It’s not funny, and don’t mock your fellow pilots as if you know better. You haven’t been through some of the crap we’ve been through while working a trip.

I’ll leave your question up to you and the rest of the pilot group, I’m out next month. But honestly that depends. A guaranteed job at mainline in a few years, yup I’d say it does.

It makes sense on paper financially to leave a regional in your late 50’s. Chasing regional pay over a mainline job is a crazy amount of cash to be potentially leaving on the table if it takes you a few years longer to move on.

I mean have you gone through the application process on Airline apps? Or the separate Apps for Alaska, AA, Southwest, spirit? Then had it all professionally reviewed? Then actually received a phone call? Then spent weeks studying and paying serious cash on interview prep in hopes that maybe you won’t have a bad day and hopefully receive a CJO?

Better yet have you passed initial training? Flown the line? Passed upgrade training? Flown the line out of the left seat?

Yep.

You’re going to work harder to stay flying then move on. The hardest thing you’ll do is keep your medical. Then senior pilots will tell you, of the pilots they started with years back, 2 outta 3 (so basically the person sitting to your left and right in indoc,) are gone from the business. In the first couple years you’ll come to understand the myriad of reasons why.

Listen guy. Im the product of a flow. Regional pilot for 10 years, check airmen, clean record, two job fairs. Some of us are just too vanilla. Flow for insurance is huge.

Why don't you ask a pilot from TSA or Expressjet? Pretty sure they would have accepted less pay and/or QOL
for a guaranteed flow like AA wholly owned regional pilots have. There were many really good senior pilots
overlooked or denied a job at United that wouldn't have mattered if they had a flow to UAL. Ask one of them
if flow matters. Many young pilots at their first airline think that pay and QOL are the Holy Grail. There are
regional pilots who have made a lateral move to an AA WO for the flow. I've flown with them. I know 2 pilots
who went to Piedmont over 3 years ago from Expressjet as a DEC and they will be flowing to AA in 2-3 years.
Ask them if it was worth it.

Flow wouldn't help NH’s at OO. We have 5600 pilots. Do the math. And no reason when under 1 yr FO’s are leaving for Frontier.. Flow is only needed when were in a competitive hiring environment..

That's the situation now.... It's not the rule and will never be the rule. This environment is NOT going to last forever and most likely won't be lasting the rest of this year.

Flow is an insurance policy. And to come in with an attitude like the poster has shown is ignorant and just shows remarkable ineptitude and a lack of industry knowledge.

Also flows have historicly only helped the top 10-20%. And by them sticking around for a flow, It hosed the bottom 80% that wanted to upgrade!! Even if this environment lasts 1 year. It will decimate the Regionals. But will allow for some unprecedented fast movement for NH’s!! Win win

the regionals are getting decimated one way or the other. UA is taking tons of new 737s to take over regional flying by 2024, hiring 70 a week (soon to increase to 100+ a week) and hiring tons of Skywest guys knowing damn well they won’t need Skywest as much in a few years. Lifers here better have a plan, especially if based in predominantly UAX bases, because it’s going to get really ugly one way or the other within the next 18 months as more and more flying goes away and those bases shrink.

Sorry man, I'm not into playing the keyboard warrior game. I've never had an attitude on here and have only tried to be helpful to people as they have been very much helpful to me. We are all pilots and should be in this together.

My only intent was saying that I don't think Flow is the most valuable tool out there, or at least for me. I've been known to be wrong though and may very well think differently as I gain more experience in the Regionals. Anyway, no attitude here that's for sure. Have a good one.

I'm not new around here, and I'm with you on this one. People here get offended easily especially when you go against the herd mentality. Whaddygonnado. But yeah keep it at. Hard work + app reviews + determination + a little bit of luck/good timing and you'll get where you wanna go.