Regional Airlines

cfichad49

cfichad49

Well-Known Member
Hello -

I am approaching ATP numbers, and I am starting to look for a regional airline to move on to.

I have been approached off of my application by Trans States, Endeavor, and Republic. Can anyone tell me more about those three as well as Compass out of LAX.

I am living on the East Coast and would like to get back to the West Coast.

Any information would be helpful.

Thank you!
 
If the west coast is your goal, then I would look at SkyWest, Compass, Mesa and Horizon Air.

Republic and Endeavor fly mostly eastern half of the US along with most of AAs wholey owned carriers. (Envoy does some flying out of DFW/ORD that may go a little bit west but nothing out to the west coast).

Personally though I’d recommend staying away from Trans States/GoJets unless they just happen to be the only options for you.

Good Luck!
 
Probably don't work at Trans States, considering their AA flying ends soon, I don't understand why they're on a different operating certificate than Republic, which is an ok place to work, inasmuch that all regional airlines are ok places to work... but don't work at Trans States.
 
I'm considering 121 as well. I retire from the Army in 18 months and have my fixed wing ratings and 121 mins. I am looking for a regional that will be easily commutable from Austin. I have been looking at Mesa due to having both DFW and IAH domiciles but I have heard from others here that the company doesn't treat there flight crew well. Expressjet is another contender but are the upgrade times really 4 plus years? If anyone has any insights to Mesa or Expressjet please let me know. Thanks.
 
Low_Level_Hell said:
I'm considering 121 as well. I retire from the Army in 18 months and have my fixed wing ratings and 121 mins. I am looking for a regional that will be easily commutable from Austin. I have been looking at Mesa due to having both DFW and IAH domiciles but I have heard from others here that the company doesn't treat there flight crew well. Expressjet is another contender but are the upgrade times really 4 plus years? If anyone has any insights to Mesa or Expressjet please let me know. Thanks.
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4 plus years?

I was a 2007 hire, and I think it would have taken me 10.5 years to upgrade. I left after 7 and went to another regional to get some PIC time.

APC says 2011 is the most junior captain now, and there were A LOT of guys hired starting in January 2011 (when I came back from furlough) to maybe 2014/15.

I'd be shocked if anyone hired today ever upgrades at XJT.
 
I loved flying at ExpressJet. I met a lot of cool people, made great friends and learned a lot. But I cannot in good faith recommend that place to anyone right now. Upgrade time is much longer than 4 years. I got out around year 3, I was still on reserve.
 
Have you ever looked into flying for WheelsUp? It'd be an 8/6 flying King Airs and starting pay is in the 50s.

Gama Aviation Careers

I'm not sure you're willing to take a gamble on it, but Californian Pacific is looking for SICs based out of Carlsbad. It'd be a home every night gig which might make it worth it.
CRQ SIC
 
jtrain609 said:
It's so bad at XJT that JetBlue, spirit, frontier, delta and United all have quicker upgrade times.
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Even VX and AS, 04/'13 and 08/'14 respectively.

Good buddy of mine hired XJT 12/2006 finally upgraded after (I think) 7 years. No calls, no CPP touching him, so he left for flyDubai.
 
Low_Level_Hell said:
I'm considering 121 as well. I retire from the Army in 18 months and have my fixed wing ratings and 121 mins. I am looking for a regional that will be easily commutable from Austin. I have been looking at Mesa due to having both DFW and IAH domiciles but I have heard from others here that the company doesn't treat there flight crew well. Expressjet is another contender but are the upgrade times really 4 plus years? If anyone has any insights to Mesa or Expressjet please let me know. Thanks.
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Honestly 18 months is a long time in the regional world. I expect the landscape will look a bit different by then. I’d surely start researching and keep your nose in the forums (maybe even APC... more detailed regional forums... shhh) but keep an open mind until a few months prior to retirement.

Careful if you’re on RTAG. They do a great job advocating for guys like us with the airlines, but their analysis of specific regionals is a bit candy coated.
 
