Fist class as in SKW wasn't hiring for a while and just recently started again. I didn't know if Aug 5 was the first one in the new age of hiring. I am trying to figure out if I start the Bro and end up at the end of the Bro hiring due to seat locks if I will be junior Bro FO for a year while others after me will get hired directly into the CRJ...or would I be at the front of the hiring and therefore get senior Bro FO in a few months as they cycle in behind me.

 

Not exactly sure what you are asking, not making too much sense there. But I believe you are asking if you get hired tomorrow on the Bro if you can get around your 1 year bro seat lock and get to the RJ or if you have to wait it out the full year instead of just going directly to the RJ. You will likely have to wait your seatlock out. The company will lift the seatlock if they need to, but they haven't needed to in awhile.

You would still have better overall seniority if you took the sooner class. Always take the sooner class.

 

What I am thinking/ asking (correct me if I am wrong): I think about everyone currently flying the Bro probably has the year seat lock finished by now or close to it. That would mean almost all the Bro Captains would transition leaving a lot of vacant Bro FO slots which is why they are only hiring onto the Bro. So...everyone newly hired in Aug, Sept, Oct would get a year seat lock in the Bro. If you get hired in Aug vice Oct (earlier class)then you would get a whole bunch of new guys hired after you and therefore get a better domicile selection. Once the FO slots are filled, if you are one of the last one hired then you would be the "new guy" for a year because others hired after you would would be hired into the CRJ and therefore do not compete with scheduling and domiciles. Seniority is not just about overall seniority in the company but also about platform.

 

You're over analyzing it. All that will matter in the long run is seniority. Your first year at a regional is going to suck no matter which way you analyze it and try to plan it.

Also consider this: I have a friend who was hired onto the CRJ the same month I was hired onto the Brasilia. Things slowed down a lot and they weren't running any transitions or upgrades. Everything was stagnant. My friend spent over 2 years on reserve on the CRJ in a junior base. I was a brasilia line holder for the majority of that time. Even on 2nd year pay I was actually making more money as a brasilia lineholder than he was on RJ reserve guarantee. I also had quite a bit more turbine time than him by the time he finally got a line.

Take the first class date you can. In five years you're not going to care anymore about the one year you spent as a brasilia FO, or the two years you spent on reserve. You're just going to care about how many more people are in front of you on the list before you can upgrade.

Passing up brasilia class dates waiting for an RJ class date because you're trying to predict the state of future seat locks just means you're letting more and more people upgrade ahead of you while you sit there trying to decide.

 

^^THIS^^ There is no way to guess when or how SKYW determines the need to hire for the EMB only or the CRJ only, or both. Seniority is EVERY. THING. Pretty short-sighted to pass up 100 spots on the list waiting and hoping that you get hired into the jet instead. Plus you might wait until Oct and still get the Bro, what are you going to do, turn it down? A month or two can determine whether or not you get a line or sit reserve for what feels like forever. I was hired at the front of a wave... 250 pilots after me in six months means I get to sit left seat in my home domicile while my friends are coming up on 7 years in the right seat.

Don't be afraid of a little turboprop... you might actually like it! You'll get paid the same hourly first year, the West Coast prop flying is still some of the most fun I've had here (Crescent City to Arcata at 6000' is soooo sweet. 250kts to the marker in LAX? Yeah, we can pull that off.) Movement on the jet is slllloooow now, and don't forget that the seat lock works both ways, as in you could get hired in the fall into the jet, and suffer watching the people hired in the year before you transition into your base and bump you down. And a huge number of those 7-year jet FO's who thought they were too good to fly the Bro when they were hired are now largely desperate to bid into it just to get a captain slot.

Also, any nonsense people try to tell you about majors not respecting TP time is just that: nonsense. The Bro guys who just left for UAL and got hired at DAL and SouthWest in the last hiring rounds will tell you that, too.

 

I went from flying a part 91 CA flying a citation to right seat newbie in the bro. I was offered both Brasilia and CRJ, I requested first available - the Bro. It was a good decision in my case. I was holding a line in 2 months, and was in CRJ transition class exactly one year after my hire date (and holding a CRJ line).

Agreed about the West coast flying too, absolutely awesome! Some great experience too... In that first year we did approaches to mins, missed approaches, diverts, etc. The coastal fog in CA is very unique!

 

By far my favorite flight. We get to hand fly along the coast next to the mountains pretending we're a cessna. I'm going to miss that flight and all of the MRY, SBP and CRQ overnights when I go to the RJ.

That's not really the case anymore. By the time I get my transition I'll be at two years and I'll transition onto reserve in even the most junior RJ bases.

 

Now that there's movement and we're hiring again, it will hopefully go back to that. The brakes were put on for the last 9 months or so, which definitely hurt.

 

That can be done in the jet, too, and within the confines of the SOP. Of course, with FOQA snitching on us now I wouldn't advise it anymore.

 

I think with movement finally starting again there will be fairly quick upgrades on the EMB-120. A lot of the current EMB captains have there thousand hours snd want to go the RJ for the pay bump.