Progression to a Major

METARd

METARd

Well-Known Member
If your career goal is eventually ending up at a major, is your best bet to stay at a regional for a few years, or working at a regional then going to a "non-major" (Atlas, Omni, etc..) that will get you heavy jet and ETOPS experience? Do majors prefer to hire directly from regional airlines, or does experience at Spirit, Frontier, or a heavy jet cargo/charter look better to them? I guess question is, if you go to a mid-major, is that the end destination, or would a major prefer someone with experience at a mid-major over a regional...
 
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My own .02 is two-sided. One side, the more airline stops made along the way (regional, less dumpy regional, 121 Sup, whatever) there's a higher chance you'll find out "this time" is "THIS time," and you'll fall in love.

The dark side of that, there's a higher chance you'll get blacklisted since everyone knows everyone else here, and "that guy who's on his fourth airline" might just be on his fifth. Or sixth. Or keep moving, etc.

In personal experience, I'm on my fourth, and I'm 28. In 121 Life, I'm only on my 2nd, but I'm in love with where I am. I hope this helps, and I hope I'm not being too over-the-top or outlandish for anyone here with 600 more years of experience than me.
 
I think the first question you have to ask yourself is do I want to work for a specific major or the first one that will hire you?

If you want to work for a specific major, you need to to tailor your experience, resume and personality to wait they want.

If you dont care, its probably better to stay at a regional, take jobs that are a step up wherever you can whether it be internally or at a supplemental/LCC, and apply to every major opening. The goal is to make yourself marketable to as many as possible and to have a well rounded resume to get interviews.

The passenger majors constantly change their preferences between internal and external. Likewise, they change their preference externally between regionals, LCC, supplementals, etc. LCCs and Supplementals pay a wage that can be pretty comfortable but not as good as you will get at the majors. For some, that is good enough for their careers and others want that higher major wage and job security.

I definitely think LCC, Supplemental, and coordinator/supervisor jobs at the regionals on your resume get you more interviews at majors and a better chance at a major.

If you want to be at a major, learn lessons from the regionals lifers that arent there by choice and take advantage of whatever opportunities you get. A bad major interview can get you blacklisted from that major and gives you less options.
 
My own (long-ish) road to the majors went regional, regional, LCC, regional, major. (During my time at the LCC 9/11 happened so that didn't speed things up any.) I was actually quite happy at my LCC and might well have stayed there long-term, but they went out of business in late 2002. When that happened, there wasn't a ton of hiring going on, and the first place I got a job was at a regional (a fairly well-established one with decent bennies, though.) After a few more years there I got on with a major.
 
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A majority of the AA/WN/UA hiring is from regionals. I don’t find that supplemental/heavy jet/international experience necessarily gives you a leg up.
 
There are far more regional dispatchers than they are supplemental/heavy jet. That could be a reason. Just saying.
 
Know of someone that went from a legacy's crew desk to another legacy's dispatch desk without prior experience. Like everything else in life, YMMV. I also think being able to sell yourself in your cover letter (sentence structure/grammar/thought patterns) can help set you apart if you're otherwise competitive.
 
MIADX said:
Know of someone that went from a legacy's crew desk to another legacy's dispatch desk without prior experience. Like everything else in life, YMMV. I also think being able to sell yourself in your cover letter (sentence structure/grammar/thought patterns) can help set you apart if you're otherwise competitive.
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Yeah. They can teach you to dispatch, you just have to provide a desirable personality.
 
Does it matter which regional you go to? Does having a certain regional's name on your resume look better than others? Are there regionals that send more dispatchers to the majors vs. others? IOW, does SkyWest look better on the resume than a PSA or Silver Airways? Does the type of equipment matter? Does it matter more that you stayed a while and took a leadership position (like supervisor or trainer) at the regional? Or does it matter what the majors are looking for when you're ready to make the jump?
 
FM-2 Fan said:
Does it matter which regional you go to? Does SkyWest look better on the resume vs. say a PSA or Silver Airways?
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Its like what dispatch school you go to. As long as you get the ticket, thats all that matters. In this case as long as you get the experience, I doubt they would look favorably or unfavorably among what regional you went with.
 
who'swho said:
Cuz the resident troll is speaking from experience.... oh wait, you don't even have your license!
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And to think we spent all that money on dispatch school and a certificate and wasted all that time at work dispatching when we could have just googled stuff for a couple hours when we got bored. That’s where the real dispatch knowledge is!!
 
Hired on at UPS, from Atlas, and am the only one in my class of 5 with heavy jet/ETOPS experience.

As another has said, I think it really comes down to your personality and professionalism. If you get the chance to interview, realize what they're offering you... and thus, be humble.

That said, the experience gained at places like Atlas and Omni will certainly benefit you in some regards, you'll build a good foundation of heavy jet/ETOPS/international skills which are invaluable in general.
 
AKSledhead said:
Hired on at UPS, from Atlas, and am the only one in my class of 5 with heavy jet/ETOPS experience.

As another has said, I think it really comes down to your personality and professionalism. If you get the chance to interview, realize what they're offering you... and thus, be humble.

That said, the experience gained at places like Atlas and Omni will certainly benefit you in some regards, you'll build a good foundation of heavy jet/ETOPS/international skills which are invaluable in general.
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Out of curiosity, where were you before Atlas?
 
MIADX said:
Know of someone that went from a legacy's crew desk to another legacy's dispatch desk without prior experience. Like everything else in life, YMMV. I also think being able to sell yourself in your cover letter (sentence structure/grammar/thought patterns) can help set you apart if you're otherwise competitive.
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Do you think including a cover letter is a necessity when applying to a major? Just genuinely curious as I've never written one for any job I've applied to. I always figured they were more necessary for management-type jobs.
 
Regional spatchin' gets you great experience and keeps you sharp. I wouldn't trade my experience at a regional for anything. Working for a major in another department works well too. A lot of spatchers' at WN got in the door that way. The internal route does not work at all carriers though specifically not at all for UPS (I tried). If you know which major you prefer I would try and talk to others that work for that carrier and find out what that carrier seems to prefer. If you have no preference I would find a good regional and stay there until you can move on.
 
On with B6 completely internally, started from the ramp and worked my way up over 5 years. I know of a few guys who dispatched at regional's and actually took the leap and left a dispatching job to come to B6 working at the airport just to get onto the floor internally. All airlines are different when it comes to internal/external hiring; all I can say is find an airline that you want to start a career with for the long term and do some research & network to find the best path to get there.
 
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