Best Regional

[cl65capt]

and go where?

Where ever you can. Airtran, Jetblue and Southwest are all hiring.

 

[Dodge]

Rogue5,

I have only worked at one regional, but I do talk to other pilots from other airlines. Believe it or not, we all have the exact same stories. Scheduling screwed me again, got my vacation cancelled, flying planes with 8 MEL's, had to get a doctor's note for calling in for a two day, I hate 8 leg days.......

Regionals are regionals, the only difference is the color of paint slapped on the planes.

 

[I.P. Freley]

Rogue5,

I have only worked at one regional, but I do talk to other pilots from other airlines. Believe it or not, we all have the exact same stories. Scheduling screwed me again, got my vacation cancelled, flying planes with 8 MEL's, had to get a doctor's note for calling in for a two day, I hate 8 leg days.......

Regionals are regionals, the only difference is the color of paint slapped on the planes.

I'm sorry, did you say something?

Too busy looking at yer avatar...

 

[homerjdispatch]

What I.P. Freley said!!!!!

 

[sleeve]

honestly and not trying to toot my airlines horn, but besides the upgrades coming to a hault Comair hasn't really been that bad... Maybe three or four times a year you'll get displaced from a trip(wx etc..)and then its a 50/50 chance of getting screwed...sometimes you'll get released early and sometimes you'll work a full shift..

besides the "small dents" and "migrating bushings" we really don't have that many deferrals...sure you'll get a deferred APU like every three months but that about the worst of it...

never got a vacation cancelled, and nobody ever made me get a note for a sick call, even that time i was injured becasue i spent to much time waterskiing...

but everybody likes to bi.tch including myself

 

[Flash 7]

The answer to the original question is so subjective depending on many factors.

I would say from a contract standpoint, Comair has the best pay and work rules of any regional. At least for now.

 

[rattler]

Rogue5,

I have only worked at one regional, but I do talk to other pilots from other airlines. Believe it or not, we all have the exact same stories. Scheduling screwed me again, got my vacation cancelled, flying planes with 8 MEL's, had to get a doctor's note for calling in for a two day, I hate 8 leg days.......

Regionals are regionals, the only difference is the color of paint slapped on the planes.

Scheduling has to follow the rules in your contract, so they aren't really screwing you, they are just following the contract that your union made for them. I might be lucky, but I have never been junior maned, reassigned, called on my day off etc.

Again, My vacation has never been cancelled, and I don't know anyone who had their vacation cancelled. I am sure it has happened, I just have never heard of it. My company has excellent language in this section.

MEL's just happen that's how airlines continue operation. If you have MEL's that are not cleared in a timely manner, that is another thing.

I have never been asked to produce a doctor's note for a sick call. I call in 4 times a year.

We have some 5 leg days, and they suck. I couldn't imagine doing 8.

I don't believe they are all the same.

 

[rvsm410]

ASA gets my vote on the Regionals

All regionals are equally bad in their own ways. They all have the same problems. Lack of staffing, poor training of dispatchers, FA's, ramp agents, pilots, etc....Poor pay, small airplanes, no pensions, lousy sick time accural. They are all the same. The key is to try to get hired at one where you will average the most days off. Everything else to me is equal.

Remeber, everyone working at a regional is there because they aren't deemed "employable or qualified" at a major. That holds true for management all the way down to the guys who sweep the hangar floors.

I have to disagree with your Dispatcher statement Dodge, When I worked at ASA some years ago...they put us through 5 weeks of dispatch training as well as systems training before our Comp Check...I have since worked for several other carriers and never seen better training than I recieved with ASA. The pay scale for Dx'ers was the best then and I believe it is still on of the top 2 or 3 scales in the industry....

I can't speak for the QQL now, but it was pretty darn good when I was there...Alot of good people to work and learn from, and good management folks....and the area is cheap to live in...
JMHO

 

[Dodge]

Well, Rattler, if you want to see vacation cancellations, just come on over to Mesaba. We have cancelled pilots' vacations for 3 out of the 5.5 years I have been there. It is cheaper than staffing the airline properly. Yes, I know scheduling can't do anything outside the contract. They can however make you do another overnight on your days off when you had plans to go out with your wife or out of town, etc..

I am glad that you never have to get a doctor's note. With you being sick so many times per year, though, it prolly wouldn't be hard to get one.

Turboprop pilots tend to fly more legs per day. 7 and 8 leg days are fairly common in DTW and MSP in the Saab. You must fly one of those new push button jets. Again congrats.

Thanks also for clarifying how MEL's work. I must have been confused. From now on I will be perfectly happy to get the ladder to check the fuel panel under the wing of my plane when our fuel gauges are busted for 4 days solid.

 

[shamrock]

Scheduling has to follow the rules in your contract, so they aren't really screwing you, they are just following the contract that your union made for them.

Spend a bit of time at ASA and you might reconsider that statement.

 

[T-handle]

Which airline is requiring a doctor's note? Is that in your contract/complany manual? A sick call is a sick call, they are not allowed to ask what you have and more importantly not allowed to ask for a doctor's note.... unless it's some company policy/memo,etc. I've noticed the people scheduling tries to intimidate are the new ones that dont know the contract that well. You can tell scheduling to shove the note up the tops of the legs and talk to your ALPA rep if they call you into the office about it. (or whoever you non-ALPA folks go to for guidance)

Just dont be stupid like call in sick then jumpseat out of your homebase where u risk being seen by a CP/management.

 

[Dodge]

I have no changed my mind. All regionals are not the same. Rattler, you did a good job in proving your point. I vote yours the best.

 

[Mtnjam]

a little input

I don't fly for a regional yet, but I have been hired by Pinnacle and start training Dec. 27th. I hear alot about other company's. The one guy was right. Pinnacle is flying all new shiny CRJ's. The whole fleet!!! Upgrade time is 14 to 16 months from what they said in the interview. All the pilots I met including my friend who walked my resume in are very happy there and say they have a family environment and i did feel that comraderie while I was there for the interview. They are one of the few companies that don't pay during training which kind of stinks, but with hungry guys like me out there they can get away with it. I also spoke with an FO who has been there about 9 months and he said he loves it. I feel for the guys sitting right seat 4+ years. I just hope I'm not one of them, but you never know. By the time I get my 3,000 hrs. Pinnacle could lock up and not move anymore guys to the Left seat. However I figure if I hang at Pinnacle for 5+ yrs. the market will turn with the Major's and they will hire like crazy. I have heard this from several guys in the industry now. Only time will tell.........
I truly am grateful to have a new opportunity with an airline. Being a CFI with over 1,000 hrs. dual given has plain wore me out.

 

[Dodge]

Good luck with that 14 month upgrade. Mesaba told me 2 years in 1999. Still waiting.

 

[Mtnjam]

Upgrade

I can verify that upgrade time is that. I actually met guys while doing my interview that were doing upgrade training. They had been there anywhere from a year and a half to two years. The one FO I met who has been there 9 months has his flight time and starts upgrade training in January, but like I said who knows what will happen when my turn comes around, it could totally reverse????