Why would a RJ Capt. leave for CAL, DAL, UAL, UAW, or NW?

[Freight Dog]

People will still line up left and right for a chance to fly a Boeing or an Airbus regardless of the pay.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

People will still line up left and right for a chance to fly a Boeing or an Airbus regardless of the pay.

Forgot to add the word "Some" in front of your post. SJS is an illness not all of us suffers from

 

[pilotyip]

Remember 15 yrs ago a regional had no more than 29 seats, and almost no point to point flts, just hub support. But as regionals expand into bigger airplanes 100+ seats, the economics of the smaller airline change. Then the regional definition will be further blurred. Compass will be a look at that type of operation.

 

[scarlet]

think of age 60 going to 65 that will add some years to upgrade..It is a shame on CAL for all the years they had great relations with Expressjet people....I hope they do well at their new adventure...

 

[Lake Alice]

The land scape of the industry has changed. Years ago you would have been crazy to pass up a legacy carrier. The money, schedule and benefits were simply unmatched. Today that multi million dollar retirement is not there. Heck, the movement that is supposed to happen at Cal could significantly slow when the age rule changes and then what. Now your sitting in the right seat like a pilot at any other carrier. If a regional guy gets weekends off and makes enough to live comfortably then whats the incentive to move on. I know people say the regionals come and go but they never truly dissapear.

 

[Wesb737fo]

So I was doing some looking around on airlinepilot central, and I just can't believe those FO payscales. What makes it worse is the fact that they have lower guarentees than regionals have. DAL has a 65 hr guarentee, Continental has a 72 hr guarentee, AA has a 64. Then you look at those payrates and you are making less than an RJ captain for a long long time. Since the upgrades seem to look like atleast 10 yrs (except CAL) why is it that everyone is jumping at the majors. The FO pay is AWFUL. At United, a 2nd year FO will make $42,000. a 5th yr FO will make $65,000. In contrast lets say your a 5 year Captain at ExpressJet. You will bring home $75,000 easy. I would say most people at XJT get between 85 and 90 hrs of credit a month. So I guess XJT guys make more than Legacy drivers. That makes SICK. I don't know how ya'll do it. PLEASE tell me that you atleast get more than 65 HOURS a month of credit. Otherwise I guess the LCC's are not that bad of an option. Atleast you get more than 65 hrs of pay. And you can upgrade in 2-3 yrs. Maybe I am missing something here, but how can you be in this industry for as many yrs as it takes to get to a Major, but make less than you did flying your regional jet.

My rant is over.

PS-(I DID NOT PROOF READ THIS SO THERE MAY BE SPELLING ERRORS)

Wow...five pages of replies...I don't have time to read them all so pardon me if I repeated some others thoughts....

1. I bet you don't work for Mesa

2. I bet you haven't been around long enough to realize what you are saying.

3. Regional Airline Management's love guys like yourself.


Bottome line...it sucks to work for a regional carrier.

 

[Quimby]

So I was doing some looking around on airlinepilot central, and I just can't believe those FO payscales. What makes it worse is the fact that they have lower guarentees than regionals have. DAL has a 65 hr guarentee, Continental has a 72 hr guarentee, AA has a 64. Then you look at those payrates and you are making less than an RJ captain for a long long time. Since the upgrades seem to look like atleast 10 yrs (except CAL) why is it that everyone is jumping at the majors. The FO pay is AWFUL. At United, a 2nd year FO will make $42,000. a 5th yr FO will make $65,000. In contrast lets say your a 5 year Captain at ExpressJet. You will bring home $75,000 easy. I would say most people at XJT get between 85 and 90 hrs of credit a month. So I guess XJT guys make more than Legacy drivers. That makes SICK. I don't know how ya'll do it. PLEASE tell me that you atleast get more than 65 HOURS a month of credit. Otherwise I guess the LCC's are not that bad of an option. Atleast you get more than 65 hrs of pay. And you can upgrade in 2-3 yrs. Maybe I am missing something here, but how can you be in this industry for as many yrs as it takes to get to a Major, but make less than you did flying your regional jet.

My rant is over.

PS-(I DID NOT PROOF READ THIS SO THERE MAY BE SPELLING ERRORS)

You don't even know what you don't know yet. Save your post, go back & reread it in a couple of years. Let us know what you think about staying then.

Don't bypass an upgrade either.

 

[PuffDriver]

19 years at Eagle, in my very early 40's.

Last 4 years averaged $122,00/year and 13 days off per month. Not a single junior man, although a few reroutes when last turn canceled. If I flew my base schedule only, I'd be around $95,000/year and average 16 days off/month. Eagle matches 87.5 % of the 8% I put in my 401(k), next year a 100% match. Started that in 1991 and now at $368,000 (got two other funds totalling almost twice that). Drive to work.

Why would I dump that for a 737 at EWR, commuting on a quarter of the pay, no better of a schedule, most likely if I did keep my pension it would be watered down, schedule worse, 401(k) worse and no job security ?

Ah what do I know.................Just another clueless RJ chump who isn't a REAL airline pilot.

But hey, that's o.k. Call me anything you want as I go to the bank with $10 grand every month (not killing myself doing it, either). At this point, it's my best bet. Almost 1 million in investments means I've funded my own retirement in 18-23 years (projected to need 2.6 million-wow !). If Eagle goes south, I'm still in failry good shape.

Keep your 737. I'll leave that slot to the 27 year old, 3000 hour RJ F/O who can make something more out of it.

I can think of a lot of reasons. 1) an even better schedule--as in working 9 days a month 2) even more pay--as in 160K
3) even better destinations and layovers--as in sipping Italian wine in Rome 4) even better equipment--as in 777, 787

Enjoy your RJ, and I will enjoy my 777. It's all about personal choice after all--or about you trying to brag.

PapaSiera--believe me when I say suck it up and go to a legacy or a top cargo carrier. 5 airlines have taught me that. The legacies likely have bottomed, and if they tank further everyone else will as well.

 

[Jonny Sacko]

Is anyone worried about the fact that CAL cancelled 1/4 of Express RJ fleet, and will possibly do the same two years from now. Quite frankly I would be a bit nervous if I worked at Express and was planning to stay their for my career. Express has many challenges ahead as a company, and the future their is certainly not guaranteed anymore than anywhere else.

You are TOTALLY WRONG! Independence Proved So. Or, wait a minute... um.........

 

[StaySeated]

To answer your question, skip the compensation section and read your scheduling section. Then go read a few of the LCC's and the major's scheduling section. You are comparing apples to dog sh1t. Not only will everyone fly over guarantee at the airlines you mentioned, they will do it with scheduling flexibility a regional could never dream about. I am not slamming you, the pay rates in the industry are disgraceful and will never get back to where they once were, but QOL is a night and day improvement once you jump ship from the regionals. Good luck where you end up.