tOP 5 rEGIONALS TO WORK FOR ?

[j41driver]

what the hells a conquest?

It's basically a pressurized, turboprop version of the Cessna 404. Cessna made about 360 of them in the late 70's - early 80's. Pretty fast also - about 310 KTAS with the Dash 10 engines. It'll climb to FL350.

 

[mckpickle]

It's basically a pressurized, turboprop version of the Cessna 404. Cessna made about 360 of them in the late 70's - early 80's. Pretty fast also - about 310 KTAS with the Dash 10 engines. It'll climb to FL350.

OH ok thanks, well most airplanes COULD do that but then again most airplanes are designed to carry PEOPLE!

 

[Brother Francis]

I've heard it called a "K-Mart King Air"

Good airplane for it's mission.

 

[FlyinT]

Things have not changed that much. Yeah, the union helps some but back in 1989 starting pay for right seat in a Jetstream 31 was 17.10 /hour. Captain pay was 31.25 at the second year pay scale. It also took 18 months to upgrade. Here it is 2002 and left seat in the Brasilia pays 44.37/ hour. The net effective pay for flying the Jetstream was better than the rate on the Brasilia at 10 years later. Go figure.

For those of you waiting for the 'job at the major' - It will be a wait. Better off to get somewhere you like cause it may be a while!

"Livin the dream"

 

[Hansel]

I keep hearing how much pilots love flying, however it seems the majority mostly care about how much time off...hmmm

 

[Dignan]

Yeah, flying is the best "work" there is (IMHO, at least), but not working always beats working. I love flying as much as the next guy (unless, of course, the next guy hates flying) and I know how when you're building time it seems like the most important thing, but now I always enjoy days off more. In the long run (again IMHO), if someone likes work more than time off, they might want to get a life. Otherwise, they'll end up on aviation message boards listing what they have in their flight bags...(sorry guys, but I had to say it.) Take care.

D

 

[wafu39]

DEP676,
One of your many ridiculous comments was that you seemed to think that sitting reserve for 6 months is something that you(with all your experience, HA!) shouldn't have to do.

GET REAL! Do you honestly believe that 6 months of reserve is a long time?

So many pilots out there think that the last 5 years is the way that the industry always is. Well it's not. The last 5 years were an abberation, not the norm.

Too many pilots think that if you sit 6 months reserve then some how you deserve to be a line holder. For guys of my generation-hired at regionals in the early 90's, 3 years of reserve was not uncommon. It took me 5 years to get my first upgrade.

I'm not complaining. Even though I am currently on furlough, I would do it all again if given the chance.

My point is that you can make a choice, bite the bullet and get on with a regional OR continue to fly as the butt of real pilot's jokes.

In your current position do you really think you are in the same class with a regional pilot?

I don't care how much you make flying a Conquest-IT'S STILL A CONQUEST.

Get the point?

 

[troll565]

Better airplane does not mean a better job. I fly a Cessna 310 for a check hauling company. During training, we were put up in a $1200 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment, fully furnished, for 2 people, for free. Our starting pay is about $6000 more a year than 95% of the regionals. I work Monday thru Thursday. I'm home EVERY NIGHT, and I have holidays off. Even Columbus Day and Veterans Day. I fly from ORL to ATL and back, 4 times a week. We have never furloughed a pilot in the almost 30 years we've been a company, and we have have no reserves. You go through class, and you're awarded a base and you start flying. Our company pays for you to move; U-Haul, food, hotel, gas, tolls, everything. And they pay for you to move when you uprgade also. So what if I fly a 310 by myself at night IFR? It's better experience than pushing buttons at 35,000 feet. And while I can't speak of the maintenance at other places, ours is second to none. If something's broke, it gets fixed. If it's not flyable, I don't fly. I've never felt pressured to fly a broke airplane and I won't. There are so many alternatives to get to a major than being a slave to the regionals for 5,6, or even 10 years.

Open your eyes; look around sometime.

 

[English]

I agree with troll.

I think most people would consider the Saab 340 to be a "better" airplane than the Citationjet merely because of its size and the fact that it is a transport category aircraft. But, the Saab job is no better than the Citationjet job.

In line with what troll mentioned, here are some variables to consider....

My current employer (a job flying a CJ), paid $4000 to move me from the midwest to the west coast, including shipping my car out and airfare for me. The airlines gave me three move days (one paid, two unpaid if I remember correctly) and no assistance in moving.

My current employer issued me a credit card and set me up in a Hyatt during training. All expenses were charged on the company credit card. The first airline gave me per diem to live off of and a stay at the luxurious Knight's Inn in Arlington. The second airline paid me $250 a week during training but with a stay at a nicer hotel.

My current employer issued me a cell phone with 4500 minutes per month. I can use it as my personal phone as well. Not because I'm on call, because I'm not, but because they want me to be able to call in after every leg. At the airlines, I paid for my own cell phone so I'd have caller id when crew scheduling called.

My current employer compensation package includes a 401K with a 100% match up to 5% of the annual salary, 100% tuition reimbursement, very good medical/dental/vision plans, and so on. The salary is above the NBAA guide recommendations. The airlines, at least the regionals, could not compare. I can afford to buy a new house in the Los Angeles area on my own salary. I couldn't do that as a regional FO or captain.

The relationship with my chief pilot and employer is great. At the airlines, there was continual strife, an "us versus them" attitude. Of course, maybe it's not that way at a place like Alaska, Southwest or jetBlue, but at many of the regionals, it sure is.

The schedule at my current job has me home almost every night. The schedules I had at the regionals had me packing a suitcase for four to five days at a time.

I'm not trying to rub it in, although I love my job and I feel fortunate to have found this after being furloughed. My point is that many of us who went to the regionals have always assumed that route was the best and/or only route to go to become a professional pilot. We equated bigger with better. I think now that we have forums such as this, we can all find out what's really going on in different areas of aviation. For people that do equate bigger with better, my job would be lousy. But for those who believe in being appreciated and in living a life balanced between work and a personal life, this is the best!

 

[Pilot877]

Troll, you dont have to be jealous....someday you might get to be an airline pilot too. I have to say that I gave up flying live people in 402's to be a "button pusher at 35,000 feet" and I wouldnt trade the RJ for a stinking old twin Cessna, ever. As far as salary goes, you have to look a little farther down the road than just first year. But, hey, to each his own.....if you love flying 310's and it makes you happy, go for it. Oh yeah, as far as being a "slave" goes, at least I will never again have to load luggage and cargo on the aircraft and not get paid for it. I tell you what, you dont even know what you are talking about.

Top 5 Regionals:

ACA/AirWisconsin/SkyWest/ASA/Comair

God Bless America

Fly BlueRidge