I'm currently helping a buddy of mine make a decision on which regional to go to. He has offers from Compass, Mesa and Skywest. He's one of my old flight instructors and is quite a bit older than I am. I've been flying in the regionals for about five years now, and I've told him the realities. However, he wants a low stress life, this is a second career for him and he says he'd be quite content making $100k as a regional lifer somewhere for the 15 or so years he has left.

This got me thinking; is being a lifer even a reasonable prospect anymore at a regional? It looks like he's heading to Compass, who I'd imagine have very few, if any lifers? With the continuing whipsaw, is it even possible to forge a career at the regionals any more? I can see why he'd do it, if he upgrades in 12-18 months after he starts in January, he'll be looking at 13-14 years on an average salary of somewhere around $80k. In his position he'd probably never see the left seat at a major. He doesn't want the stress of another interview and he doesn't want to go back to reserve. It makes a lot of sense.

Take the job where he has the easiest commute, or even better, live in base. It might take a few years on the captain side of the pay scale to make $100K. I was making a little over $100k at SkyWest as a 10yr. CRJ CA. Part 117 made it harder to make extra money on my days off.

I'll second that. If he has an opportunity to work near home, perhaps less than a 30min drive, pick that one.

Not a bad job when you can dump most of your schedule and pick up open trips when you'd prefer to work.

One thing is for sure. You'll never know if you made the right decision, or picked the right airline, until that day after you retire.

I like where Compass has headed, but I would consider a few things; Compass is not as senior as XJT, ENY or SKW. So they are able to be cost effective to their mainline partners, thus seem to be getting good lift contracts. BUT, today's greatest regionals are tomorrow's punching bags, so it seems. Compass provides a great deal of DAL lift, and DAL is the king of longevity resets amongst its feeders. Parker Is attempting the same thing with his feeders too (ENY, PSA & PDT). And since Compass just got a new contract to provide feed to AA too, then it begs to ask the question, How long before DAL and AA force a longevity reset, or lower caps on pilot pay at Compass too.

Messa has been getting picked on for a while now about their crappy contract / pay rates, although, I personally don't know what they are. But they've got their hands full with a lot of contracts to fill, and as long as they can staff them (that is the question) then they'll probably be around for a while. Doubt they'll be beat up by UAL or AA any time soon, as they are already, the hated words "cost effective".

Skywest has probably one of the better contracts out there. They, like Compass, and Messa, are not wholly owned by their respective mainline carriers. (Although Compass is owned by Trans States Holdings). Skywest is in fact the parent company to XJT and ASA. They own most of their airplanes (from what I understand) and have PLENTY of contracts to keep them going for quiet a while. They have plenty of bases to choose from, and a wide range of aircraft in their fleet. What the future holds for them, is anyone's guess. But they seem to be having the least of staffing troubles and are still hiring. Most people I talk to there are happy.

It's a tough call, but personally, I'd go with SKW, and then Compass. But it all really just comes down to what ever fits his personal situation the best.

I actually don't mind the 117 rules for picking up OT since it allows usually up to 9 hours of flight time. At Envoy where we still have hard lines and not PBS, a lot of guys would bid transition conflicts and could make some good bank on that. Now 117 I know has put a damper on that.

Skywest is a good Co no doubt but if it were me I'd opt for mesa or cpz.He will see the left seat alot quicker. At Skywest he will be slinging gear for 5 to 7 years min.At his age I don't know if that would be wise . People don't leave skw, in one way it's a good thing , for people wanting upgrade and movement it isnt.

He's making the right choice but he'll see in a few years that being a 'lifer' in that section of the industry is not an option.

I wouldn't worry about convincing him of this right now.

It will become abundantly obvious in due time.

Low stress and regional airline pilot does not compute.

Just my opinion, his goal should be to become a lifer at a major airline not a regional airline, I mean why aim so low, its the same job. He should choose the regional that will have the shortest upgrade time, possibly one with the smallest fleet. You are not going to be doing him any favors by steering him towards a place that has 8 year upgrades.

Regional airlines are going to come and go, bases are going to open and close.

Really all you are doing is steering him toward the lesser of all the evils, that being Compass and Mesa and away from Republic and Envoy.

The 50 seater aircraft is going away. If I was going to a regional I would go to the one with NO 50 seaters!! I would go to Compass.