Regionals ... or the fractionals?

[CA1900]

If I didn't have little ones, I'd probably be all over the fracs like a hobo on a ham sandwich.

That pretty much describes the break room when the crew meals show up.

 

[Flybet3]

That pretty much describes the break room when the crew meals show up.

Dont ever put free food in a room full of pilots.

 

[doh]

If you can possibly move, go with the frac!!!!! Flexjet has DFW ONT (California) FLL and EWR. I think Netjets has PBI DFW EWR or TET? CMH and also a southern cal. domecile. Citation Shares I'm not too sure about but they have alot of bases! Maybe one of you guys could chime in here. The life at a frac is incomperably better! Good luck!

 

[doh]

You will not be gone 8 days with flex. 6 on is the max.

 

[willNOTfly4free]

You will not be gone 8 days with flex. 6 on is the max.

Not to mention the chance to fly the 300.

 

[Flybet3]

Not to mention the chance to fly the 300.

Nice plane by the way

 

[Swaayze]

Dooker,

I had the same dilemma as you, and still do I guess. I'm at Eagle, way underemployed, but doing it for the QOL and time with my family. NJA offered me an interview last fall for DAL but I turned it down because I don't like 4-day trips, so I can't imagine doing 7 on for the next 20-25 years. Perhaps as my children get older and I'm not as valued by them (hopefully that won't happen as severely if I'm here for them now....) I will reconsider. I'm sure frax are probably much better jobs, but I'm in the point of my life where the job should be secondary (at least IMO), so I struggle to put up with lousy pay and little appreciation while trying to accrue enough seniority to hold the 2 day back-to-back trips that will make it feel like I have a life.

I'd say if you really didn't enjoy corporate and you can live with the low pay for a long while 'til upgrade then Eagle is your better bet. It's as good an airline job as probably any regional (upgrade time notwithstanding of course) and some nationals.

 

[gordon24]

Well, I'll throw my .02 here. I can respect you for wanted your time at home. I was and eagle and left for NJA. I have a young child and was nervous about that 7 and 7 schedule. Well, I can tell you now, I have more time off now than I ever did with Eagle. My kid has zero problem with me being gone for a week. When I am home, we spend a full week together. I have two 21 day chunks of vacation each year and make more than I ever did at Eagle. Anyway, you did what you felt was right for you and your family. For that I commend you.

To those thinking about coming over to NJA, I do sympathize with the domicile folks, but, that is the way it is. Don't come over here and then complain about the domicile system. Do I want it to change? Yes. Do I think it will? Yes. Am I tired of hearing new hires complain about having to commute? Yes. Hell, I commuted when I was at the regional, and I knew what the base were when I hired on. I didn't bitch about Eagle not having HBA.

 

[blueridge71]

If any of you had it to do over again, would you take a fractional job over a regional?
.

I'm at a fractional after spending about four years at two regionals. The only problem is that I wish that I had made the move after the first regional.

First off, the schedule is 7n7, not 8 days away. There is no commuting unless you are a glutton for punishment at NJA. Even after picking up a couple of days of overtime, I still spend more time at home than I did in the regionals. In the regionals, I was home for three days or less, so quality time at home was a rarity. Now I have long periods at home on a defined schedule. I don't have to worry about bidding for Christmas, this year or next.

Second, the money is much better. I got a pay raise on day one. And that is not counting overtime and soft pay. My company pays for medicals, gives a cell phone allowance, pays for the AOPA legal defense fund, and pays per diem at almost double the rate of my last company. There are also freebies and incentives from FBOs, hotel points, and airline miles.

Upgrades are much better at my new company too. I ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago who had just upgraded after 18 months. The upgrade at my last company could probably be measured in decades.

I won't lie. The 7 away is hard, and there are downsides to the job, but for me, it was definitely the right decision.

BTW what you need is turbine PIC. I havn't seen many companies that specify that you have to have 121 PIC. There are a few, but not many.

 

[blueridge71]

My biggest concern is that I have a 2-year-old daughter and a boy due in September.

To a little kid, a week seems like an eternity. You come back after a week (or, in the case of Flex, eight days) away and they cry when you try to pick them up.

I'm kind of nervous about that. I guess I'd rather take my poison in smaller doses. Three on, two off, four on, three off, etc., etc.

If I didn't have little ones, I'd probably be all over the fracs like a hobo on a ham sandwich.

Eagle interview this week. Wish me luck.

I have a 3-year-old son and had the same worries. I get more quality time with him now than I did at the regionals. Is it tough on both him and me (and my wife)? Yeah, but we adjust. We talk on the phone a lot and count down the days.

Leaving is the worst part, although the last day can be pretty tough. At the regionals, I was constantly in and out of the house with a very variable schedule. There was no stability.

Additionally, I went into debt big time due to a furlough and two new hire years at the regionals. We were on WIC with both companies (no joke). Now I'm able to support my family.

Either way you look at it, you are going to have to pack a lot of parenting into a fraction of your life. Being gone half the time seems insane until you look at the dads who get up and go to work from 8am to 6 or 7 pm on Monday through Friday and sometimes Saturday (and then play golf on Sunday).