ERJ FO to CRJ CA
 

Has anyone here upgraded and transitioned to the CRJ at the same time? I’m an ERJ FO and there are quite a few CRJ pilots junior to me that have already upgraded. So, I am thinking of upgrading and transitioning to the CRJ. I keep running into captains that say it is a difficult upgrade after having a couple years in the ERJ.

Take the upgrade, just spend more time preparing by reading through the CRJ manuals before your class date. Yes, ERJ FO’s have a tougher time during CRJ upgrade than CRJ FO’s.

If I choose “Any” for my base, where are junior CRJ captains ending up? Looks like DEN.

It’s tough, I just did it. It’s still an aircraft, the go around profiles will smack you in the face.
you’ll be fine

Will I be on reserve for a couple years since I’m still pretty junior as far as CA’s go?

Why not look at PBS bid transparency in the bases you have questions about and see who's holding a line and who's not?
There's been some extra attention on ERJ F/O's upgrading to CRJ CA. It's a more demanding environment and will take some extra effort on your part that you will need to carry with you to the line as Captain.

Well that settles it then. Thanks.

Seriously? You can look at the Awards on the standing bid list to figure that out yourself. The most junior CRJ upgrade was IAH. For future speculation, search Vacancy report, once again, they need CRJ CA’s in IAH, badly. I’d assume if you’re awarded upgrade it will be IAH.

Got all the info I needed. Thanks.

Yea the ERJ FO to CRJ CA is pretty difficult. I've flown with a number of transitions and some still had that ERJ mentality. You can't fly this airplane like an ERJ.

The go around profile is a mouthfull...

Set Go around thrust , flaps 8, (positive rate gear-up) speedmode, heading mode. bug VFTO. Climb sequence (flaps up). After takeoff check.

Hit TOGA's, advance thrust, pitch up to ten degrees (3 deg per sec) white needles, NAV and auto-pilot, re-bug VFTO somewhere in there.

Yeah that's a lot to ask of an ERJ pilot who is used to just pushing TOGAs and watching it all happen for them.

Never mind that gear hanging down…🙄

Oh, yea…and you just over-sped the flaps. 😂

And you wonder why people are struggling with it. Ya can’t even type it out correctly 😂😂.

It’s been the highest repeat/unsatisfactory item during CQ on the CRJ. Everyone can fly a V1 cut, hand flown SE approach, 30 knot crosswind landing no problem. But omfg a GA with, wait for it, an early left/right turn!

Just fly a ton with the auto throttles off the month before upgrade... not that big of a deal.. and memorize the go around and V1 cut callouts and profile..

I don’t know, I think the worst part is that some guys just won’t shut up about the ERJ. Most are fine, you’d never know they came from the ERJ unless it came up in conversation later. I don’t remember feeling unsafe or behind the plane, they seem to fly well enough. But a handful of them just can’t stop pining after their old Braziliian lover.

Just think of it as listening to a guy talking about his Ex-Girlfriend. She probably left him and he still wants her back.

Fortunately for the guy talking in your scenario, he’s a 1 year seat lock away from getting her back.

The best part about Detroit was: you never had to fly with the same guy twice. Worst part of Detroit: all the first-available-upgrade baby captains cursing the company and reserve and commuting from LAX, but hey they’re gonna get an interview at mainline any day now

CRJ pilots have some interesting notions on how the ERJ autopilot works and what it is actually capable of doing. One can easily overspeed or underspeed, blow through an altitude or go unstable. The guidance panel is a control just like the yoke and pedals. If you don’t know what you are doing with it, you can really paint yourself into a corner. I see CRJ captain transitions into the ERJ that only use manual modes, because they either don’t understand the rest of it or they just want to fly the ERJ like the CRJ because that’s where they are comfortable. It creates a lot of work monitoring captains like that.

All this talk and would you not go to a major because your scared to training, how about being a MD80 FO and the get rid of them and you have to upgrade to the 737. That stop you..??... be a pilot.. study, work hard, learn for your captains. And take the upgrade!!!

