Does it suck to fly for a reginonal?

[Beechnut]

I mean come on, low pay, crap schedule, job unstablity.

The better regionals don't have these problems from about the second year on, depending on your financial situation.

But, as long as more people think the way you do, the easier it'll be for me to advance in my career.

S.

 

[F/O]

Bigbird

Everybody that has posted to this thread has given a pretty level headed answer to your question. I respect and agree with all of the opinions that have been posted.

The people that tend to upset me are the 700 hr CFIs that got hired directly into an RJ and within a year are bitching and moaning about how crappy their job is. While certainly not in the majority, the ones that have developed the attitudes are definitely out there; you will see their posts as you surf around the board a bit.

I would advise these individuals to get niiiiiiice and comfy in the right seat of that RJ. It will be many years before they even have a chance to get hired by a major.

 

[Pilot877]

And its a d@mn fine comfy seat too!!

 

[climbhappy]

bigbird...it doesn't

look! to give you perspective, i just returned from ground school. at a regional, been laid off all year...one of my budds was a mainline furloughee... been let go four times in 15 years...has a wife and two kids.. like I do... it's tight now, but I ask myself, "is money why I'm doing it" don't think so...the rat race sucks...been there... if you love to fly...just do it... and don't listen to bitchers and complainers and whiners...life's too short

 

[bobbysamd]

Regional flying

Define "sucks." Fifteen years ago, I was 36 and decided to go to aviation full-time. The only thing I ever wanted to do is fly for a decent regional. I realize that "decent" begs a definition as well. My idea of decent would have been to make sufficient pay to be comfortable (I'm not a big spender, but I'm not a tighta$$, either) and pay the bills. Read my other posts for my success, or lack thereof, in getting on with the regionals.

I had a friend who was a Captain for a now-defunct regional in Colorado. His line was odd insofar as he had to sit reserve part of the time as well as have regular trips. Just the same, he was paid $25K in the late '80s, which was pretty good money for those days, and he had plenty of time off. That sounded pretty good to me. I guess "sucks" is relative.

I will give a hearty second to the comments above about low-timers who were hired immediately into RJs and grouse. As recently as ten years ago, there really weren't RJs, much less people with less than a thousand hours being hired into them (I realize WestAir and a couple of others were operating BAe-146s, which you could regard as RJs, but there weren't many of them around.). Nevertheless, most commuters were operating turboprop equipment, and except for the you-know-what'ers, you needed no less than 1500 total-500 multi and probably your ATP to get hired. The usual totals were far more - like 2000+ total - and this was at the peak of the hiring boom back then.

My point for the low-timers is to count your blessings. There are tons of others ready to take that seat you're occupying, and will gladly do so for the money you're getting, and who will come to the airport every day with big smiles on their faces.

Finally, I'll second the other comments about not expecting fast upgrades, or even steady upgrades. The regionals now are like the majors many years ago. There were new-hires who were FEs and who waited for years to upgrade to the right seat. And, FOs waited for years to upgrade to Captain. I'd even bet that many FOs had to retire before ever making Captain. So, bear that in mind. The hiring boom during the last decade and the one in the late '80s were aberrations. Today's slow hiring is more the norm.

Once more, I will recommend this book: Takeoff! : The Story of America's First Woman Pilot for a Major Airline, by Bonnie Tiburzi, ISBN: 0517552639. It's available on www.amazon.com and plenty of other places. She talks about, among other things, her slow upgrade.

Enjoy your flying.

 

[sideshow]

Here is some input for you bigbird. Go do something else and don't worry about what people at the regionals are doing. What new line of work are you going to pop into and start making even 60K? And stability, it's about as stable as any other job out there. Go ask the people getting layed off all over the tech and telcom industries. And exactly what over blue collar jobs are even approaching 100K? So if there is nothing great about flying for you then why keep doing it.

 

[Starshipper]

My suggestion, if you have the requisite flight time, go to a fractional if you can get the interview... The pay is about the same initially, but the flying is better. Who wouldn't want to sit in the sharp-end of a high-performance Citation X or Lear 60 on an airline-like schedule throughout the country - you can't beat the variety of routes and destinations. Regardless, the majors won't be hiring for YEARS and YEARS, so why not get some real flying in and get to know the ENTIRE country vs. just a region over and over again (although some commuters like Comair and COEX do cover a large portion of the country...).

Good luck with your decision...

 

[Pilot877]

Oh, how silly of us.....yes, in the presence of a real aviation expert, I admit.....what I do isnt real flying.....(dripping with sarcasm)

 

[Slim]

Bigbird,

Top pay rate for the CMR CR7 (70-seater) is $118/hour at the end of the current contract. My average line is 88 hours for pay/month. If I was there now, annual pay would be over $124,000.

At 88 credit hours per month, captains in their 15th year are making 100K on the CR7 now.

 

[snine3departure]

Better to burn gas than pump it

 

[spike]

it's great

Just got hired and have been flying for a month. IT is **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ING Great!!!!!!!!

Everything I ever dreamed of and more.

The politics and business of aviation sucks, and there are A LOT of negative people in the business. IF you want the job unfortunately you have to put up with the BS that happens on the ground. Look at the long term and never forget that it is a BUSINESS and you are just an employee.

The majority of pilots don't get paid well. But most other jobs come with the same BS and aren't nearly as cool. What job is better than being a pilot?

 

[banned username 2]

Re: it's great

Just got hired and have been flying for a month. IT is **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ING Great!!!!!!!!

Everything I ever dreamed of and more.

Check back with us in 6 months...