Have you regional or regional wannabe pilots given up hope of ever making it to a major? Or do you think you will stick it out and try for one of the very few slots available at the majors? By majors I mean the traditional majors that everyone sought after when they were learning to fly, not the now in fashion crop of LCCs.

Why not work for a LCC carrier, they're the ones making profits and offering higher pilot salaries, right?

Or why not leave and go corporate? I was at a small airport in the middle of PA today and saw 2 falcon 900's and 1 falcon 50... someone has to be flying those...

Of course we still dream of making it to the majors, Browntail! All these crusty old, grumpy overpaid pilots like you will eventually retire. Age 60 creeps up real fast I hear!

As far as LCCs go, I'd love to fly for one! I hear they treat their pilots fairly well. After spending some time at CAE last year, I spoke with a lot of Frontier pilots. They seem to be a happy bunch. Wouldn't mind joining their ranks.

I don't dream of working for the legacy Majors (DAL / NWA / UAL / AAL / CAL / USA).

I only dream to make a decent living. >75K. If that's flying an RJ for the rest of my life, then so be it. I certainly will eventually try for a LCC, or eventually one of the two major cargo carriers, but I'm not dreaming about going to the old legacies.

Why? Don't you think they will recover to their former glory?

No, I'm not that naive.

Considering the cost of fuel today alone is a good enough reason to suspect they will not recover, ever.

Only way they MAY recover is if they gradually can increase the price of tickets to cover the increasing cost of operating a flight. Since legacy management is not willing to do that in today's society, but rather want to point the finger at labor costs, I doubt they will be able or willing to do it a decade or half a century down the road.

Management at the legacies refuse to understand the simple fact that this is a totally different economic market than 15-50 years ago. You can't decrease ticket prices over the past half-century when the cost of running said airline is increasing. You appear to be a smart person Browntail, I'm sure you would agree?

Surreall121

You have a realistic perspective on this business. Management wants to blame costs on labor. Frankly there is nothing further from the truth. Seems to me that poor management is really to blame but since they hold and reap the dough no matter what, the whole thing will never change.

Would SW be making money if they did not have the hedges they do? Yeh, most likely because they have the rest of the game down pretty good. Are they blaming the pilot group? NO. they realize that a happy labor group will help them bring costs down. BTW, I do not work for SW or care if I ever do.

FWIW, it is past time for the government to step in and try to balance the whole thing. While realizing that the beaurocracy is not always a good thing, it would force some common sense on this wild environment.

Why do you set your sights so low! Why not dream of making the big bucks at a major? $75K a year aint $hit. You can't tell me you didn't get into flying with the dream/goal of getting on with a major. I guess now you guys have to justify the expense of flight school/academies by saying that you never wanted to work for a major in the first place and that your ultimate goal is to retire from a regional or a LCC. Just admit it, this isn't what you signed up for when you started your flying lessons.

I beleive that the majors will never fully recover in today's market. The industry is a much different beast than it was back during the heyday of commerical aviation. Personally, I'd prefer my paychecks to NOT bounce, thank you very much.

I agree whole heartedly with Surreal. A nice 80k/year job in the left seat of an RJ is a pretty sweet deal. Although it would be fun to fly a Jurrasic Jet for FedEx.

Legacy Majors = Big NO WAY

And that's the most you will ever make! Another one with lofty goals/dreams!!!