Some of you guys are a tough crowd lol

Maybe put down the beer and try that one again? Plus, I think some kids need to get off your lawn...

it’s understandable that people would be nervous, especially on a first upgrade.
when you’re at a legacy, that move usually isn’t your first upgrade nor second ever type rating, but it could be here. While I also think people should generally take the leap, it’s an easy fear
to sympathize with

Never flew the ERJ but man that plane must make you guys lazy if you think the GA procedure on the CRJ is a mouthful. To the OP, don't upgrade until your ready. You either have the confidence to do it or you don't. Don't put any unnecessary pressure onto yourself to fit the norm.

Just curious for the original poster…what’s your delta in time between taking the CRJ upgrade and waiting for it in the ERJ at the most junior base?

I upgraded on the CRJ after 15 months and at 5 years i am almost the most junior CA on the 175. So the difference is huge. Seniority wise, i was 46% and now i am 96%

Wow, that’s a lot. Thanks for sharing!

I'd think that with all of the new 175s coming over the next year the upgrade times will drop on this aircraft. Plenty of growth and I'd imagine plenty of attrition.

Ok, so I’m basically the same story, except it was 17 months for me MSP CRJ upgrade, MSP CA 175 now, same seniority pullback.

From 2018 to the start of COVID it was around a 4 year upgrade ERJ, you better like Chicago. On the CRJ it was basically when you had the minimum flight time requirements to upgrade. ORD might not be the most junior domicile for the 175 anymore.

Speaking now in the present, the ERJ upgrade and CRJ upgrade are going to start shifting closer together. With 28 175’s coming into service in 2022, potential for 200’s to be retired, the fleet mix will be heavier 175, changing everything.

I still think the CRJ will be quicker though. A lot of CA’s who upgrade out of the CRJ want to move on immediately, and usually have their apps out, not picky on their submissions. I don’t blame them, the stress of the 200 and it’s continuous maintenance issues at outstations got really old, really quick. I actually know a guy who walked directly into the Chief Pilots office and quit on the spot. The mighty 200 and it’s stress it brings was partially to blame.

The CRJ 200 is a complete embarrassment at times in reference to providing a great service to paying customers. Without providing specific examples, I was embarrassed for Delta in some instances. As the pilots, you just have to be as professional as possible, and give plenty of announcements so the passengers at least know why they’re missing their kids wedding and it’s 90 degrees in the cabin.

It’s a phenomenal introduction for pilots to the airlines though. The legacy carrier’s put on the show of providing the premier product, but it’s all about their bottom line.

I deleted my bid. You are right.

Was the CA in CLL an ERJ to CRJ Upgrade? Not pointing to that as the cause, but I can see how it would spook the company. I keep hearing people say they have stopped letting ERJ FO's upgrade into the CRJ, but never heard it from an official source.

What happened at CLL?


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Nope, plenty of ERJ FO to CRJ CA still happening. I too would like to know what happened in CLL?

In as Much as Skywest doesn't fly into CLL whatever happened happened to someone else, unless this unknown thing happened on a divert,

You'll learn about the CLL event during CQ

Yes he was ERJ FO to CRJ CA and that was during the time when they had dumbed down the ERJ FO -> CRJ CA upgrade training footprint to get the ERJ FOs through.

You'll learn about it during CQ or Indoc.

You'll learn about it during CQ or Indoc.

SkyWest was flying scheduled operations into CLL at the time of the CLL incident. If you work at SkyWest, you know about it and if for some reason you don't just ask an LCA or a CA.

I asked a captain about this just yesterday and he said there is such a persistent problem with ERJ pilots not being able to safely fly the CRJ that skywest is going to stop allowing ERJ FO’s to upgrade into it.

Which is precisely why a metric buttload of ERJ FO’s just transition/upgraded to CRJ CA.
Cool story bro.

I’m not finding metric buttload in my conversion tables

I believe the more specific nomenclature for this instance would be a Kardashi-load.
Sorry for the confusion.