Hi! I am currently knocking out training. But have been looking into airlines that I could work at that would fit my personal preferences. I know things can change, and I’m not going to airline training next week or anything. But I still like having an idea. I currently live in southern Indiana, if I wanted to work close to home we have PSA, and Republic. My preference is to move to Florida in about 5-7 years. I would like to live in Florida, preferably Fort Lauderdale, Tampa area, Fort Walton beach area, Orlando, or anywhere that has a sweet beach! The goal would of course to work for a Legacy/Major. I would like a good quality of life to be able to come back to southern Indiana a couple times a month to see family on my days off. I understand envoy, and Republic has crew bases in MIA. I like the idea of flowing to AA, as they have a crew base in MIA. I’ve researched Jet Blue, Southwest, Allegiant, and UPS.

Second question would be if I worked for Republic in Indy. Where could I go after I am ready to attempt to get to the majors that has a crew base in Florida.

Another question would be if I worked for PSA at CVG for the first couple years. Would that mess up my chances for getting a crew base in MIA if I flowed to AA.

Thanks for any advice!

It doesn’t matter where you came from or which airlines be you came from, if your seniority number is higher than the most junior pilot In MIA and there’s an opening in MA, you are in the MIA domicile.


GF

Your choices are basically Orlando or Miami. Tampa is a tough drive in Mouse House traffic on a two hour reserve callout to Orlando (but doable if you're on the east side - away from the beaches). Naples is 2 hours without traffic to MIA - so probably not an option on reserve. And your timing to the legacies means you will probably sit reserve for at least a little while.

Miami has AA and UPS, and Orlando has Southwest (the others you mentioned are ULCCs, not majors or legacies, but MCO/SFB includes Allegiant, JetBlue, Spirit, and Frontier). EDIT: Spirit and JetBlue have FLL bases. But you need to make an intermediate step at a regional operator unless the LCCs get really desperate. Off the top of my head, I think Envoy is the only AA WO carrier with a MIA base. So I'd look hard at them. Silver Airways has TPA, MCO, and a Miami Area base, too (I think FLL) but their pay is not...great. I'd gun for Envoy if you want to spend your regional time in Florida. But I think they only have 145s in MIA and they don't guarantee you any specific airframe in class, so you might be in LGA or ORD for a year or two before you can bid over.

If you're willing to do your regional time elsewhere, you have a lot more choices. Finally, it will be hard to come back to Indiana often with 10-11 days off per month. Not impossible, but I wouldn't call jumpseating home for two or three days "fun" after being on reserve for five or six. Things will improve once you have a line (set schedule).

The OP is mixing priorities here...

Don't mix your regional planning with your major planning, unless you really need AA flow and are willing to wait 10+ years for it.

Your priority for a regional is getting the experience (ie total time and 121 TPIC, and leadership tickets)) needed to compete for a major job. You can temper that priority with compensation (but not a lot of variability among regionals) and QOL desires, which usually means domicile locations.

Once you are competitive for the majors, THEN worry about which ones have the geography you want. IMO geography is more important for majors since you'll be there much longer and your kids will normally do JHS/HS during the major phase of your career, which is when it's better to both be present and not jerk them around.

If you can sacrifice geography (and everything else) for fast career progression to the majors that is ideal... *usually* the guys who do that get ahead further and faster. But there's a risk too, if you go to work for a crappy regional and get stuck there it's not going to be fun.

Once you get to the majors, you can settle in and enjoy your seniority and QOL, or chase bigger planes ($) and upgrade ($$), whatever floats your boat.

Helpful information! How does working for ULCCs (Allegiant, Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, or spirit) compare to working for AA or delta.

That’s good to know, thank you!

Ah, I see what you are saying! It doesn’t matter where you work unless if you need a flow through agreement. How can you judge where to work or what to do. In order to advance in your career in the way that you’re talking. Elaborate.

Decide where you want to end up. That could be any major, any top major, or any major with a base where you want to live.

Identify what you need on your resume to maximize your odds of getting to the major(s) you want.

Identify which regionals will best accomplish that. AA regionals offer flow which shortcuts all competitive requirements, but you have to wait many years while working for substandard wages compared to other regionals (that guaranteed AA seniority number isn't free...).

Then consider other factors which may matter during your regional career such as pay, schedule, location. Compromise as needed.

That’s helpful! If you applied to a couple ULCC’s while working at a regional with a flow program, and got picked up by one of the LCC’s. Would that be be wise decision to forget about the flow to AA.

The quick answer for “How to end up in Florida” is to just retire. It seems like no matter where you grew up or what you did for a living you can end up in FL as long as your old enough to not be able to work anymore