Hi there,

Currently working on my instrument rating, so I had initially thought that deciding on regionals would be a long way off (and it still more or less is) but a Mesa recruiter visited my flight school the other day and mentioned that you could join a cadetship as early as you had your PPL in hand. The recruiter himself already had a start date with United coming up soon despite only having been at Mesa for about 2 years (through their Aviate program).

He mentioned being able to fly a bunch, only sitting reserve 2 months, and indicated Mesa had the fastest upgrade time. Is this type of thing too good to be true? Being able to fly ASAP instead of sitting on reserve and waiting for an AA wholly-owned's flow sounds really appealing, but I feel like at this stage in my training I don't have a super clear picture of hiring practices.

Do the big three view all regionals as having the same "quality" of training so to speak? Anything to look out for concerning cadetships or picking a regional? My husband and I are willing to relocate to any base when the time comes, preferably either somewhere warm or DC.

Do not get sucked into a cadet program just because.

Regionals offer those programs to get new pilots emotionally vested in their company before they get to 1500 hours and consider all of their options.

Chose your preferred regionals based on geography, upgrade time, and QOL. If geography doesn't matter (ie you can move anywhere) then consider pay. If your #1 choice has a cadet program, then go ahead and participate.

The minor benefits you get from a cadet program are not worth bad QOL or any delay in career progression. Whatever benefits you may get from a cadet program in terms of dollar-value, and can make as much or more money in a few days by picking up an over time trip at the major.

Also mesa has been consistently, on average, the worst US passenger airline to work for for decades. That should be about your last resort.