A good friend of mine went to work for one of the "better" regionals back in the early 90's. He became fairly senior, got his pick of trips on the CRJ700. In the last few years he worked in the training department and was home every night. He even blew off a JetBlue offer in their 1st year of operation. He worked for Comair.

Coto,

Where were you based when you first started at CAL and what are you flying? I am encouraged to hear you are already in LA after only 9 months!!! It would be a no-brainer for him if he knew that would happen. Are you on reserve or how long were you on reserve when you started?

I started in January of last year and my class was all 737's in EWR and IAH. I went to IAH. In the August bid I was awarded LAX. I was in LA in November and held a line that month. In December and January I was back on reserve, but could have had a line in December if I bid better. I have a line for February and hopefully will going forward but you never know. Next month I have 14 days off with layovers in Cancun, Hilo, Honolulu, Costa Rica as well as a few less desirable locations. I spent over a dozen years at regionals and enjoyed it, but if his goal is eventually to go to a major he has to do it now to get his place in line. Send me a PM if he wants to talk.

Was your husband a previous United hire that was in a hiring pool or was he some sort of special interest hire off the streets?

You sound like a fairly smart person, so I'm sure you didn't marry an idiot. Welcome to L-CAL!

Strange...my wife is fairly smart and she married an idiot??

Being based ANYWHERE is a start. Get your foot in the door and then work on the changes. Major airline jobs are one of the hardest to get, so don't let the opportunity pass your husband by..............he will regret it forever as he sees his fellow pilots and friends take jobs with them. Furloughs are part of the process (four for me), but we all get through them................and he may be hitting this hiring boom at the best time and therefore never have to worry about one. Best of luck to you and your husband.

There are 10,000 applicants desperate to hear from UAL that they simply got an interview, much less a job offer. Why did your husband apply and interview? It isn't an easy process. A lot of paperwork and prep. He was obviously pretty serious about it. Based on this alone it sounds like he wants to do it but is concerned about the short-term pain, which there will be for a couple of years.

But in the long term he is in quite a unique position. Neither CAL nor UAL has hired in many years. The airlines are in the endgame of 30 years of consolidation. The age 65 stall has ended. Most of the UAL returning furloughs have likely already been accounted for (650 of 1497 are already here and many of the 847 remaining many may not return). Both companies just emerged healthier from severe post 9/11 economic times.

IOW, your husband would be the first thousands who are going to hired in the next 5 to 15 years. He will be pushed rapidly up the seniority list by what will essentially be a torrent of hiring behind him. It might be said such a confluence of events has never occurred in this industry, and he will be on the front end, the ground floor. This will happen all the while the majors pit the regionals one against the other with ever declining pay and quality of life and increasing uncertainty.

OR, if UAL continues to be run like it is being run now, it'll be bankrupt in 10 years and go the way of Pan Am and other industry dinosaurs.

Seems like a great opportunity for any pilot! I think if he didn't take it, he'll be kicking himself in the butt for the rest of his life. I hope you are a supportive spouse and afford him this chance that others would give their eye teeth for.
(I'm a female, have been a wife, and am involved in aviation. As crazy and unstable as this industry is, you have to be supportive and remember if he's happy---you'll be happy. You DON'T want to be the one to talk him out of it since his current career is in your comfort zone. If you don't afford him this golden opportunity and his comfy regional gig implodes he will never forgive you and that won't be a good thing for your marriage).

Best of luck either way!