Projected upgrade time.

So yeah. Bases and upgrade time.

Commutability
Live where you are based
How long is reserve
Upgrade time
Wholly owned vs non wholly owned
Contract renewal



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Originally, I didn't include reserve time and upgrades because they are such elusive targets. But I guess still things that need to be considered, even if they aren't very tangible.

Thanks for the input!

This is what you want to look at for sure ^^^^^^^ However it can be adjusted with upgrade time. For example a crap commute might be justified by a fast upgrade time. Suck it up get your pic time and get the hell out.
However going to a regional with a 2 plus year upgrade you'd definitely want to avoid it when dealing with a bad commute.

Also there are a few Regionals that are providing hotels in base now for commuters. That could be an easy extra 250 bucks or more in your pocket a month.

I would think the top 3 things would be Upgrade Time, Domicile, and Quality of Life (QOL).

The order of the 3 depends on you; family, don't wan't move/commute; single, wouldn't mind moving or working with low QOL to get a quick upgrade; or have other income and want QOL.

There are hundreds, no wait- thousands of people who have "sucked it up, got their PIC time"... but can't get out. The former does not guarantee the latter. Expedite it? Possibly. But in the current hiring environment its still going to take a good chunk of time to "get the hell out", thats just the way it is. For this reason, I believe upgrade time should be considered, but never trump all other factors when deciding where to work.

Drive to work. This job is basically not worth commuting for.

Upgrade times can change drastically and quickly, so be careful with that one or at the very least understand that variable. Domiciles can too, but are more quantifiable. One important aspect is the QWL offered by a particular carrier and what the managements attitude is toward their pilots. History is a good predictor of the future on that one.

Think about the "what if" scenario of ending up tethered to carrier X for an extended period longer then planned and whether you can live with that development in the QWL and treatment department.

Just my .02............

For me, ATL is the closest domicile, and it's still 3.5 hrs away. Commuting will most likely be in my near future, no matter where I decide to hang my hat. I have already resigned myself to that fact. After that, if I still hate it, I can move.

As I said, upgrade and reserve times aren't a very viable target, but I added them to the list, because they ARE things to consider.

Hopefully, this list is generic enough for anyone to use to compare potential regionals, not just me. A lot of the good info I have picked up here on APC (domicile, QoL, not commuting, etc.) are still great things to consider, but may not be much of a factor in selecting that first regional for some. One could sit back and prioritize regionals for 6 months, and never make a good decision, or flip a coin today and get really lucky. One thing that IS certain about the industry is that NOTHING is certain, except sucky FO pay!

I agree but I will say that some carriers have more tolerable first year pay than others. I would weigh the QOL factors first above all else. And the others were right, what would be the most painless commute. Check out the passrider website to get a feel for who and how often a flight is out of your home airport to various domiciles for your top airlines. While who serves your airport does change, try to see if the company of choice serves your airport. You'll be number one on the jumpseat list every time if it's a podunk airport.

Then, once you've looked at your commuting options, choose the best paying regionals. Look for scheduling protections like min day or trip/duty rigs, then first/second year FO pay, health care, and see if you can find someone from each airline to talk about what lines look like at their prospective company.

Then again remember we are talking about regionals. The one that looks nice today could be a disaster in 2-3 years. The one that looks like a disaster now could be a gold mine in 2-3 years.

Good Luck in this profession you've chosen. :-)

I know all too well how true this is!! Luck is definitely a large part of this career. It takes no skill to choose an employer, and very little more to fly a plane around with autopilot, eh? ;)

It depends on where you are commuting from/to. It depends on your priority when commuting. I've been doing it 4 years 2-3 legs...I think I've used my clause once. I could hold a hub base come Jan but I chose to stay in an outstation base because I get 4 free hotel rooms vs 2 in a hub and additional rooms are cheaper. Not to mention I can hold a line I'm the outstation. Life is good :)

One might also want to consider
Trip rig
Duty rig
Vacation
Airline growth vs contraction
Aircraft on order
Flow or other career progression agreements

Good luck

Too many variables. I would narrow it down to commute, time on reserve, pay. For example, a long commute to a line is still better than a short commute to reserve. If being a line holder allows you to modify your schedule, you might be able to improve pay too. Of course, better pay is often offset by poor work rules.

Exactly, everything else can change - QOL, upgrade time, bases, commutability, pay, planes, contracts, reserve time…

Am I the only one getting tired of these "what should I do?" threads? It's like asking "which girl should I marry?" It's a personal decision only you can make.

Aero Crew News has a pretty good comparison grid for both the majors and regionals.

http://www.aerocrewnews.us/acn/2015/12-ACN-Dec-2015.pdf

I'm sure you were much more receptive to it when you were on this side of the cockpit. Bear with us, we won't be asking much longer. But someone else will, I promise. :D

Thank you Sir, that looks like interesting reading!!

Hey how should I wipe my ass. Which direction. Up to down or down then up.


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Depends. Are you a sitter or a stander?

Yeah I get it but it's like asking someone else what you feel like having for dinner tonight. Or in this case what items should I consider when choosing what I want to have for dinner. :p

Surprised I didn't see it posted yet....

Deadhead pay.

I know of a GoJet crew that was on 2 of my deadheads, and they had 1 more after that for a total of 3 that day just to get back to domicile. If I recall correctly, they came out of the Texas area (IAH maybe?) to DTW or MSP (can't remember), then deadheaded on my flight to PIT, then next up was PIT to LGA. All at 50% pay.

- Location
- Pay
- Quality of life
- Contract strength/amendable date/negotiations
- Reputation for treatment of employees
- Commuter hotels?
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- Ipads provided?
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- Uniforms paid for?
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- Color of uniform?
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- Number of vowels in the company name
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- Upgrade time



Idiot pilots chasing a theoretical upgrade time is why our compensation and quality of life in the regional industry is as pathetic as it is. It's absolutely moronic that we keep doing this. Effort would be much better spent on finding a company where you can network with many pilots who are on a path that you want to follow. Take a look at where the majority of the attrition is going, and weigh that against other options. I'm living proof that if you do this, you can go to the regional with an upgrade time over a decade, and still make some pretty good progress in a reasonably short period of time.

That's why I went to Horizon! Got tired of blue pants and 3 vowels and 4 consonants is a solid ratio.

In all seriousness though, amidst the doom and gloom here lately it is nice to hear about people moving on the bigger and better. How many job fairs and LOR's did you do/have?

I'll send you a pm.

Spot on couldn't agree more. Here at UAL if we got one thing going for us it's our bases. Living where you work in a town you like to be in to sit reserve will
Make your regional experience immensely better. Upgrade is important and flow to a major if you can but not commuting in a town you like will be the single best QOL thing you will do.