BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
Well this thread has sure drifted nicely. Let me quickly respond to 3 points...
First, writing a letter to HR, while probably cathartic (for both the writer and anybody who reads it who may be in a similar situation) won't change the world. The airlines know why some people won't come work for them and while they are starting to see the bottom of the barrel, they aren't there yet so they don't care. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if, as the majors recover (which they are) and start to look like ok jobs again (which they are) more and more people start going to pilot schools again and the pipeline refills. There will be a few years of slim pickings until the newbies starting now have their 1500 hours, but if the hiring departments see a light at the end of the tunnel, they simply rely on signing bonuses and what not go to through the lean times.
Second, I don't know why people think regional pay is so tough to get by on. It entirely depends on your level of living but unless you go to some place like Lakes, you will be making a mostly livable wage as long as you manage your costs. You wouldn't believe the number of FOs I flew with who bitched about how they couldn't spend money on fixing their car and then went and smoked between every turn and dropped $20 on 4 beers at dinner every night. Sure, it may be tough for the first year. No vacation to Disney World and maybe you have to cut back on the Christmas giving, but if you have kept your finances in line, it shouldn't be impossible. And that includes being able to put a little bit away for your 401k also.
Additionally, I know it's not the case everywhere, but the regional I went to paid full guarantee from the first day of class provided a hotel room and 24/day per diem until you were done with sim. That's actually a much better deal than I had when I got hired at a major.
And thirdly, (and @Derg will probably disagree with me on this) while networking your ass off certainly helps, a lot of the "get in get out" deal is pure luck. It depends on how the industry is moving, it depends on what routes you happen to fly (if you carry a lot of Brand X jumpseaters you'll end up with a lot of ins at Brand X), it depends on what minority boxes you can check and what groups you can be a member of (yes, I know that's not a popular thing to say, but it's how the game is sometimes played) and, if I didn't already mention it, it depends a lot on luck. Now, if you don't do your damnedest to get lucky, you are selling your self short, but it is entirely possible you can do EVERYTHING right, and still be stuck at a regional for a very long time.
That may change a bit going forward (pending no more bad stuff happening) as the last 12 years have been a miserable combinations of geopolitical (9/11), economic and political (age 65) events which conspired to pretty much freeze any upward movement in the industry. But you can't count on that NOT to happen again.
First, writing a letter to HR, while probably cathartic (for both the writer and anybody who reads it who may be in a similar situation) won't change the world. The airlines know why some people won't come work for them and while they are starting to see the bottom of the barrel, they aren't there yet so they don't care. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if, as the majors recover (which they are) and start to look like ok jobs again (which they are) more and more people start going to pilot schools again and the pipeline refills. There will be a few years of slim pickings until the newbies starting now have their 1500 hours, but if the hiring departments see a light at the end of the tunnel, they simply rely on signing bonuses and what not go to through the lean times.
Second, I don't know why people think regional pay is so tough to get by on. It entirely depends on your level of living but unless you go to some place like Lakes, you will be making a mostly livable wage as long as you manage your costs. You wouldn't believe the number of FOs I flew with who bitched about how they couldn't spend money on fixing their car and then went and smoked between every turn and dropped $20 on 4 beers at dinner every night. Sure, it may be tough for the first year. No vacation to Disney World and maybe you have to cut back on the Christmas giving, but if you have kept your finances in line, it shouldn't be impossible. And that includes being able to put a little bit away for your 401k also.
Additionally, I know it's not the case everywhere, but the regional I went to paid full guarantee from the first day of class provided a hotel room and 24/day per diem until you were done with sim. That's actually a much better deal than I had when I got hired at a major.
And thirdly, (and @Derg will probably disagree with me on this) while networking your ass off certainly helps, a lot of the "get in get out" deal is pure luck. It depends on how the industry is moving, it depends on what routes you happen to fly (if you carry a lot of Brand X jumpseaters you'll end up with a lot of ins at Brand X), it depends on what minority boxes you can check and what groups you can be a member of (yes, I know that's not a popular thing to say, but it's how the game is sometimes played) and, if I didn't already mention it, it depends a lot on luck. Now, if you don't do your damnedest to get lucky, you are selling your self short, but it is entirely possible you can do EVERYTHING right, and still be stuck at a regional for a very long time.
That may change a bit going forward (pending no more bad stuff happening) as the last 12 years have been a miserable combinations of geopolitical (9/11), economic and political (age 65) events which conspired to pretty much freeze any upward movement in the industry. But you can't count on that NOT to happen again.
