captainstability
New Member
I've been looking at the forums for a while not as a member and could use some constructive feedback from those who are apart of these regionals. I've been hired by all 3 and currently live in MSP and am having a hard time deciding. Most people say "Just do what works best for you" but this is a much harder choice than that and I'd value some of your feedback on each. Please don't troll this thread with useless information. I'm trying to make the best decision for my family and I of where to launch my career.
Ideally I would like to be MSP based and all of these carriers provide that. I would be fine with a 3 year upgrade jet time is jet time right now and the majors are taking people without TPIC. What I state below is just facts that I've gathered along the way. If I'm wrong about something please correct me.
Here is where I see everything right now.
Endeavor has some upside being owned by Delta. I'm not entirely sold on the Delta Kool Aid that they are selling. The fact that Endeavor can piggyback on Delta does make sense as to why they can run it cheaper than most regionals. What I don't understand is why did Delta shut down Comair, sell Mesaba, and then sell Compass? Then a year later buy Pinnacle out of bankruptcy when they claimed they were trying to get out of the regional business. The $20K retention bonus is great on paper but it's not going to have much merit if the company isn't around in a year. Why does the bonus only go until 2018? What's going to happen in 2018? They are also bringing back more CRJ200's which I don't understand since their fleet plan was to shrink to just the 81 CRJ900s. Reserve is currently 6-10 months and their future is debatable. Morale is also pretty low it seems. Yes they have turned things around but I don't think everyone is totally sold yet.
Compass has all 76 seat airplanes which solidifies their position in the regional game as they don't have a bunch of 50 seaters to deal with. They are already small enough that there isn't likely to be any shrinkage of the company and they are never overstaffed. The morale seems higher at Compass than most of the regionals. It's clearly a different company than it was before Trans States bought them. I have reservations as to whether or not the MSP base will stay in place. It seems most of the flying is shifting west and due to the size of the company it's probably much easier to sell or merge than say Skywest or 9E. I think they are a solid choice, but I wonder about MSP being a base for the long term.
Skywest is attractive because of their solid business history and ability to adapt and change. They also have MSP as the most junior base. What concerns me is that they have a bunch of 200's to park in the coming years. Does anyone have an idea of how long MSP will be a base? I know historically Skywest doesn't really come this far and sticks mostly to the West side of the U.S. upgrade times are probably a little longer but the security the company provides with their track record is comforting that they won't be out of business in the coming years.
Based on your honest opinion which one would you pick if you wanted company stability, living in base, QOL, and upgrade time. Ideally I'd like to be with a pilot group that doesn't complain about their company every trip. If anyone has anything positive or negative please add it to my thoughts!
Ideally I would like to be MSP based and all of these carriers provide that. I would be fine with a 3 year upgrade jet time is jet time right now and the majors are taking people without TPIC. What I state below is just facts that I've gathered along the way. If I'm wrong about something please correct me.
Here is where I see everything right now.
Endeavor has some upside being owned by Delta. I'm not entirely sold on the Delta Kool Aid that they are selling. The fact that Endeavor can piggyback on Delta does make sense as to why they can run it cheaper than most regionals. What I don't understand is why did Delta shut down Comair, sell Mesaba, and then sell Compass? Then a year later buy Pinnacle out of bankruptcy when they claimed they were trying to get out of the regional business. The $20K retention bonus is great on paper but it's not going to have much merit if the company isn't around in a year. Why does the bonus only go until 2018? What's going to happen in 2018? They are also bringing back more CRJ200's which I don't understand since their fleet plan was to shrink to just the 81 CRJ900s. Reserve is currently 6-10 months and their future is debatable. Morale is also pretty low it seems. Yes they have turned things around but I don't think everyone is totally sold yet.
Compass has all 76 seat airplanes which solidifies their position in the regional game as they don't have a bunch of 50 seaters to deal with. They are already small enough that there isn't likely to be any shrinkage of the company and they are never overstaffed. The morale seems higher at Compass than most of the regionals. It's clearly a different company than it was before Trans States bought them. I have reservations as to whether or not the MSP base will stay in place. It seems most of the flying is shifting west and due to the size of the company it's probably much easier to sell or merge than say Skywest or 9E. I think they are a solid choice, but I wonder about MSP being a base for the long term.
Skywest is attractive because of their solid business history and ability to adapt and change. They also have MSP as the most junior base. What concerns me is that they have a bunch of 200's to park in the coming years. Does anyone have an idea of how long MSP will be a base? I know historically Skywest doesn't really come this far and sticks mostly to the West side of the U.S. upgrade times are probably a little longer but the security the company provides with their track record is comforting that they won't be out of business in the coming years.
Based on your honest opinion which one would you pick if you wanted company stability, living in base, QOL, and upgrade time. Ideally I'd like to be with a pilot group that doesn't complain about their company every trip. If anyone has anything positive or negative please add it to my thoughts!
