What makes a Regional Airline

[Rich Man]

Hey, I have no idea how this is going to go, or what direction it will take but, I really want to know;

What makes a Regional Airline regional, and what makes a Major Airline a Major?

Is it Revenue?
is it the CEO's or owners?
is it the equipment they fly?
is it the region they work in?
is it the number of flights they operarte?
is it the quality of pilots ......LOL??

Who classifies airlines and based on what do they decide which airline is a regional, and which is a Major, and at what point can a regional become a major (is it even possible)?

IF so, how about at what point would a major stop being one and turn into a Regional?

And besides Employee pay and A/C equipment flown, what is the difference?

I honestly don't know and would appreciate everybody's opinion specially of those in the know.


Rich!

P.S. Since everything in this Forum always takes a turn into the unavoidable, I'll leave you with a thought, from the journals of the Wright Brothers:

"Things, which seemed reasonable, were often untrue.
Other things were partly true and partly untrue.
A few things were really true"
Wilbur Wright

 

[~~~^~~~]

The definition depends on who you ask and when you ask them. It used to be based on revenue, until Comair and American Eagle blew the doors off that limit. Then they tried to base it on trip length, until anyone with a CL65 exceeded that limit too. Now ALPA bases it on whether your airline has a propeller powered aircraft anywhere in the fleet. Oh, but they are willing to call you a major if you pay more than a certain amount of dues.

The truth is that today majors and regional airlines operate together as a completely integrated transportation system. To the passenger, the service is transparent. ASA and Comair are treated differently by ALPA, but to our passengers we are the same. Doubt the passengers notice any difference between ASA, Comair, Delta, Chitauqua, Skywest, or ACA. Other than the fact the CRJ-700's are newer and have leather interiors, they probably don't notice much difference between them and the 737-200's.

So don't let anyone sell you on the "regional" or "major" label. There are simply airlines that have better contracts than others. For a while, I could make more money flying an RJ than another pilot flying a 747-400 for Atlas. Some Airtran pilots will earn more than pilots at United.

We all produce revenue seat miles.

 

[pilotyip]

no 4 yr degree required

one of the things separating the regional from the majors is the regionals do not require a 4 yr degree to get interviewed or hired.

 

[sleepy]

Re: no 4 yr degree required

one of the things separating the regional from the majors is the regionals do not require a 4 yr degree to get interviewed or hired.

Actually, you will not be hired at ASA without at least a 4 year degree.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

''Actually, you will not be hired at ASA without at least a 4 year degree''..


Why? does a degree make you a good pilot?

 

[blzr]

Does having a 4 year degree make you a good pilot

Absolutely not. Being a good pilot is irrelovent . When you get hired somewhere, you will fly with some really good pilots, and then you will probably fly with some 6000hr captain and be amazed at the lack of apparent skill. The 4 year degree is just another hoop to jump through.

U.S. Airways considers itself a major airline because they were the highest paid pilots in the industry and have 757 and 767's on the property. But, they wouldn't let 50 seat rj's on the property because it would take flying away from the mainline pilots. So, does that make them a regional airline making Major Airline pay, or a Major Airline flying Regional routs? Any thoughts on that one.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

BLZR,

Indeed! your Absolutely right!


g'day

 

[TedCFII]

Actually, you will not be hired at ASA without at least a 4 year degree.

That maybe true these days but not so just 2 years ago. I know for a fact. I was hired there and I don't have a "4 year degree".

 

[Ty Webb]

Re: no 4 yr degree required

one of the things separating the regional from the majors is the regionals do not require a 4 yr degree to get interviewed or hired.

SOme of the majors don't require it, either.

I had a friend hired at American in 2000 (still there) who didn't have a degree, and no, he wasn't a minority.

Also, I have a friend starting at SWA next month who doesn't have a degree (no box checked here, either)

Another friend was hired at ATA without, and I would be willing to bet that there are some Cactus drivers without, too (it wasn;t one of their published requirements).

 

[miller22]

I'm confused about the four year degree argument. Are majors better than regionals because more pilots there have a four year degree (which I doubt)? In which case wouldn't that make teachers better than all airline pilots because they are required to have a four year degree, and then are still required to continue their education after that (masters)?
So then we get back to one of the original questions: What makes a Regional Airline regional, and what makes a Major Airline a Major?

The correct answer is "Power." Are you making your own decisions, or is another airline pulling your strings. Skywest, Chautaqua, ACA are not free to go where they want, even though they are their own company. When papa company wants to take back that IND-LGA route, they'll do it and you have nothing to say about it. Wanna fly ATL-ORD? Too bad.

Unfortunately the parent airline's "power" I speak of has a side-effect of
giving the pilots who fly for them the false sense of having power over the pilots who fly for the "regionals." You tend to hear phrases from pilots like, "We own you!" and "You fly for us!" Fortunately the management of the major owns the management of the regional, and pilots aren't given a bit of that ownership. But I guess this side-effect is to be expected from a profession that doesn't require a four year degree.