Choosing the right regional...
 

At the risk of sounding like an opinion poll (which this isn't), what are the most important factors to consider? Pay, QOL, bases, upgrades, time on reserve, flow-through... everyone is going to prioritize those things differently.

But it seems like growth (and hence new aircraft orders) seem to be among the most important, since they ultimately influence the other factors I listed above. I'm just wondering if there are any absolutes I need to know when choosing a regional I may be at for 5-10 years.

I have ruled out Mesa, Great Lakes, and Horizon already. Any others I should stay clear of?

OK, so I guess it is a bit of an opinion question, but certainly not a ridiculous poll.

A regional where you can live in base
Pay
Movement to a major
Contract
Growth


Thats my order anyway. I joined Endeavor in the middle of 2015 and I've had nothing but good experiences, FWIW

Based at home or a base you are willing to move for should without question be number 1. There is no larger influence on QOL, and as a side benefit the ability for more pay, as you can be highly flexible. Then if you are based at home, reserve time doesn't really matter either because living in base on reserve can be highly desirable. As you can get paid to sit home or play golf and not work on many reserve days, then if you want you can fly OT on your off days. It's Win Win. Least amount of flight hours for the most amount of money. Airline piloting 101.

The right one is being able to use the search function.

Brilliant answer, Riverside.

Where do you live?

Do you have a rank of those factors that are important to you?

Seattle, and being based in the northwest was among my top concerns. Now at Horizon, that would be easy. But Horizon is starting to sound like a horrible choice. Skywest and Compass could work, after a few months commuting to LAX or wherever. What I don't want to do is pick a carrier that could very well pull out of SEA anytime soon.

In the airline industry, things can always change, let alone the regional industry!

So, today, perhaps Skywest and Compass would be your best bets, yes.

Just out of curiosity, what turned you off on Horizon? Being a wholly-owned by Alaska, I'd say they would be a very stable option for the Northwest. They are also getting jets, right? If so = long-term stability.

Never mind, I just stumbled into that forum.

uhh, now would be a bad time to go to horizon because weird stuff is happening, inky. he'll get seat locked now into the q, which is a shrinking fleet with no growth... it's.. yeah. it's not good times, sorry.
Compass you'll get SEA pretty fast, maybe out of training, but you would hold a line quicker in LA... sort of up to you, you can switch between the two and see what you like better. Reserve rules are OK but not amazing by any means. As for base closing... It is contractually obligated to stay open until June 2017 (bases have to be open at least 2 years). They have said nothing about closing it. That said, I have concerns re: the number of airplanes both us and Skywest will have when delta shifts some of it to the e190s, but they very well could use the e190s as they come online for 717 replacements and move those back to the east coast, which, it sounds like is the plan. They also are continuing to grow seattle, and as mainline takes over some of our routes we keep getting new stuff ie SEA-SNA starting up in May... who knows in this industry. The other benefit to Compass is 4 commuter hotels a month, and plenty of metal going between SEA-LAX to commute on (and with 2 extra flight attendant jumpseats and priority, I've never seen a compass pilot not make it on a CPZ flight.). If pay and benefits are what concern you, they're pretty decent at CPZ, not the best, not the worst by any means (first year pay is livable, at least, and knowing eventually you can upgrade and the pain is over is sure nice)

Concessions, questionable management, low pay, long time on reserve, to name a few things. With the jets coming online, it seems no one is sure what this is going to do (most of all me). Of course, prioritizing living-at-base does mean putting the other factors lower on my list. Can't have it all our way.

Thanks. CPZ would hands down be my top pick, except for exactly what you said regarding Delta... their mainline presence at SEA and what will happen with the E190s. But I certainly wouldn't rule them out just on those two issues.

IMHO there no question of this.

Compass if your goal is a mainline job and are only short the jet time vs. all the other criteria mainline wants to see on your resume (college degree, great GPA, rec. letters, etc). The CP just announced 40 new hires and 24 CA upgrades a month indefinitely, in a pilot group of just over 700. Do the math. Assuming this holds true for the next 24 months (AND they can get the recruits), a new hire today would be at the top of the seniority list in less than 2 years and staring an upgrade in the face. Plus CPZ flies the EJET exclusively...meaning that you get a type rating for a jet mainline carriers fly (E170/190 same type)...which makes you THAT much more attractive as a mainline new hire in 4-5 years (ie. they can hire you into their E190 fleet without having the need to pay for new initial type training).