Low_Level_Hell said:
I'm considering 121 as well. I retire from the Army in 18 months and have my fixed wing ratings and 121 mins. I am looking for a regional that will be easily commutable from Austin. I have been looking at Mesa due to having both DFW and IAH domiciles but I have heard from others here that the company doesn't treat there flight crew well. Expressjet is another contender but are the upgrade times really 4 plus years? If anyone has any insights to Mesa or Expressjet please let me know. Thanks.
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SkyWest has a DFW Base now and it’s going to newhires. Captain in DFW is down to 2 years.
 
Zondaracer said:
SkyWest has a DFW Base now and it’s going to newhires. Captain in DFW is down to 2 years.
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Thanks. I was looking at that airline as well. It would be nice if the pilot group was unionized though.

For regional airlines is there generally a certain amount of time that needs to go by before you can request a change in domicile?
 
Low_Level_Hell said:
Thanks. I was looking at that airline as well. It would be nice if the pilot group was unionized though.

For regional airlines is there generally a certain amount of time that needs to go by before you can request a change in domicile?
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Airlines will run periodic vacancy bids where you can bid for open positions. They might run a bid 4-6 times a year, maybe more or less. If your seniority can hold the position you ask for, it’s yours. Seat/equipment locks may prevent getting a certain base depending the airline. ( for example, you’re a CRJ driver and the company has an 18 month lock before you can switch to an E series and the E series is in the base you want).
 
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While I certainly hope SKW pilots vote in ALPA at some point, union or not SKW is still a much better place to work than Mesa*

*based on second hand info only. I've never worked for either
 
cfichad49 said:
Hello -

I am approaching ATP numbers, and I am starting to look for a regional airline to move on to.

I have been approached off of my application by Trans States, Endeavor, and Republic. Can anyone tell me more about those three as well as Compass out of LAX.

I am living on the East Coast and would like to get back to the West Coast.

Any information would be helpful.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Out of all of those, Republic and Endeavor are the best paying. Those are probably the two best options if you can deal with being based on or near the East Coast, where most of their bases are, but they have no bases anywhere near the west coast. Out of the airlines you mentioned, only Compass has bases on the West Coast. Since their bases are all west coast except for PHX they would probably be a good choice if you want to move there and not have to commute to far, but keep in mind that bases do come and go at just about any airline, especially the regionals. I do not hear many good things about Trans States and generally they seem to be a lower tier regional (in terms of pay, contract, etc.), also with the end of the American Eagle flying the fleet will probably be shrinking, although they are apparently adding a few more ERJs for the United flying. They also have no bases near the west coast (closest one is DEN).

Soku39 said:
Probably don't work at Trans States, considering their AA flying ends soon, I don't understand why they're on a different operating certificate than Republic, which is an ok place to work, inasmuch that all regional airlines are ok places to work... but don't work at Trans States.
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Republic doesn't own Trans States, you are probably thinking of Compass which is also owned by Trans States Holdings. It probably makes more sense for them to keep the certificates separate for whipsawing purposes.

jtrain609 said:
4 plus years?

I was a 2007 hire, and I think it would have taken me 10.5 years to upgrade. I left after 7 and went to another regional to get some PIC time.

APC says 2011 is the most junior captain now, and there were A LOT of guys hired starting in January 2011 (when I came back from furlough) to maybe 2014/15.

I'd be shocked if anyone hired today ever upgrades at XJT.
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I believe I remember you mentioning that their parent company SkyWest plans to shut them down eventually, and have said as much in their mandatory reports to shareholders. Certainly it seems SkyWest has been "Comairing" them by a thousand cuts, and their fleet keeps shrinking. There are a lot of ExpressJet refugees at my employer and from what they say there doesn't seem to be much of a future for XJT.

Probably best to avoid XJT as well unless you can't get hired anywhere else.
 
Soku39 said:
Probably don't work at Trans States, considering their AA flying ends soon, I don't understand why they're on a different operating certificate than Republic, which is an ok place to work, inasmuch that all regional airlines are ok places to work... but don't work at Trans States.
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Transtates and Republic are completely different airlines. Do you mean Compass?
 
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