This place (Eagle) certainly could use a major improvement in the way management treats its employees. That's for sure! However, I would not call this place the worst regional. Far from it. We have great pilots and flight attendants - really good people to work with! We have nice equipment - I make no apologies for our CRJ -700's and EMJ's. We fly coast to coast and to Canada and Mexico. Our training is top notch.
From what I can gather, our contract and work rules are definitely not leading edge. However, after reading some posts in the past which detailed pay, benefits and working conditions at some of the other "top" regionals, I must say I was surprised to find that there are really only SMALL differences between them and us. For example, one pilot had asked for some Comair pilots to describe a month on reserve. He received quite a few responses. I was surprised to find that Comair and Eagle pilots sitting reserve have basically the same number of days off and on. Additionally, I have seen pay scales at most of the other regionals. While many have higher pay scales than Eagle, the actual dollar amounts are minuscule. While Eagle might hypothetically pay a pilot $50 an hour, ASA or Comair might pay that same pilot $51 or $52 an hour. Whoopee!
Our biggest problems are our sheer size, which inhibits upgrade times, and our deceitful management team that has lost all trust among its employees. Our size problem will probably never go away. I suspect we will always be a huge company (for a regional airline). Our labor relations problems can be fixed, however difficult that may be.
I do agree, however, that our more junior FO's should attempt to find another flying job, either with a large regional that has reasonable upgrade times, or with a fractional outfit. Personally, I have way too much seniority to do something like that (11 years), but sometimes I wish that I had done it long ago.
Oh well. No use crying over spilled milk, I guess. For what it's worth, I still love the "flying" part of my job (which is why I became a pilot anyway). I just disagree with the sentiment expressed by many that Eagle is the "worst" regional.