Airline dilemma

One of the secrets to being happy at a regional is to plan for the worst case.

Op, if you are expected best case scenarios to apply to you you are going to be disappointed. Often. Expect to be on reserve, with min days off, budget for min guarantee, don't count on a quick upgrade, and don't be married to the idea of only one of their bases. Plan for and expect the conservative.

The only thing that's constant at a regional is change. One guy's story COULD be your story, but being hired even one class date after him could cause you to have a completely different life than he.
 
One of the secrets to being happy at a regional is to plan for the worst case.

Op, if you are expected best case scenarios to apply to you you are going to be disappointed. Often. Expect to be on reserve, with min days off, budget for min guarantee, don't count on a quick upgrade, and don't be married to the idea of only one of their bases. Plan for and expect the conservative.

The only thing that's constant at a regional is change. One guy's story COULD be your story, but being hired even one class date after him could cause you to have a completely different life than he.

Or one class before.

Classes before and after me at xjt were sent to LAX, my class was sent to EWR. There were no more vacancies in the system bids after my class in LAX and I commuted across the country to reserve until they furloughed me.

Such is life.
 
Only if I really have to. I wouldn't mind picking up as many trips as possible depending how easy it is. Part time engineering will be an option if say I get 17 days off constantly and need extra income.
I'm not sure where to begin. Without being rude, your posts scream of naiveté about the industry, but you've come to the right place.

Republic may have a LGA base now, but doesn't mean they will tomorrow. Republic is a contract flyer and are subject to the whims of the partners they fly for. I worked for Republic and their predecessor Chautauqua for 10 years. During my time there, we went through lots of different contract agreement with other carriers, different airplanes, and different bases. They come and go with the wind. Don't count on 17 days off, ever, in this career. It just doesn't happen often, just do the math. If your plan for making the career work is thinking that itll be sort of a part time gig and you can keep another job going, youll be very mistaken. Regardless of who you work for your first months and possibly years are going to be a CF of being scheduling's bitch. Also keep in mind that todays projections aren't worth much after today. I upgraded in about 18 months at Chautauqua. It wasn't long after that it wasn't uncommon to fly with 4 or 5 year FOs (all at $36/hr) that still hadn't gotten the chance. Republic may end up being the best choice for you, but please don't go into it thinking you are going to get 1 and 2 day trips and 17 days off a month.
 
I'm not sure where to begin. Without being rude, your posts scream of naiveté about the industry, but you've come to the right place.

Republic may have a LGA base now, but doesn't mean they will tomorrow. Republic is a contract flyer and are subject to the whims of the partners they fly for. I worked for Republic and their predecessor Chautauqua for 10 years. During my time there, we went through lots of different contract agreement with other carriers, different airplanes, and different bases. They come and go with the wind. Don't count on 17 days off, ever, in this career. It just doesn't happen often, just do the math. If your plan for making the career work is thinking that itll be sort of a part time gig and you can keep another job going, youll be very mistaken. Regardless of who you work for your first months and possibly years are going to be a CF of being scheduling's bitch. Also keep in mind that todays projections aren't worth much after today. I upgraded in about 18 months at Chautauqua. It wasn't long after that it wasn't uncommon to fly with 4 or 5 year FOs (all at $36/hr) that still hadn't gotten the chance. Republic may end up being the best choice for you, but please don't go into it thinking you are going to get 1 and 2 day trips and 17 days off a month.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't expecting 17 days off constantly or 1-2 day trips only; I am perfectly fine with 3-5 day trips as long as it is no the only schedule as it is at PDT. I am expecting however 14-16 days off at RAH as this seems to be the average among junior FO's there. Yes things may change in the coming years however I am basing my decision on how things are today as that's the information I have. I never said that I wanted this to be my part time career, I said if I end up being able to have more days off and I need more income first few years then I can have a side job but I am well opened to having 0 days off and flying every single day as long as trip length Ary if that makes any sense. :)
 
Thanks for the info. I wasn't expecting 17 days off constantly or 1-2 day trips only; I am perfectly fine with 3-5 day trips as long as it is no the only schedule as it is at PDT. I am expecting however 14-16 days off at RAH as this seems to be the average among junior FO's there. Yes things may change in the coming years however I am basing my decision on how things are today as that's the information I have. I never said that I wanted this to be my part time career, I said if I end up being able to have more days off and I need more income first few years then I can have a side job but I am well opened to having 0 days off and flying every single day as long as trip length Ary if that makes any sense. :)

If Republic's APC page is accurate the guarantee is 12 days off per month, so I wouldn't expect any more than that. You will be on reserve at first and you certainly will not get more than the bare minimum days off as a reservist, and probably not as a junior line-holder either.

