Timing is Everything....Next Up....

BobDDuck said:
The time off, even when junior, schedule flexibility, and pay at a major will outclass anything you'll ever find at a regional, even in the right seat.

And you're right... the flying will get boring pretty quickly. Bit that's ok... you'll have 14 to 18 days off a month to go do what you want.
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I’m not bored. I still look forward to every trip I have. This job is awesome.
 
Yakob said:
Don't know if it's true but I heard one sim instructor made over $300k one year.

Of course, probably best not to count on overtime always being available, or on "If" you can get into the training department.



Our regional has often had a disastrously high washout rate. Obviously there are a number of reason for this but I often wonder if instructor fatigue contributed to the problem.



9E is by far the best paying regional though. Of course my regional is definitely an outlier on the other end of the scale.
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That rumor was correct.

As you said, not a good idea to always plan for open time, especially when they pause classes to try to get caught up with IOE.

As far as the washout rate you mentioned, I wouldn't call it "disastrously high". I think we had a few small classes that approached 30%, but my new hire class at another regional washed out 11 of 23. I will say that the quality of instruction at C5 has increased greatly in the last few years, save for a couple of less than stellar instructors.

And yeah, C5 will need to get a new contract with FO's getting $48-50/hour to start and CA's in the $85-90/hour range if they want to have any chance at filling classes. And that's not addressing the other gaping holes in the contract!
 
BobDDuck said:
The time off, even when junior, schedule flexibility, and pay at a major will outclass anything you'll ever find at a regional, even in the right seat.

And you're right... the flying will get boring pretty quickly. Bit that's ok... you'll have 14 to 18 days off a month to go do what you want.
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I think “outclass” is the perfect term for the difference.
 
MikeFavinger said:
Being right seat at a major (these days) at any age is awesome. Beats the pants off of a regional in any seat. And as you know, I’m no youngster.
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Yeah, but commuting sucks. If I only have 5-6 years left and would have to commute to a crappy base on reserve, I would probably just finish up at the regional.
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
Yeah, but commuting sucks. If I only have 5-6 years left and would have to commute to a crappy base on reserve, I would probably just finish up at the regional.
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Yeah, I get that and can’t really speak to it… I’ve never commuted.
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
Yeah, but commuting sucks. If I only have 5-6 years left and would have to commute to a crappy base on reserve, I would probably just finish up at the regional.
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Maybe, although with how much more common base closures are at the regionals I'm not sure that's a great idea. You could easily end up having to commute anyway long before 5 years have elapsed.
 
guywhoflies said:
As far as the washout rate you mentioned, I wouldn't call it "disastrously high". I think we had a few small classes that approached 30%, but my new hire class at another regional washed out 11 of 23. I will say that the quality of instruction at C5 has increased greatly in the last few years, save for a couple of less than stellar instructors.
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Back in the day, 2 in a class of 20 washing out would be a serious anomaly. 30% and you have some kind of fundamental problem.
roundout said:
There's plenty of people who started at the my shop at 50+. The money and QOL is orders of magnitude better than at any regional.
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We’ve got guys hired at 60, and they have a good shot retiring in the left seat.
 
I am not junior but I just mashed the DROP button over a trip I had no desire to fly in November and thanks to recurrent training (again, I mean--thanks Obama) I now have a block of 0.0 in November, while still collecting a nominal amount of money from the Company which is great because ain't nobody got time fo' work sometimes. Next month, given how insane my life has been in the last 90 days, is that time.

They might get me in for 200% but frankly I'd like to sit at home and play with my VR headset some more and take long walks on the river and look at the leaves changing, if any are left at that point.

For reference, the last net credit loss transaction I had at SkyWorst was back when we had the Brasilia. Specifically, it was Christmas, 2013 and I had no desire to fly 8 legs to an 8 hour overnight in BFL - back when such things were legal, of course, despite the fact that such a practice fell well short of the intended level of safety of Part 121 - and there was exactly 1 more than the minimum EM2 FOs available. After that it was death by RMLV and platinum days to preserve sanity.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
I am not junior but I just mashed the DROP button over a trip I had no desire to fly in November and thanks to recurrent training (again, I mean--thanks Obama) I now have a block of 0.0 in November, while still collecting a nominal amount of money from the Company which is great because ain't nobody got time fo' work sometimes. Next month, given how insane my life has been in the last 90 days, is that time.

They might get me in for 200% but frankly I'd like to sit at home and play with my VR headset some more and take long walks on the river and look at the leaves changing, if any are left at that point.

For reference, the last net credit loss transaction I had at SkyWorst was back when we had the Brasilia. Specifically, it was Christmas, 2013 and I had no desire to fly 8 legs to an 8 hour overnight in BFL - back when such things were legal, of course, despite the fact that such a practice fell well short of the intended level of safety of Part 121 - and there was exactly 1 more than the minimum EM2 FOs available. After that it was death by RMLV and platinum days to preserve sanity.
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As my late departed cat Moose used to say:

“Wurk iz fer suckas”
 
Richman said:
As my late departed cat Moose used to say:

“Wurk iz fer suckas”
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Don't get me wrong. I love this job, even on "bad" days, and I still very much love flying airplanes.

It sure is nice to not have to every damn day, and to exercise some control over which days those are. Even when I was junior, daily open time here is FCFS, and they have to keep the grid green.
 
Autothrust Blue said:
Don't get me wrong. I love this job, even on "bad" days, and I still very much love flying airplanes.

