American Eagle: A Career Airline

Another point is, United MAY not be going anywhere....but their CEO is pimping them like the star street walker for a merger. I wouldn't want to be anywhere NEAR the bottom of the list of an airline that's jonesing so hard to merge with another carrier.

So what you're trying to say is that he's got the airline dressed in fishnets, hot pants and clear heels, traipsing the street corner? :)
 
I've said it before. The only way to have REAL job security is to ensure that your employer always has work that needs to be done.

And you guys wonder why I'm looking into law enforcement?? Come on! There's a never-ending supply of morons doing stupid stuff out there every day. Morons = Job Security.

:D
 
My opinion is based upon briefings that I receive quarterly from ALPA's Economics & Financial Analysis Department, which is a team of experts that do nothing but study airline financials. Their track record is stellar, so I feel pretty confident in my prediction. Unless another 9/11 comes along, UAL will be just fine. Will they be growing and prospering like the heady days of 1999? No, but they won't be going away, either.

Sounds like airline management, except on the other side of the table. We all know how successful airline management has been at managing and studying their financials. :rolleyes:

Sorry, but just because ALPA says things will be OK, does not leave me with that "warm and fuzzy" feeling.
 
That's an entirely different thread.

Watching a 'Regional' go 'Mainline' is an interesting concept.

Other than ExpressJet, anybody know of an airline that tried to launch itself as a brand, etc?

Great Plains started from the outset as it's own brand. I believe it only lasted 3 years. Not even Krispy Kreme donuts onboard AM flights could save them :sarcasm:
 
Great Plains started from the outset as it's own brand. I believe it only lasted 3 years. Not even Krispy Kreme donuts onboard AM flights could save them :sarcasm:

Always interesting to see the new kids on the block try to rise up to fill a niche.

SWA is a great success story. Allegiant did it. Spirit's scraping by.. and I'm sure there are others.

Republic's got some hurdles they didn't I think. Being tied into the FFD market could be a major handicap.
 
And you guys wonder why I'm looking into law enforcement?? Come on! There's a never-ending supply of morons doing stupid stuff out there every day. Morons = Job Security.

:D


Yes and no Matt,

I think we saw a "golden age" of law enforcement occur from about 2001-2008, very similar to the opportunities for advancement and high pay that pilots had prior to 9/11. Want to become a sergeant in a burgeoning city? Take the test and your three stripes will be waiting for you. Want to attend extra training? We'll release you from duty and pay you to go! Equipment getting old? No problem, here's some new stuff.

Now, i have a lot of friends that are complaining like FOs waiting for their upgrade. They previously thought they'd just be happy as a cop no matter what, but their careers are stagnating. The realization that it might take a decade to get a promotion, better shift, or into a specialty is a rough one, and why some call it a "seven year career." Getting approvals to attend training is hard enough for mandatory events (requal), let alone things that pique your interest. Worse yet, some are facing furlough or mandatory days off without pay.

Bottom line is this: the stability might be a bit better than the crazy airlines, but try to project where you'll be in seven years with that job. Go though the activity logs of your prospective employers and envision yourself answering the noise complaints, theft reports, and what have you. Everyone likes the uniform and hot calls, but we all like shooting the river visual 19 on nice days... sometimes they're few and far between.


J.

PS: I'm not disputing the fact that you would be home every night (or most likely every day), which I know is important to you. Just make sure you look at departments with 4 10's or 3 12's, otherwise a couple hours every night and two days off a week is just not enough time with a job like that.
 
Pretty pathetic to think of a career at a regional. If you were told that before you started your pilot training, would you have continued? I think I would have done the option B route and left the airlines to rot. The only reason I am still in this industry is because Republic is evolving and I really don't know where I'm going to be in 5 years. I'm waiting to see how this plays out.


I think the Republic situation falls somewhere in between Go!/ExpressJet and Independence Air, where they have enough outside revenue to support their "branded" operation if it struggles, but if all of that outside revenue went away, I think it would be difficult to survive in the long run.

I think a comparison could even be made to all the "LCC's" that the legacy airlines have started; airlines such as Ted, Song, and Metrojet.

You really can not compare Republic's "branded" flying to any other regional that has attempted its own brand. Lets be clear - Republic did not start a branded operation - they purchased two well established brands (and consequently, eliminated a major airline).

Frontier was already a big name in the west. They had an established brand, established route structure, gates, a ticketing system and system of dedicated passengers. The same can closely be said for Midwest, although Midwest was not as large as Frontier.

