Career Advice

guywhoflies

guywhoflies

Y'NO WUT IM SAYIN
I know what you are thinking, not another one of these damn "What should I do???" threads. If you'll read to the end and offer some perspective, I would greatly appreciate it.

I am currently at a regional with no career progression in sight. I was fortunate enough to get two job offers: one from another regional which would offer a quick upgrade and possibly a "path" to UA. The other offer is with a LCC which would allow me to drive to work and get out of regional purgatory. But low first year pay combined with no hotel in training and a two year contract leave me hesitant to make the move.

Obviously, the pay at the LCC will be more than the regional CA pay in 2-3 years. But I still struggle to come to grips with the idea of making $32,000 first year to fly an Airbus.

At the same time, I am not a perfect applicant who will breeze through a UA interview. I was fortunate enough to pass the Hogan, but the actual interview does scare me.

I would love to hear from people who have been in similar situations, what their thought process was, what decision they made, and how has it worked out for them.

I would really like to talk to Derg and AeroCrewSolutions since they have experience (or a close friend involved) with the hiring process.

Also, anyone at UA (I know Seggy is there but not anyone else), I would love to talk about your experiences there.

Feel free to shoot me a PM for a more direct line of communication. That way, I can expound on my situation further.

Thanks guys and gals!
 
My simple thought process is if you were all of a sudden stuck forever, who would you rather be with long term? Anything could happen tomorrow, another catastrophic event, age 105, etc. You can always continue applying to majors. I think they like when guys get time in bigger airplanes. I know quite a few peole who went to LCCs, got their type then a legacy called.
 
That is great advice, and something I try to remind myself of. I think (never worked for a LCC but very familiar with the regional lifestyle) I would be happier long term at a LCC. Also, I have seen Derg recommend people going "where the name on the side of the plane matches your paycheck" which obviously makes me lean towards the LCC.

As you said, I can always keep my applications current and see what happens in a couple years.

Thanks for the reply.
 
Take the LCC, I work for that company. Here's the thing. I would love to get the invite at the big 3, I have been applying much like everyone else. That being said, I feel fortunate to be at F9 while I hope I get the call. We are going through our contract and pay can only get better and we all believe that it will, just a matter of how long. The first year pay blows that's a fact, I'm on year 3 pay and it's not bad and hopefully captain in the next couple of bids. If for some reason I never make it to the big 3 and the music stops, I'm much happier sitting here than at a regional airline. The ULCC model is proven and will be here for the long run. The regional world is hurting at the moment, pick a place with better stability. Life is that much better here than it was at my regional. Good luck on whatever you choose.
 
You had me at "drive to work".

All my friends at F9 enjoy(ed) their time there. Some have moved on to legacies since they started. All seemed to have interviews with other majors within a year after starting.
 
LCC.

And don't sweat the United interview when it comes. They're not in the business of wasting their time, if you get called they want to hire you.


But yeah. Drive to work, fly better equipment, make more money.
 
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