Geezer Questions
 

I got my first regional airline job in 1994 in PIT. Subsequently flew for a major, got furloughed (9/11), flew fractional, then back to regional, then a LCC job before choosing to leave industry to be home as my kids grew up. I got back in the game last year and am currently DEC for a regional that requires a commute. My first choice when re-entering the 121 arena last year was Republic, but they weren’t doing DEC/bonuses ant the time, and I couldn’t absorb a $90K pay cut, so I went elsewhere. I’m making decent money where I’m at, but am hardly flying at all and am strongly considering coming to Republic for the PIT base. Short call from home sounds pretty sweet. Only have 13 years left, and am not interested in starting over pay-wise at a major/LCC. I have extensive Check Airman/APD background and would be perfectly content flying E175 out of PIT, eventually as a LCA.

I’ve read through the threads, and it appears that regionals still have many of the same issues they did decades ago (although the pay has gone up considerably). One perspective I don’t find too much on these boards is that of a lifer at Republic. Are there any on here who care to chime in on the overall career satisfaction at Republic. Are you confident in the overall health of the company? Staffing is jacked everywhere, but are you optimistic about the airline’s future (management vision, partner contracts, etc.)? Is PIT as junior at it sounds? Are you happy?

Note for the younger readers- There has never been a better time for you to be where you’re at right now. The career earnings and quality of life opportunities laid out before you are unprecedented. I would’ve killed for this situation 30 years ago. A few short years at a regional learning the biz and gaining experience is all that stands in the way of you getting your dream job for your dream airline flying your dream airplane. I envy you. For me at this stage of my life, I just want to fly nice equipment out of my home airport, and make a decent buck.

Damn kids.....13 years left?
Haha

I started at Republic with only 9 years left to fly, a few years ago. I have never done a complete comparison of the contracts, but, it seems we have one of the best among the regionals regarding work rules and soft money.
I was coming from a very busy part 91 outfit so the change was a 100% turn around for the better in the qol department. "Wait, I don't have to answer my phone when I'm off?" I also came in during the front of the "hiring wave" for regionals so in 5 is short years I've worked my way up to number 8 in a large base. I pretty much get what I want out of the schedule and can easily drop down to about 50 hours of flying a month, this is perfect for me. We don't do airport or "hot" reserve for pilots, it's possible given our contract, but in 5 years I haven't seen it. We get block or better per leg, 100% deadhead pay, have PBS bidding. etc..

CA's are getting used heavily now, the seniority list is in the neighborhood of 125% FO's so that's causing the obvious problems. for example at my base there's about 110 FO's and 75 CA's. The last few trips I had I was with CA's from other bases who had been reassigned. It's happening all the time now. FO's can't find trips to pick up. I was looking for a turn midweek, there's literally no open flying for FO's. The tradeboard is full of requests from FO's trying to trade their reserve for trips.

As far as the future, who can say what is going to happen in this industry, certainly not me. I will say that Republic is putting a campus together like JET BLUE has, at significant expense. Classrooms, sims and hotel in one location. I don't think they'd be making this investment if they didn't expect to be here in 10 years. We're also getting a few new planes delivered now, had one the other day with the new plane smell LOL. But, who knows.

Jr CA in PIT is an 8/21 hire.
I'm a 5/18 and would be 85 out of 115.

Am I happy here? Quite. I've had some health issues, the company has worked with me "above and beyond". Working with some great people, the training dept is excellent in my humble opinion and the new rates are pretty good for a regional.

If you want to be home based why not go for it? The bonus is spread out and there are lots of “gotchas” so spend time reviewing it before signing on the line. They are giving DEC their base of choice, so PIT shouldn’t be a problem.

As to health who knows. Republic is positioned well, but has made zero effort to retain pilots (thus a 50% attrition rate). Due to staffing continually dropping, and block hours increasing you should expect to get used and abused as a CA on reserve. That will continue for years until you finally gain seniority in that seat.

Ask all the questions now, lots of good feedback here.

How does reserve work at Republic? Are you allowed to pick up open trips and put them onto your reserve days in advance? Do you just bid open trips the night before? Or do you just wait for the phone to ring? Can you see open trips and the reserve list to calculate the odds of a call? How does it work in other words?

13 years left is plenty for a major. Do any have PIT bases?

Another Old Dood here, also laid off from NWA after 9/11 but never did return to flying, reluctantly choosing stability of a desk job to raise the family. Now kids are grown, approaching retirement eligibility from the 20-year desk job, and hoping to ride this unexpected opportunity hiring wave to make a late career change back to flying. (8-9 years left...). Republic is on my list of "places to start where I might be happy staying", primarily due to the positive feedback on training and the DCA base. And the "Brickyard" callsign is just cool (I grew up in Indiana....).

A decade at a major with a 16% NEC (B-fund) could add a nice bump to your retirement savings. I love PIT too, and would move back in a minute if I could. But if I were you I’d consider easy commutes to places like BWI, ORD/MDW, PHL and shoot for the majors again one more time. I too was furloughed post 9/11 from my favorite PIT based major. It’s been a rough couple of decades to be a pilot, but there’s never been a better time to finish your career strong!

As a former Chautauqua guy, I’d definitely look at Republic in PIT if you’re sure the majors aren’t for you though.

Mostly you sit and wait for the phone to ring. You can drop reserve IF the grid is green, I.e. there are enough reserves for that day. Then you can pick up trips if there are any available. You can also trade reserve for trips or pick up trips on days you’re not on reserve as long as it’s legal for rest.

There’s not a lot of open time for FOs though. Mostly it’s trading. There’s plenty of extra for Captains but to my knowledge you can’t pick up trips while on short call reserve- you can only drop and then pick up.

Odds of getting called are based on the “bucket” method- not sure I can explain that correctly though. Basically you’re least likely to get called on day 1 and most likely on the last day. Hopefully someone else can explain better.

Agreed. 13 years is plenty of time to sit in the left seat of a major. I know pilots who have been hired in their early 60s.

Even with a commute, I think it would be worth it.

I was a crew scheduler before joining the light side. I'll take a whack.

Bucket system means (at least at my old regional) that instead of pure seniority, they try to use the person with the most appropriate availability to cover the flying. Ideally you don't want to release a reserve back to short call because then you lose their availability for at least 2 hours. Using the bucket rule, you try to match up the trip with a pilot whose reserve block lines up the most closely with the trip. For example, if a line holder calls out sick for their 4 day, the trip goes on a reserve whp has exactly 4 days of reserve availability left. If it's just a quick turn in open time, it goes to somebody on their last day of reserve.