The regionals are sucking the life out of me! Help

[CRJCA]

Im going to go on record and say I love rumrunnr78. But then again I love myself!

 

[Goose Egg]

For what it's worth, the regionals are sucking the life out of me as well. Granted, it's only coming out about a mm^3 at a time, but sure enough, it's coming out. Parts of being a regional pilot I absolutely love--most of which are in relation to flying to smaller, uncontrolled fields (which is an absolute blast!)

I too am at SkyWest, and it's a good company... for a regional, anyway. I can't remember whether it was in this thread or in another one I read, but someone said something about leaving the airlines after someone had worked so hard to get there. For me, I don't really consider the airlines to be "there." I consider it part of my 'dues paying' to get somewhere else. I figure I've got about 4-5 years of being a regional pilot left in me. If I can find something else before then, all the better.

-Goose

 

[LegacyDriver]

This from a guy who will be in SFO all day with an afternoon showtime the next day!! Talk about the life. And with CRJCA! An added bonus.

Oh, I forgot, all 3 of us are the same person under different screen names. Hey guys, don't take the brown acid Rum

You mean afternoon departure to stay two days and leave early in the morning.

Another mini-vacation! WOOT!!!!!!!!!!!! My hotel room is the size of a PHONE BOOTH. CRJ got the bridal suite or something but not me.

LOL

But wait? If CRJ and I are the same person why is his room different from mine? Hmmmmmmmm....

 

[LegacyDriver]

Im going to go on record and say I love rumrunnr78. But then again I love myself!

If you love Rum then you have to love me also since we are all three "the same person." LOL

 

[Way2Broke]

How can you spend the time and money to become a 121 pilot and so quickly hate it?

I offer the classic......

First of all not everyone spent all that time and money to become a "121 pilot." Even if they did many pilots found out that they spent too much money to become a "121 pilot" because they can't afford those student loan payments on low regional wages. They were sold lies by schools and now have to deal with it.

When it comes to offering "a classic"... classics deal with the past and I believe this poster asked about his future. The cute little song offered up ATRs and Jetstream as regional aircraft. Live in today. CRJs and ERJs rule the regional world.

 

[Goose Egg]

deleted

 

[BoilerUP]

In any case, I don't hate 121, it wears on me sometimes, and I can't see myself doing this for more than 5 years, but sometimes it can be a blast (largely dependent on who you are flying with, as I've found out). But then again, I didn't spend all that time and money to become a 121 pilot either. It's just a stop on the way to something else.

Like what?

Personally, I enjoyed my RJ job very much and always wanted to fly for UPS or Delta but life and circumstance ended up making my time in 121 a means to a part 91 end...at least for a while.

There is no great panacea for job satisfaction or enjoyment in this career field, regardless of the segment one finds themselves in...it all depends on what each person makes of your current situation.

 

[Goose Egg]

Like what?

Personally, I enjoyed my RJ job very much and always wanted to fly for UPS or Delta but life and circumstance ended up making my time in 121 a means to a part 91 end...at least for a while.

There is no great panacea for job satisfaction or enjoyment in this career field, regardless of the segment one finds themselves in...it all depends on what each person makes of your current situation.

Well, somewhat similar to yourself; a 121 means to a 91 end... or something like that--some of what I'd like to do in the future technically falls under part 135. Although in my case, I'd say it's been a good 10 years since I've had a burning desire for Delta or UPS or FedEx or Southwest or whomever else, and in their place, I've been thinking of a good 91 job (there are certainly bad ones to be had). I'm just trying to establish a good base of flight time which I can use to market myself to those jobs which I actually have been dreaming about. I'm even going to finish my accounting degree to give myself more of an edge. And I'm not saying that I don't enjoy my 121 job. I'm just saying that I don't consider it as having "arrived" like many others do.

And as far as the panacea comment goes, let me respond by saying that one man's junk is another man's treasure.

-Goose

 

[BoilerUP]

Best of luck Goose; sounds like your preference is fractional???

 

[Raskal]

Ironically enough, I and two people I worked with left a 91/managed/frac to come to a regional. Personally my life is considerably better and I see my family more than I have the last 4 years. The job wasn't the worst, but the schedule was killing me, kind of like the regional life is killing you.

Like the others have said, keep it all in perspective. Decide which aspect of the job is the most important to you-for me it was a schedule and shorter trips, for others it's different-and go in that direction. But, especially with the smaller operations out there, talk to as many people as you can to find out what the 'real' story is before making the jump.

Best of luck with the search.

 

[Goose Egg]

Best of luck Goose; sounds like your preference is fractional???

Thanks, I appreciate that. RW EMS flying is my end goal. It will take a lot of work, and I'll probably be doing a number of different things between now and then, but I'm a young man. Say I'm qualified for it by the time I'm 40--that's still a pretty good stretch.

-Goose

 

[AA717driver]

Bird--Check your PM's. TC

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Not all corporate jobs are as bad as BLZRs either though. Mine for example offers a set schedule of days off and fly days, firm duty/rest requirements, and only a handful of overnights per month. Most days i'm home by 6pm having dinner with the family.

I don't fly the biggest or most glamorous airplane in the corporate world but, you know what they say, "The bigger the airplane, the bigger the suitcase!"

Do I miss the RJ or the 737? Yes... I miss having an APU and a place to put my flightkit in the cockpit. Is that a good reason to go back? Not right now. Ask me a few years when old age makes it hard(er) to climb into a Learjet cockpit.

 

[Godfather]

YES!!! Make the jump to the real side of flying! I did the same and I could not be happier! Corporate and/or Fractional is the way to go now. Believe me, the airline business is in chaos and will continue to be for quite some time. With Oil jumping to over $110/barrel and the Recession just starting, the airlines will be hardest hit. If you can get on at NetJets go, if you can find a good corp. gig like I did then take it and don't look back. Many other pilots before you have made the move and many more will do so after you. You need to care of #1 so you won't step into #2. Believe me when I say you will be much happier on the other side of life.