Best Case Scenario At Regional
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Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
Well, I'm not really qualified to speak on the subject, but from the outside it seems that the best case scenario is that the company is around long enough for you to become "super senior". YMMV.
WestAir had a pretty good schedule for the super senior guys too. Not as good as Atlantic Coast or Lone Star... Oh... Wait! Nevermind!
I remember when a Lone Star Metroliner had an engine failure and fire light and had to land at DLF while I was the only one in the pattern practicing T&Gs in the -38 way back when.
granlistillo
Well-Known Member
Depends on the regional of course, and maybe even the base. At PSA, KTYS base there is usually a couple of pure out and back lines, and they go senior...
Alchemy
Well-Known Member
The best case is to get hired and then have your company awarded a massive aircraft order, i.e. Continental Express (expressjet) newhires in 1996. There were almost 300 aircraft orders placed for their company over the subsequent 4 year period. They're now in the top 200 out of a 2500 pilot group. They probably started out at the bottom of a 400 pilot group. They hold day trips and 15+ days off per month while probably making about 100k in the left seat of an ERJ. Whether or not that is good QOL depends on your prespective. Senior guys at a major probably have more days off while making twice that amount of money.
Predicting the place where something like that would happen is pretty tricky though. Nowadays management just starts up a new operating certificate rather than give an existing regional group the leverage of a large aircraft order.
I don't see many 3 or 4 day trips with in-domicile overnights. People that want that should just bid day trips or two-days. Outside of the top 20% of your seat? Good luck with that!
The best QOL is probably 15 days off and 60k(FO)/100k(CA) gross per year. You pick between day trips or 2-3-4 days if you're in the top 20%, depending on your preference. That's about 15 years for the left seat and 5 years for the right seat where I work. If you're a check airman you might be able to crack 120k.
Predicting the place where something like that would happen is pretty tricky though. Nowadays management just starts up a new operating certificate rather than give an existing regional group the leverage of a large aircraft order.
I don't see many 3 or 4 day trips with in-domicile overnights. People that want that should just bid day trips or two-days. Outside of the top 20% of your seat? Good luck with that!
The best QOL is probably 15 days off and 60k(FO)/100k(CA) gross per year. You pick between day trips or 2-3-4 days if you're in the top 20%, depending on your preference. That's about 15 years for the left seat and 5 years for the right seat where I work. If you're a check airman you might be able to crack 120k.
Nick
Well-Known Member
I was lucky enough to be bidding #2 out of 47 last month and ended up with I think 19 days off and 85 hours of credit. Three nights in hotels (three 2-day trips and two daytrips).
The past few months with similar seniority were usually 17-21 days off for 75-85 hours of credit.
Layovers at home depend on if your company flies to where you live and if you have layovers there and if they'd be long enough to bid. If you had an hour drive to the airport and all your airline had were 10 hour layovers there, personally I'd use the bidding power on something else like overall trip productivity. That way, although you'd be gone for the entire trip length, your total days off for the month would most likely be higher.
Kingairer
'Tiger Team' Member
It can get really good...But dont set yourself up (just reading inbetween the lines of your post) thinking you are going to be home everynite collecting perdiem while youre on an "overnite". Ive started to say the best times in aviation last about 10% of the total time.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
Best case scenario would probably be you are flying 21 people in your Brasilia from Yuma, AZ to Imperial, CA in a thunderstorm and a strange worm-hole opens up in front of you. You are too shocked to avoid it and you fly through. You come out the other end sitting in the left seat of a Pan Am 707 on an 8 mile final in Honolulu. You notice your sides bulging. You find a wallet with 57 $20 bills shoved into it in your left pocket, a black book with phone numbers of women in every city Pan Am serves in your right pocket, and the release says its 1968.
That's my ultimate career goal.
That's my ultimate career goal.
jhugz
Well-Known Member
I'll have what he's having.
jdlilfan
Well-Known Member
Full of win!
Duck_Twacy
Well-Known Member
I won't look like Leonardo DiCaprio, will I? If not, sign me up!
dasleben
That's just, like, your opinion, man
Pilotforhire587
Lycra Man
all depends on where you are at man... But as long as the company doesn't go under, if you stay long enough it will get pretty good, well...... Unless you are flying props
dasleben
That's just, like, your opinion, man
Props are for boats.
But really, my best schedule was when I was flying 402s of all things. 5 days on, 5 days off, early shows but home by lunch every day. Honestly, the worst schedules I've had in any job was with jet flying.
kellwolf
Piece of Trash
Is about #20 in base as an FO before I upgraded. Decent trips with normally about 9-10 hour overnights, about 16-18 days off and 90-95 hours of credit a month. Even on that, my wife still had to work a second job because FO pay at 9E sucks, even at 3rd year pay. Upgrade to CA, and I'm on reserve with 8-10 days off a month, mostly short overnights mixed with high speeds and I rarely break guarantee. At least my wife got to quit her job finally. In order for me to see a schedule like I had as a senior FO, I'll need to stay here for another 10-15 years. F that. I'd rather move up the food chain, sit reserve as an FO at a major or LCC for a bit, and maybe just NOT upgrade again.