Republic comes in and purchases both of these companies, combining the best of both carriers. Frontier expands to the Midwest routes, A320's head to Florida routes from MKE and 190's come in to fill in the 100 seat market. Flight loads on the "branded" Republic flying are high. For the most part, customers of Frontier/Midwest haven't seen an entirely big change, so loyal customers to the already established brands are still flying. I just flew a 4 day E190 trip (not thrilled about the pay, but lets not go there), we were 90+ seats full every single flight. This operation will make money, but it will take time to recover from the merging of the brands.

As an FO here at Republic, I am not thrilled about putting the Midwest pilots out of work, but I am very optimistic and hopeful that Republic can make the transition to its own independant major airline, hopefully with the name "Frontier". Because I never had expectations of retiring at a regional airline, I just think that's pathetic. Since so many mainline jobs have gone away, I can only hope that we turn into a major and negotiate an awesome contract.
 
Making a six-figure income while getting apprx 15 days off per month doesn't sound too pathetic to me. I think most of the population would agree with that.
 
Making a six-figure income while getting apprx 15 days off per month doesn't sound too pathetic to me. I think most of the population would agree with that.

Six figures as in 101,000...yea it's low unless you're an FO on a widebody. :)
 
Six figures as in 101,000...yea it's low unless you're an FO on a widebody. :)


Apples to apples, based off guarantee x hourly x 12, both AE and 9E have 18 year pay scales. A 9E CA would make just under $2,000 more a year when topped out than an AE guy. I'm also assuming that an 18 year CA would bid the -700 and an 18 year CA and 9E would bid the -900. Now, if both were on the 50 seaters, the AE guys would make about $6000 more a year, but in none of those cases would it be six figures based on guarantee. Anything else is pure speculation factoring in per diem or flying above guarantee. I don't like using either of those because they can change drastically from month to month.
 
89K annual base salary for a top Eagle Captain; 90K for a top Pinnacle guy. Forget the airframe; that's hardly chump change. There's worse ways to make a liviing.
 
I was raised on about $60,000/year combined between my parents in California.

It was an average, middle class life.

With 100k a year you can easily make a living and not have to worry about money as long as you're a smart spender. I mean you're not going to be pimping a Ferarri to the airport, but I don't think that's what happiness is about anyways. :)
 
Making a six-figure income while getting apprx 15 days off per month doesn't sound too pathetic to me. I think most of the population would agree with that.

Most of the population doesn't face physicals and checkrides twice a year that could result in their dismissal. Nor do spend a great deal of time away from home, exposure to poor sleep/work cycles, and exposure to a huge amount of government oversight.

That works for me.

89K annual base salary for a top Eagle Captain; 90K for a top Pinnacle guy. Forget the airframe; that's hardly chump change. There's worse ways to make a living.

These statements really concern me that airline pilots are "settling" for less and trying to justify its acceptability. I don't care if a pilot works for a regional or a legacy, an 18 year Captain making 90K is an insult. A five year Capt should easily be north of 100K.
 
These statements really concern me that airline pilots are "settling" for less and trying to justify its acceptability. I don't care if a pilot works for a regional or a legacy, an 18 year Captain making 90K is an insult. A five year Capt should easily be north of 100K.

I think the point was that if you were stuck at Eagle, then it's not the worst thing in the world. If I were a 50yr old captain there I probably wouldn't want to move on either.

However, to aspire to flying an RJ for your entire career is sad.



That said, the classic Regional/Major paradigm is changing and may be completely overturned in the future. Eagle may become AMR's domestic carrier at AA narrowbody levels, and AA turns into the international carrier for AMR.
 
I think the point was that if you were stuck at Eagle, then it's not the worst thing in the world. If I were a 50yr old captain there I probably wouldn't want to move on either.

However, to aspire to flying an RJ for your entire career is sad.

That said, the classic Regional/Major paradigm is changing and may be completely overturned in the future. Eagle may become AMR's domestic carrier at AA narrowbody levels, and AA turns into the international carrier for AMR.


Why is a career flying an RJ sad? The -145 is basically an overgrown Legacy.

What if you aspired to a career flying corporate jets?

Is there a difference?

It's interesting to me that there's a stigma involved with flying a certain size or type of airplane. Assuming you're not working too hard or making too little, if you're happy with that, what's the problem?
 
It is probably the under 30 and single crowd that think a career at a regional is pathetic. Once you have kids and a mortgage other priorities take precedence over flying a Boeing or Airbus.
 
:yeahthat:

At 35, I am aware I could still have a 30 year airline career, but I am a bit older than the average starting regional pilot I am sure, and don't even have a job yet! I could see myself being perfectly happy staying at a stable regional for my entire career. Eagle, being owned by the major it services, seems to be one of the best bets.
 
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