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I've been following the posts on the regional forum here for about 4 months now, and read back another 4 months or so worth of posts for local (to DEN) regionals. For once, instead of having to take whatever we could get probably at minimum wage or less, guys like me (with a pulse and an ATP) more or less have our pick of which regional to go to. I'm trying to make the most informed decision that I can.
It seems to be, if not a consensus, then at least a heavily favored view that living in base is extremely important, particularly if you have a family (and I do). I'll be living just north of CO Springs, within an hour to 1:15 or so of the parking lot at DEN, so I've decided to limit myself to regionals with domiciles in DEN. I keep flopping back and forth between TSA and SKW. On paper, TSA looks like they have much better pay for the first 2 years at least. TSA has $30k in signing/retention bonuses and 36/39/41 hourly pay, while SKW has $7.5k in bonuses (I have a type) and 37/38/41 hourly. It's also unlikely that SKW will bump up their pay at all. I certainly weigh QOL over pay, but at the same time, I don't want to unnecessarily throw away $22.5k either. That's not an insignificant amount of money for me. Additionally, as it stands now, TSA would put me in my domicile right out of training, while I'd have to wait some while (looks like around 6 months after training?) at SKW to get DEN or COS and so I'd be commuting or worse, commuting to reserve for awhile. Additionally, while it's hard to tell the future, it seems more likely right now that a CA vacancy in DEN would come around at TSA well before SKW, since DEN is pretty senior at SKW. All that said, on many threads, a lot of people have recommended SKW even with the reduced pay. Their reasoning is generally, "better QOL, work rules, etc." However, in all of the posts I've read, no one really defines exactly why they feel that way. What does SKW do differently than other airlines that makes QOL better? What specific work rules are different? It doesn't appear to be schedules helping you out. A number of folks have said that SKW skeds automatically tells you, "no," no matter what you ask for. I really don't want to chase a check and give up QOL, but I'm really having trouble figuring out why people think SKW's QOL is better than anyone else's. Thank you to anyone who could shed some light on it for me...particularly if you previously worked at another regional and have experience at both places. |
Originally Posted by Flymeaway
(Post 2309248)
All that said, on many threads, a lot of people have recommended SKW even with the reduced pay. Their reasoning is generally, "better QOL, work rules, etc." However, in all of the posts I've read, no one really defines exactly why they feel that way. What does SKW do differently than other airlines that makes QOL better? What specific work rules are different? It doesn't appear to be schedules helping you out. A number of folks have said that SKW skeds automatically tells you, "no," no matter what you ask for. |
Originally Posted by Flymeaway
(Post 2309248)
I've been following the posts on the regional forum here for about 4 months now, and read back another 4 months or so worth of posts for local (to DEN) regionals. For once, instead of having to take whatever we could get probably at minimum wage or less, guys like me (with a pulse and an ATP) more or less have our pick of which regional to go to. I'm trying to make the most informed decision that I can.
It seems to be, if not a consensus, then at least a heavily favored view that living in base is extremely important, particularly if you have a family (and I do). I'll be living just north of CO Springs, within an hour to 1:15 or so of the parking lot at DEN, so I've decided to limit myself to regionals with domiciles in DEN. I keep flopping back and forth between TSA and SKW. On paper, TSA looks like they have much better pay for the first 2 years at least. TSA has $30k in signing/retention bonuses and 36/39/41 hourly pay, while SKW has $7.5k in bonuses (I have a type) and 37/38/41 hourly. It's also unlikely that SKW will bump up their pay at all. I certainly weigh QOL over pay, but at the same time, I don't want to unnecessarily throw away $22.5k either. That's not an insignificant amount of money for me. Additionally, as it stands now, TSA would put me in my domicile right out of training, while I'd have to wait some while (looks like around 6 months after training?) at SKW to get DEN or COS and so I'd be commuting or worse, commuting to reserve for awhile. Additionally, while it's hard to tell the future, it seems more likely right now that a CA vacancy in DEN would come around at TSA well before SKW, since DEN is pretty senior at SKW. All that said, on many threads, a lot of people have recommended SKW even with the reduced pay. Their reasoning is generally, "better QOL, work rules, etc." However, in all of the posts I've read, no one really defines exactly why they feel that way. What does SKW do differently than other airlines that makes QOL better? What specific work rules are different? It doesn't appear to be schedules helping you out. A number of folks have said that SKW skeds automatically tells you, "no," no matter what you ask for. I really don't want to chase a check and give up QOL, but I'm really having trouble figuring out why people think SKW's QOL is better than anyone else's. Thank you to anyone who could shed some light on it for me...particularly if you previously worked at another regional and have experience at both places. |
I have no idea what it's like at TSA but a few questions to ask beyond hourly pay rates..
Duty guarantee Premium Pay Minimum daily guarantee and how it's figured Trip rig Hard lines or PBS Average credit per day Trip type or mix for the Denver domicile How easy is it to change your schedule around (dropping/trading) Vacation accrual/gold days As far as SkyWest goes you can be based in COS and pick up trips in DEN or any other domicile as well. Possibly give away trips you don't want. PBS can allow for a lot of flexibility in building your schedule with some seniority. And if you get based in DEN I understand you will wind up doing Aspen flying in the 700. |
Here's what it came down to for me. Choice of bases and where would I want to be stuck, if for whatever reason I couldn't move on....