It sure is nice to not have to every damn day, and to exercise some control over which days those are. Even when I was junior, daily open time here is FCFS, and they have to keep the grid green.
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I find work optional.

Lounging on the couch is mandatory.

I very much doubt I’ll be on my deathbed saying “sheesh, I should have worked more. And eaten more bean sprouts.”
 
Autothrust Blue said:
I am not junior but I just mashed the DROP button over a trip I had no desire to fly in November and thanks to recurrent training (again, I mean--thanks Obama) I now have a block of 0.0 in November, while still collecting a nominal amount of money from the Company which is great because ain't nobody got time fo' work sometimes. Next month, given how insane my life has been in the last 90 days, is that time.

They might get me in for 200% but frankly I'd like to sit at home and play with my VR headset some more and take long walks on the river and look at the leaves changing, if any are left at that point.

For reference, the last net credit loss transaction I had at SkyWorst was back when we had the Brasilia. Specifically, it was Christmas, 2013 and I had no desire to fly 8 legs to an 8 hour overnight in BFL - back when such things were legal, of course, despite the fact that such a practice fell well short of the intended level of safety of Part 121 - and there was exactly 1 more than the minimum EM2 FOs available. After that it was death by RMLV and platinum days to preserve sanity.
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No offense, are you married or have kids? If I was single or no kids, I'd be boooooored sitting around 30 days.

You do realize you could take long walks by the river and play VR games on your 14-19 days off even with a regular flying line right?


To each his own. I still can't figure out pilots who rant against Bernie and socialism and yet have no problem with last year's airline bailouts, PSP, and their general desire to sit at home, fly zero hours, and collect min 75 hr guarantee.
 
November I got my schedule to be 14 days off, 16 days of flying (no 4 days, just a couple 2-days and 3 days), and credit 98 hrs. Hitting a drop button, I could drop a 3 day and make it 17 off and 80 hrs.

I live in base. Even with 14 off, that's only 10 nights away from home the whole month.

"Make hay while the sun shines"

You never know when it'll go dark - like it did in March 2020.

Thanks to the government's socialist response, airline loans, bailout money, and especially PSP, we got to sit home like fat cats collecting a check for doing diddly squat.


To be fair, for October I am reserve and have flown a total of 7 days so far and only have 3 more reserve days left. I feel lazy this month.
 
Richman said:
I very much doubt I’ll be on my deathbed saying “sheesh, I should have worked more. And eaten more bean sprouts.”
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I do enjoy a good, high-fiber diet. But agreed. I like making money, and I use a lot of it, but I am also enjoying the "Nero Wolfe in his brownstone, doing stuff he likes to do only when and how he likes to do it" from time to time.

Last 3 months' average credit was north of 90 soooooo ain't nobody got time for more of that.

Cherokee_Cruiser said:
No offense, are you married or have kids? If I was single or no kids, I'd be boooooored sitting around 30 days.
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I'm unavailable, but childless.

I am, in fact, not bored sitting around for 30 days. Mostly because I don't sit around that much even when I am off; my parents are getting older, and I'll be out west after recurrent. And read it again: I've got zero block, but I have to go to recurrent, which knocks out a solid 6 days of the month here.

Cherokee_Cruiser said:
You do realize you could take long walks by the river and play VR games on your 14-19 days off even with a regular flying line right?
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Can, have, and will continue to do so, yes. But I also like not working.

Cherokee_Cruiser said:
To each his own. I still can't figure out pilots who rant against Bernie and socialism and yet have no problem with last year's airline bailouts, PSP, and their general desire to sit at home, fly zero hours, and collect min 75 hr guarantee.
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The only reason I sound like a democratic socialist is because of the ridiculous right-wing alignment of literally the rest of the industry.
 
Murdoughnut said:
Are there any lifer regional pilots on here? I only ask because whenever I toy with the idea of going to the airline in my mid-40s as a mid-life "I've made plenty of money, now I want do something I enjoy" gig, the thought of riding out my career left seat in an RJ at a base where I want to live sounds far more appealing than right seat at a major for most of the remainder of my career. I get it when you're 22 and have a butt ton of loans to pay off, but that wouldn't be my situation.

I've certainly ridden on RJs with up there in age Captains - anyone on here do it, and if so, why? Would rather do that and have a CLT base than ever have to commute.
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I’m in my 40’s and trying avoid becoming a lifer a my regional, which is not one of the “good ones” if such an animal exists. BUT, we are not wholly owned and I commute, so if I have to commute, I might as well get paid better to do so.

I have Republic lifers as friends and they’re fine with it since PIT is a base for them. But I really have doubts about FFD(fee for departure) carriers surviving. Wholly owneds are a slightly different story.
 
Murdoughnut said:
Are there any lifer regional pilots on here? I only ask because whenever I toy with the idea of going to the airline in my mid-40s as a mid-life "I've made plenty of money, now I want do something I enjoy" gig, the thought of riding out my career left seat in an RJ at a base where I want to live sounds far more appealing than right seat at a major for most of the remainder of my career. I get it when you're 22 and have a butt ton of loans to pay off, but that wouldn't be my situation.

I've certainly ridden on RJs with up there in age Captains - anyone on here do it, and if so, why? Would rather do that and have a CLT base than ever have to commute.
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IIRC, we had a regional lifer mitsu aviat8r or something like that, and he was driven away from JC because of the attacks he had to endure for regional flying and the decision to stick around and be a lifer. I could be mistaking the name, but again IIRC.
 
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