Originally Posted by Excargodog

Third cup of coffee down and I still don’t understand the issue. Your original answer to my question:



...lead me to believe that the problem was your school. Your response to FlyingKat:



So I thought it was your school but it’s really TSA? Or is that wrong?

So now I’m confused (and have to pee from all the coffee). I guess I really need to understand what your plans are and what your assumptions are. Entry level FO pay sort of sucks everywhere - offset some places by bonuses or RATP support. (Yeah, I know, used to be worse, had to push the aircraft from one city to the next, uphill both ways, in the snow, while surviving on PBJ from the local food bank)

And here is where your plans are important. Nobody plans on making a career as a regional FO. Making a career as a regional captain IS possible, and probably even enjoyable, but it’s sort of a default if you don’t move on to a major and moving on to a major is what most aspire to. But if that’s your plan, I would suggest you consider these as a priority:

1. Get in to the game. Get your conversion hours, get type-rated, and start flying the line.
2. Go where you can get hours. Read the Horizon threads if you want to see what NOT to do. Guys there with a year since hire still on reserve with a couple hundred hours of 121 time. That is NOT the path to career advancement. Go somewhere they’ll fly your butt off.
3. Go somewhere you can upgrade fast. Not just somewhere that you can quickly GET 1000 121 SIC, but somewhere there will be upgrades available when you do.
4. Take the damn upgrade. Yeah, I know, upgrade eligible guys get the best damn FO schedules possible, but unless your career aspirations are to be a regional FO, and they shouldn’t be, take the first upgrade available.

$4000 may seem like serious money now but it really isn’t. And the difference between someplace that pays their FOs $35 an hour and one that pays them $50 hours is only - at most $15,000. A quicker upgrade is worth that even while employed at a regional and every extra year you spend futzing around at a regional is another year you WON’T be getting top end major pay assuming you get there.

We are three or four years out from the peak of a huge retirement wave that will force hiring at the majors.

Futz around too much and you’ll miss it. Futz around even a little and you will be behind hundreds, maybe thousands, that you could have been senior to.

My recommendation?

Don’t futz around.

Originally Posted by aeropain

Amen. I'm looking at either Mesa or TSA for my regional FO job. Don't intend on making either a forever gig, just there until my upgrade and/or move to the majors.

Originally Posted by PreciousCargo

I have started my flight training for rotor to wing and the school I have selected has been paid 6000 for the first payment. I have used 4000 approximately and am considering breaking the contract for I feel this company may not be a best suit for me and dont want to get too far invested into it. For those that have read and understand the contract for R2W can anyone tell me if I will be paying the maximum allowed interest by law at this point? Also can anyone tell me what other penalties I may face?

Originally Posted by FlyingKat

Be careful about that. Always take any flying job with the idea that if you get stuck there you can be happy long term. Granted things look great now, but if a couple of *******s do something to scare the hell out of the flying public, all this movement and hiring can come to a screeching halt. So keep that in mind...