Death of the Regionals
05-02-2016 | 05:59 PM
#42
sippin' dat koolaid
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 982
Likes: 0
From: gear slinger
05-02-2016 | 07:50 PM
#43
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
I'm sure at one point you were where I am now and had questions you wanted answered using the resources available to you. If you are getting that frustrated by questions from people who may not know something/are new to the industry, like you did and were at one point, then why even take the time to bother with a comment? Read it, roll your eyes and move along. Lmao.
If you want your questions answered with heavy doses of snark, in a steel cage death match. With a rusty spoon, and a Mortal Combat fatality finisher. You post here.
This is a good site, with lots of info, but you just gotta wade threw a lot stuff to find that golden kernel.
05-02-2016 | 10:19 PM
#45
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 806
Likes: 0
In regards to your question, yeah the regionals will still be here in 5-10 years but the role they will play will not be as significant as it is today, with the 50% of all domestic flying they currently do.
The biggest issue they face now besides the obvious is that there's just not enough new pilots being churned out in colleges, universities and mom and pop shops that will fill the void from the BOTTOM once the majors start hiring for real. The demand is too high and the supply of newly minted 1500 hour CFIs is dwindling down to a halt (metaphorically speaking).
What will happen is that the majors will absorb some of the regional flying and regional flying will finally go back to being regional flying, as in, transporting people from tiny cities to major hubs (nowadays, regionals do mainline flying all the time).
This only means good news for all pilots because as the regionals will have a hard time keeping up with the demand of the majors, the majors will start placing more pilots into 100-seaters being put under their certificates, wether it's E190s or CS100s that will satisfy the "regional" routes that are currently being flown by 76-seaters as a test bed that transfers into 100+ seaters because of the demand.
Also remember that even though almost everyone at the regionals want to move on to something bigger and better, some simply can't....whether it's because of a thing on their record, no college degree or old age, and/or because some are simply happy to stay in the regional world forever as they have gotten too comfortable with their seniority, their days off and the plane they fly. Besides, you can easily make $80-100k a year as a senior Captain at a regional and to some people, that's more than enough.
Point is, these are great times to enter this career, and even though things could get worse, they'll probably never get as bad as they used to be.
05-03-2016 | 04:53 AM
#47
Line Holder
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
No, I agree that all civilian hires may have to come from the regional. However, military pilots will always be the first selected of pilot candidates for the majors. If you ran a company, you would understand that veterans are almost always better employees than non-veterans. Also, the only quantifiable education these days is the military academies, as even Ivy legal has become a joke.
Never go full retard. I'm a vet but didn't fly in the military. Even with more 121 time than a fighter guys total time, I'd have a snowballs chance in hell getting hired over him/her. So it probably has something to do with another ASSUMED trait they possibly posses.
05-03-2016 | 05:18 AM
#49
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,237
Likes: 0
with this title. I find it hard to believe you got a CFI with that little
sense.
05-03-2016 | 05:19 AM
#50
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,237
Likes: 0
History, or even life in general, as we know always repeats itself or goes through cycles. When I started doing this 20 years ago the cycle was just about ready to bottom out. No jobs and a surplus of pilots...just my luck. I've been furloughed 5 five times and have never been able to get a break.
Now, as the cycle reverses itself, your timing is perfect. As main line carriers need for pilots steadily grows, there are fewer and fewer pilots for them to hire at the regionals...or anywhere for that matter. There are also fewer people willing to work for regional wages for any length of time, if any time at all. This will continue, and compound as the cycle works towards its peak, like the boom in late 70's into the 80's.
So, with less people to fly for $30 an hour, no matter how many seats are on the RJ they are hired into. Thus, the main line will fly that route with a smaller size jet and pay main line rates for that same equipment and route that has worked itself into the regional structure simply because they had tons of pilots just wanting a job that would fly those "regional" routes and planes.
As the mainline equipment replaces some of the smaller market "regional" routes, numbers of RJ's dwindle and bingo...we are right back to where we were in the cycle when the term RJ was invented, at the beginning of the downward cycle.
Long story short, sure the regionals will be around, just like they were 25 years ago. Just doing the very small markets as the longer haul and bigger markets will go back to main line carriers and pilots will get paid main line rates to fly them, like they used to.
It's all coming around, and you're hitting it just right. I'm starting over again, selling my possessions so I can survive on commuter rates. Just like I did when I got out of college. Good luck and hope it works out for you!
Now, as the cycle reverses itself, your timing is perfect. As main line carriers need for pilots steadily grows, there are fewer and fewer pilots for them to hire at the regionals...or anywhere for that matter. There are also fewer people willing to work for regional wages for any length of time, if any time at all. This will continue, and compound as the cycle works towards its peak, like the boom in late 70's into the 80's.
So, with less people to fly for $30 an hour, no matter how many seats are on the RJ they are hired into. Thus, the main line will fly that route with a smaller size jet and pay main line rates for that same equipment and route that has worked itself into the regional structure simply because they had tons of pilots just wanting a job that would fly those "regional" routes and planes.
As the mainline equipment replaces some of the smaller market "regional" routes, numbers of RJ's dwindle and bingo...we are right back to where we were in the cycle when the term RJ was invented, at the beginning of the downward cycle.
Long story short, sure the regionals will be around, just like they were 25 years ago. Just doing the very small markets as the longer haul and bigger markets will go back to main line carriers and pilots will get paid main line rates to fly them, like they used to.
It's all coming around, and you're hitting it just right. I'm starting over again, selling my possessions so I can survive on commuter rates. Just like I did when I got out of college. Good luck and hope it works out for you!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