Skywest if you think you could get stuck at a regional in the long-term for any reason. In 44 years of being in business, they have never furloughed a pilot nor gone bankrupt.

IMHO pay and work rules should be last on the list. They are the thing that is changing the fastest for the better and least likely to change for the worse anytime soon.

I certainly wouldn't. It's not a huge base anyway, and it doesn't cost them much to run it.... Delta provides our line mx and they're gonna be there whether we are or not, etc. I doubt rent on the crew room is very much... There is a lot of gate space to overnight A/C that just doesn't exist elsewhere. And as for crews, it is a reasonably small base - 51 FOs vs 290 in LAX. They still build plenty of Seattle flying out of LAX, it's conceivable that if SEA had a reduction in block hours they would stop building SEA trips out of LA, for example, before looking into building trips elsewhere... trips can be built out of anywhere, essentially, to a point. Also when you look at DL's seattle strategy what you see right now is right-sizing to the loads. For example they have 50 seat 76 seat 110 seat (the 717) and more (737+). On a route like SEA-LAS you may see the somewhat empty tuesday noon flight as a 50 seat Skywest flight, the 76 seat friday morning flight as a 76 seat Compass flight, and the super packed friday night on either the 737 or a lot of 717 sections. With their plans for SEA, bringing the 190 online (probably 99 seats like the American config)... well a lot of people think the 717s will go back East, they'll retire some of the old mad dogs over there, and the 190 would just slot right in. We'll find out in 2Q 2017 when they come online... til then it's all speculation. I don't think we're positioned any worse than anybody else... but maybe that's just wishful thinking. I will say Compass loves to open and close bases, but DL is pretty committed to Seattle and I wouldn't assume anything or make career decisions based on E190 speculation. Still better to be a super senior FO at Compass commuting to LA than a reserve in base, but that is my opinion, and I'm sure about a million people are about to disagree with me as we do every time this same thread pops up..

Ya, I found that thread...my bad. I feel for them, as a guy from Eaglevoy, since I have the utmost respect for Horizon guys/gals....couldn't be happening to a nicer group right now, IMO.

It sounds like you've done a lot of research already which is a great first step. I'll let the CPZ and SKW chime in for better info for ya.

One of my buds from the same 135 op we both flew at got hired by QX last summer. He did it for the same reason I was thinking...likes the Northwest. But sadly, he's not really flying. Yet.

Get on with an airline that bases you close to home and has a decent contract and pay. As for the upgrade game: you need 1,000 hours of Part 121 to upgrade. No way around it. It will probably take you two years to get it, assuming you spend a good portion of your first year on reserve, which is the case at most places. I wouldn't put a lot of regard into who is doing a six month upgrade or a year upgrade, because unless you have the time coming in, you won't upgrade in that time frame.

Compass seems to be a good choice, same with Horizon and SkyWest. People are knocking on Horizon, but other than the first year pay, it is one of the better contracts out there. Their upgrade time is under three years from what I hear now. I think Compass is within a year (granted you have the 121 time) and SkyWest is hovering around four years. How the whole jet vs. Q400 seat lock works out at Horizon, it sounds like Air Group wants to get rid of the Q400s as quickly as possible, so I'd be surprised if the seat lock really stays intact for a long amount of time; if they need to pull FOs to staff the jet, they'll staff the jet regardless.

Skywest doesn't operate 50 seaters in SEA as was mentioned earlier. We fly the 700/900 for Delta up there and soon ( more than likely) the 19 new 175's for Delta will be SEA/LAX based ( possibly SLC as well but doubtful).
Not sure where we're all gonna park.....

There are several good regionals out there and one really bad one. I don't know a lot about Mesa but I don't believe it is a great choice. Don't make the mistake that I did, stay away from Gojet. If it is in their interest to ruin your career they will. Everything is a money equation and the day Hulas determines that the risk of keeping you is one cent higher than the risk of getting rid of you, then you will be gone.

Skywest has excellent training and you will have the respect of everyone in the industry. They are big in the NW so they are your best bet overall. I would also take another look at Horizon, they are well regarded.