The regionals are sucking the life out of me! Help

[BoilerUP]

Yes, there is life on the other side....but the grass is only as green as you and your employer allow it to be.

I made the jump from RJ FO to corporate CA after 2 years at Air Wisconsin, and I could not be happier for the switch. I got a job in the place my wife and I wanted to live, for a growing & financially sound company that specializes in a field that is largely recession-proof, for money equal to what I would have made had I stayed and upgraded. As an added plus, I'm on first-name basis with everybody in the company and 2 weeks into my employment I got a flat-screen TV as a "Christmas gift" as well as the company-wide bonus. While I really liked working at AWAC I'm THRILLED to be in my current position.

There is no promised land, no corporate job manna from heaven. Driving the airplane is the same but the ancillary duties of corporate flying (as well as the requisite level of passenger care and customer service) are often foreign to a pure 121 pilot. All that said, if this fool can figure it out you can too.

Good luck, and if you're serious about moving into 91 you need to have started networking last month.

 

[blzr]

I cant take it anymore. The regional 121 lifestyle is killing me. I seriously think this job is aging me. I hate it so bad I want to get out of flying. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Should I pursue the corporate world of flying? Give me some insights please. Is life better on the other side?

I felt the same way 4 years ago. I got hired at a part91 gig, got a type, and life is good, sorta. Part 91 can age you some too. We go to the SAME places overandoverandoverandover again. after the second year it has become "Grounhogs Day". It is OK money, but there is very little chance of advancement.

This will sound stupid to some, but after a few years of 150-300 hrs a year flying, you will miss the regionals. I just miss the change of scenery. For us, a trip is usually 2.8 hrs the first day, sit 5 days and then 2.2 comming home. then no fly for a week or two. The boss calls and wants to fly most wekends during football season, he is not a fan, so you end up sitting in an fbo or driving his rental car while your team is playing.

the rest of the company employees see you as underworked. Most have no clue why their company needs an airplane.

Dude, if the grass seems greener on the other side, it's STILL just grass. If it actually is greener, nobody is picking up the doggie poo and it needs to be mowed more often.

There are pro's and cons for both jobs. You get to bid a schedule and trips. When you are off, for the most part, you are off. In corp, you generally have no schedule and are expected to be available 7 days a week. You may not fly for days or weeks at a time, and the moment you actually make plans, the boss comes up with a 3 day trip to Dustville.

Good Luck

 

[joelo88]

Hey man. i agree with a lot of what BLZR said. some 91 gigs aren't so great. and we all know that charter/management companies can be a mess too. you could end up stuck in some plane flying a spoiled rich a-hole who complains about everything non-stop (like while your trying to land, take off, dodge traffic at 5000ft in a busy terminal area, taxi at a class b airport), and then have the company basically side with said owner because "that's what the customer wants and we are here to serve the customer". oh yeah, you wanna be an aircraft detailer too? the owner of the aircraft i fly asked myself and my co-pilot to "come in on the days when where not flying and paint the cockpit gauges and stuff with model paint and brushes." yeah i'll get right on that...

some days, i envy the airline guys. close the door and just fly... or so it seems. b careful what you wish for.

 

[LegacyDriver]

[L]ife is good, sorta. Part 91 can age you some too. We go to the SAME places overandoverandoverandover again. after the second year it has become "Grounhogs Day". It is OK money, but there is very little chance of advancement.

There is a lot of truth in that statement.

This will sound stupid to some, but after a few years of 150-300 hrs a year flying, you will miss the regionals.

One of my buds said, "I sure miss (the RJ). I never thought I would ever say that."

Never thought I would either but a huge part of me does.

the rest of the company employees see you as underworked. Most have no clue why their company needs an airplane.

Didn't you get the memo that pilots are overpaid and underutilized?

Dude, if the grass seems greener on the other side, it's STILL just grass.

Yup. No place is perfect. You trade some issues for others no matter what.

If it actually is greener, nobody is picking up the doggie poo and it needs to be mowed more often.

LOL. That's funny!


One thing I hear about corporate vs airline flying is it is like "Office Space" with wings. As he put it, The Rat Race is mitigated in the airline world by the seniority system to a large degree. "We are just like people in any other area of corporate America except we fly airplanes.". Certainly a take worthy of considering.

"Uhm, listen, I know it is your weekend off but I'm gonna' need you to fly Saturday. All right? Yeah, that would greeeat. Thanks Melvin." LOL

There are pro's and cons for both jobs. You get to bid a schedule and trips. When you are off, for the most part, you are off. In corp, you generally have no schedule and are expected to be available 7 days a week. You may not fly for days or weeks at a time, and the moment you actually make plans, the boss comes up with a 3 day trip to Dustville.

More truth especially the making plans part. I don't know if that is endemic to flying or just a cosmic joke of some sort like Murphy's Law but it sure happens a lot! LOL


Good and bad everywhere. This business is about tradeoffs.

 

[rumrnr78]

CRJCA!!!! Come quick!!!! We need to do an intervention!!!!

Rum....listen to me carefully. Put down the blue koolaid....and *back* away from it.

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

 

[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.