At my employer, as a reservist you usually get 6-day reserve blocks with 2 days off in between, and I would imagine it is similar at most airlines. With how much movement there is in the industry today you will hopefully get off reserve quickly, but you never know when the music might stop, and it's been 8 years since the last recession so we're just about due for another one. There have been pilots who have been on reserve as regional FOs for 6 years, and probably even longer although that's the longest I've heard of. I'm not trying to be nasty or condescending but it seems like you have very optimistic expectations of what your schedule will be like, and I second @poser765 's advice to plan for the worst-case scenario.
 
Plan and expect for the worst. I lucked out at my company. I never sat reserve, got off every holiday and was able to hold weekends off after the 2nd month on the line. I’ve got a great schedule and pretty much get what I want.
 
You better change your expectations to min days off otherwise you're in for a rude awakening. Also you say you want to work at a legacy some day, keep in mind quitting a regional after a short time doesn't look good on the resume unless something big happened at the company ( BK, furlough,etc) "I didn't get 17 days off a month won't cut it" and "personal issues" in the recruiting world makes the spidey sense tingle.
 
You better change your expectations to min days off otherwise you're in for a rude awakening. Also you say you want to work at a legacy some day, keep in mind quitting a regional after a short time doesn't look good on the resume unless something big happened at the company ( BK, furlough,etc) "I didn't get 17 days off a month won't cut it" and "personal issues" in the recruiting world makes the spidey sense tingle.

Will do, however I only said “If I get 17 off”, I never said I expect that to happen every single month. I CAN and I DON’T mind working EVERY single day if I have an ability to, so long as my trips are not 4/2 type ALWAYS no matter how senior I get. I have been working 7 days a week (sometimes 12 hrs a day) for the past 3 years now so I really don't mind work! However, based on what I am getting from others who have been with Republic, LGA and EWR are NOW most junior bases and I have a good chance of getting them and doing 2 day trips as 90% lines out of EWR are 2 days which will work so much better for me than 4/2. Also, most junior FO’s there are crediting 80-90 hrs with 14-16 days off, again this is what I am getting from speaking to the people who are now a year in their positions.

Yes, things may change, yes I may have to commute for few month before getting EWR or LGA, yes bases may come and go. I am basing my goals and expectations on conditions as they are today and information I receive from people flying the line, if things change then I will have to deal with it but I am not expecting 17 days off every single month and have this as my part time job lol
 
Definitely. Please give us an update post in a year!

Will do! Again, thanks all for your comments and suggestions, they are very useful! I know I may sound like I don't know what I want with unrealistic expectations but I will do my best to make it work while enjoying a ride.....we shall see = )
 
I CAN and I DON’T mind working EVERY single day if I have an ability to, so long as my trips are not 4/2 type ALWAYS no matter how senior I get. I have been working 7 days a week (sometimes 12 hrs a day) for the past 3 years now so I really don't mind work!

Yeah, this isn't going to work out well for you either with your future coworkers. But you'll find your groove.
 
Why do I have a (sad) feeling that this situation is eventually going to turn into a Corbin and "theWife"


I don't think anyone minds you having to pick between a regional at PHL or one at EWR/LGA. It's the stuff you're saying about schedules and not being able to do 4 on / 2off because apparently that's what Piedmont has, and you'd rather do 1 or 2-day trips out of EWR/LGA because that's what Republic seems to have. Current pilots may tell you that's what they are getting, but that's for those guys hired in 2016 and what they are getting today. That may or may not be the reality you get when you start X days in the future. In my regional days I had 1 and 2 day trips, but even as a local live in base guy, I had many instances of 4 on/ 2off/ 4 on/ 2 off. In the regional world I don't think you can count on any long term consistency for what schedules look like. Keep the expectations low, go in with your eyes wide open, and hopefully have a very supportive and understanding wife.
 
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