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Originally Posted by TheWeatherman
(Post 2309285)
I'm in the same boat is you, getting ready to apply to the Regionals. And like you, all I see is SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! SkyWest! But nobody has never really gave any specifics on what about it makes it a cut above every other regional. All I see is no bonus and double occupancy during training with SkyWest. What makes it so much better as to give up a huge bonus going to another stable regional?
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Originally Posted by Flymeaway
(Post 2309248)
I've been following the posts on the regional forum here for about 4 months now, and read back another 4 months or so worth of posts for local (to DEN) regionals. For once, instead of having to take whatever we could get probably at minimum wage or less, guys like me (with a pulse and an ATP) more or less have our pick of which regional to go to. I'm trying to make the most informed decision that I can.
It seems to be, if not a consensus, then at least a heavily favored view that living in base is extremely important, particularly if you have a family (and I do). I'll be living just north of CO Springs, within an hour to 1:15 or so of the parking lot at DEN, so I've decided to limit myself to regionals with domiciles in DEN. I keep flopping back and forth between TSA and SKW. On paper, TSA looks like they have much better pay for the first 2 years at least. TSA has $30k in signing/retention bonuses and 36/39/41 hourly pay, while SKW has $7.5k in bonuses (I have a type) and 37/38/41 hourly. It's also unlikely that SKW will bump up their pay at all. I certainly weigh QOL over pay, but at the same time, I don't want to unnecessarily throw away $22.5k either. That's not an insignificant amount of money for me. Additionally, as it stands now, TSA would put me in my domicile right out of training, while I'd have to wait some while (looks like around 6 months after training?) at SKW to get DEN or COS and so I'd be commuting or worse, commuting to reserve for awhile. Additionally, while it's hard to tell the future, it seems more likely right now that a CA vacancy in DEN would come around at TSA well before SKW, since DEN is pretty senior at SKW. All that said, on many threads, a lot of people have recommended SKW even with the reduced pay. Their reasoning is generally, "better QOL, work rules, etc." However, in all of the posts I've read, no one really defines exactly why they feel that way. What does SKW do differently than other airlines that makes QOL better? What specific work rules are different? It doesn't appear to be schedules helping you out. A number of folks have said that SKW skeds automatically tells you, "no," no matter what you ask for. I really don't want to chase a check and give up QOL, but I'm really having trouble figuring out why people think SKW's QOL is better than anyone else's. Thank you to anyone who could shed some light on it for me...particularly if you previously worked at another regional and have experience at both places. Per the SKW website, it is only a 5 month wait for DEN on the ERJ or the CRJ, and a 4 month wait for COS on the CRJ. The stories from TSA were pilots constantly being called to work on your days off. I figured I could commute for this period to ORD or DTW. I had a SKW pilot tell me I would have DEN before I was out of IOE. It sounds like you are close to making up your mind. Good luck! |
Originally Posted by Flymeaway
(Post 2309248)
I've been following the posts on the regional forum here for about 4 months now, and read back another 4 months or so worth of posts for local (to DEN) regionals. For once, instead of having to take whatever we could get probably at minimum wage or less, guys like me (with a pulse and an ATP) more or less have our pick of which regional to go to. I'm trying to make the most informed decision that I can.
It seems to be, if not a consensus, then at least a heavily favored view that living in base is extremely important, particularly if you have a family (and I do). I'll be living just north of CO Springs, within an hour to 1:15 or so of the parking lot at DEN, so I've decided to limit myself to regionals with domiciles in DEN. I keep flopping back and forth between TSA and SKW. On paper, TSA looks like they have much better pay for the first 2 years at least. TSA has $30k in signing/retention bonuses and 36/39/41 hourly pay, while SKW has $7.5k in bonuses (I have a type) and 37/38/41 hourly. It's also unlikely that SKW will bump up their pay at all. I certainly weigh QOL over pay, but at the same time, I don't want to unnecessarily throw away $22.5k either. That's not an insignificant amount of money for me. Additionally, as it stands now, TSA would put me in my domicile right out of training, while I'd have to wait some while (looks like around 6 months after training?) at SKW to get DEN or COS and so I'd be commuting or worse, commuting to reserve for awhile. Additionally, while it's hard to tell the future, it seems more likely right now that a CA vacancy in DEN would come around at TSA well before SKW, since DEN is pretty senior at SKW. All that said, on many threads, a lot of people have recommended SKW even with the reduced pay. Their reasoning is generally, "better QOL, work rules, etc." However, in all of the posts I've read, no one really defines exactly why they feel that way. What does SKW do differently than other airlines that makes QOL better? What specific work rules are different? It doesn't appear to be schedules helping you out. A number of folks have said that SKW skeds automatically tells you, "no," no matter what you ask for. I really don't want to chase a check and give up QOL, but I'm really having trouble figuring out why people think SKW's QOL is better than anyone else's. Thank you to anyone who could shed some light on it for me...particularly if you previously worked at another regional and have experience at both places. |
Last I heard from a friend who started training at TSA about 6 months ago was that it's about 1.5 years to get based in Denver. That may have changed but there's no way it's right out of training. Also, TSA's new hire classes average about 5-10 pilots, where SkyWest is pulling in a consistent stream 60+. TSA is not a growing airline; it is struggling to keep up with attrition and most level-headed people can see past the signing bonus. Good luck though with the decision.
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10 people got Denver last month. Before that it was pretty stagnant.
(On the CRJ, btw) |
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