Leave GLA for SKW? Now a good time??

[ampropilot2b]

Leave Lakes unless you like it! There are too many people at Lakes that took the bait for the 1000hr PIC, only to go to Skywest and be in a position to get another 1000 PIC long before moving on to a "major". You need to be someplace you can be happy. If that is Lakes, by all means stay. I was at Lakes before Skywest and I can tell you its a no-brainer. You can't even put the two companies in the same category. Skywest is to Lakes (Regional Airlines), what a G-5 corporate job is to a navajo corporate job. Quality of life, pay, technology, maintenance, corporate culture, etc. are so far ahead of Lakes its not even funny. You are at Lakes which probably means you came from a cargo job or flight instruction (like I did), take the next logical step and go somewhere well managed, with good job securtiy, and growth opportunity. This is just a job, albeit the best one ever, but still something to pay the bills.

I wouldn't however leave if you haven't completed your training contract. You don't want to headache or possible black-balling that could lead to. Good luck. You can't really make a bad decision when you are doing what you like!

 

[Cardinal]

Leaving Lakes is a leap of faith. Staying at Lakes is a leap of faith. I'm taking one of those leaps. Just do a year by year, realistic progression on where you think you're career may go after either decision. Is there attrition/deliveries that will allow me to upgrade at the other carrier? Because Joe Blow upgraded in 1.5 years DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL. In fact, it probably means that you won't: he timed it right and got in prior to the growth and rode the wave. You can't chase growth that already happened. Do you have a long term plan to escape Lakes? I've said it before, to do the Lakes to Major transisiton you need contacts, networking skill, contacts(!), or remarkable charisma. In the absence of one of those, leave now while you still can. There are many who made the "right" decisions for a decade and are on the street right now (FurloughedAgain). Then there are those that made all the "wrong" moves and everything ended up peachy. You won't truly know if you made the right decision until you turn 60. Remember our friends who just left for another CRJ operator, only to discover that furloughs await them? Things change in an awful hurry, and even faster in BK court. Bottom line:

You never know.

 

[N813CA]

Piedmont had never let anyone go when I went there, and guess what Comair had never let anyone go when I went there as well. Don't let that make you feel safe.