PIC time vs SIC time

[hindsight2020]

Hey everyone, long time lurker here. Im facing a pretty tough decision coming up. My long term career goal is to fly for AAL, UAL, DAL, SWA, or FDX. I am currently a street captain at a regional airline. Quality of life is very poor right now due to commuting and of course being junior on reserve with no end in sight. (yes i know i did it to myself by being a street captain). The plus side is im building Turbine PIC at a pretty good clip. I currently have a little shy of 4,000TT and just a tad over 1,000 turbine PIC.

My decision is this: i have CJO's from both JetBlue and Frontier. I would still be commuting to both however Frontier would offer a very easy one leg commute and likely really improve my QOL. I like Jetblue but all of their bases would be a 2 leg commute for me so i cant really seeing myself going that route.

So basically

Option A:
stay at my regional

PROS: building PIC time, avoid having a stint at a company for less then a year on my resume
CONS: enduring a hard commute, bottom of the reserve list, poor overall QOL

Option B:
go to frontier
PROS: much easier commute, opportunity to hold a line fairly quickly, much better pay after year 1, a place i could likely spend a career should something happen in the industry and the music stops.

CONS: several months of not building my flight time, no PIC time for at least a few years, not necessarily where i want to spend my whole career.


Anyway just looking for some opinions on this situation. I feel like i could suck up option A for another 6-12 months but not anything beyond that so i guess if i chose option A id be hedging my bets on getting a shot at a legacy by then.

 

[Nark]

Option B.

People who stay at the regionals, while having a CJO are dumb. 99.9% of whatever situation are in, don't justify it.

 

[elmetal]

go ANYWHERE but leave the regionals. today. Seriously. Never look back, but never forget where you came from and never pull the ladder

 

[Screaming_Emu]

The purpose of the regionals is to get out of the regionals.

While PIC can help your resume, it’s not the dealbreaker it was before. FedEx and UPS are the only two that it’s non negotiable. Who knows how long that’ll last.

Career movement is like nonreving. Take forward movement where/when you can because you don’t usually know what is behind door number two.

 

[Jordan93]

 

[Hiboglossi]

Definitely Option B. Honestly I'm surprised anyone would even consider staying at the Regionals with a job offer from Frontier or JetBlue, especially with your first hand experience of reserve hell. I've flown with captains at my regional who have many thousands of hours of TPIC and can't get a call from the legacies so if you stay at the regionals, for all you know there may never be another chance to escape.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

At the risk of repeating myself:

I commute to short call reserve at a ULCC and it’s better than being an in base regional senior ass captain.

NOTE: I have in excess of 1000 hours of magical unicorn dust I mean TPIC too.

 

[Der_Meister]

I have/had exactly 0 121 TPIC when I get the call from the widget. I did have a shiny 757 type from a ULCC that no longer has 757s.

Take option B, if it all hits the fan would you rather be at a Regional or ULCC if all the majors stop hiring.

 

[FlySooner9]

At the risk of repeating myself:

I commute to short call reserve at a ULCC and it’s better than being an in base regional senior ass captain.

NOTE: I have in excess of 1000 hours of magical unicorn dust I mean TPIC too.

Out of curiosity what makes it that much better? I’ve heard people say similar things before.

 

[etflies]

I may or may not fly for one of the airlines in question. I can unequivocally say I'd rather be here, than still at a regional hoping a better offer comes along before the music stops.

 

[amichael]

Where do you live? But yeah leaving is the right option.

 

[Nark]

Out of curiosity what makes it that much better? I’ve heard people say similar things before.

Work rules.

As an example, I'm a jr reserve guy. I'm notified of a reserve assignment for the following day. I'm released from reserve until my show time (tomorrow).

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Out of curiosity what makes it that much better? I’ve heard people say similar things before.

The operation is not a meme, for starters.

 

[hindsight2020]

Where do you live? But yeah leaving is the right option.

Tulsa, OK

 

[B200 Hawk]

Left a regional with 1800 121 PIC for a ULCC and I don’t think I’ll ever leave. Best decision of my life. Regionals are not worth it at all, almost quit flying all together.

 

[Hiboglossi]

Take option B, if it all hits the fan would you rather be at a Regional or ULCC if when the majors stop hiring.

FIFY. And it's been over 9 years since the last recession, so we're just about due for another one. Anyone who doesn't escape the regionals soon could be stuck there for a very long time.

 

[Cloud Surfer]

OP is just trolling, but I know better, having flown with enough regional lifers who think so...,,

 

[hindsight2020]

OP is just trolling, but I know better, having flown with enough regional lifers who think so...,,

certainly not trolling. Trying to make the best decision for my family and career. I thought it'd be tougher but seems to be pretty clear.

 

[Skåning]

Are you at Envoy with a flow through?

 

[Screaming_Emu]

Out of curiosity what makes it that much better? I’ve heard people say similar things before.

Everything