Rank the Regionals

[MousyMaven]

What’s the best regional US airline to dispatch at? Worst? If you’re up to it, feel free to rank them all in order. This list was taken from the Regional Airline Association membership page and is in alphabetical order. If I’m missing any, let us know.

Air Wisconsin Airlines
Champlain Enterprises CommutAir
Empire Airlines, Inc.
Endeavor Air
Envoy Air, Inc.
ExpressJet Airlines
GoJet Airlines
Horizon Air
Hyannis Air Service (Cape Air)
Mesa Airlines
New England Airlines
Piedmont Airlines
PSA Airlines
Ravn Alaska
Republic Airways Holdings, Inc.
SkyWest Airlines

 

[flynryan692]

1. SkyWest Airlines
- Biggest operation, closest to what you'd experience at a major (west coast + east coast and most of the hubs all of the big 3 fly to)
- Good pay, fantastic management
- High training standards
- No junior manning

2. Endeavor Air
- Operation is very close to Delta
- Good training, opportunity to advance
- Good pay

3. Republic
- Good pay
- Good training (so I have heard)

4. Envoy
- So wanna work at American?

5. Horizon Air
- Seems to have a lot of lifers which indicates they are happy where they are.
- So you wanna work at Alaska?

and then everybody else. Just my biased opinion though, and not a reflection of the quality of dispatcher the others have!

 

[manniax]

For the regionals that I have worked with that are still in business, Air Wisconsin is #1 and Mesa is a very distant #2. But it's been a long time since I was at either place so things may have improved at Mesa. ZW still has a lot of people working there from when I was there, so I'd say that's an indication of a company and area that people enjoy being at (if you can stand the winters.)

 

[Luigi]

The number one regional is whichever hires you first.

 

[flynryan692]

The number one regional is whichever hires you first.

That's not a helpful mentality to have when regionals are desperately hiring anybody with a certificate and a pulse. Rookie dispatchers can and should make informed decisions about where they choose to gain their experience, the ball is in their court not the airlines. Nobody has to put with with a terrible shop for the sake of experience.

 

[Luigi]

That's not a helpful mentality to have when regionals are desperately hiring anybody with a certificate and a pulse. Rookie dispatchers can and should make informed decisions about where they choose to gain their experience, the ball is in their court not the airlines. Nobody has to put with with a terrible shop for the sake of experience.

There are a lot of dispatchers who do not exercise any of the privileges of their certificate. While you may be right, that right now, the regionals are all hurting for bodies. This is by no means the norm, and it won’t be the case soon. The good times never last forever. I came from a time where the regionals were more selective.

My advice to any new dispatcher would be:
Get hired at a regional.
Get to a major.

 

[StuckInRedDirt]

This whole thread is garbage. Everyone has different opinions on what makes a good airline to work for. Nobody has worked for them all.

Find an airline that works for you based on what matters to you.

 

[Pancake]

This whole thread is garbage. Everyone has different opinions on what makes a good airline to work for. Nobody has worked for them all.

Find an airline that works for you based on what matters to you.

The only thing I’d add is pay attention to the viability of the airline as a business. There are a couple of regional carriers that might be on borrowed time and a downturn in the economy could finish them off leaving you high and dry in a far away city.

 

[Burrito]

The only thing I’d add is pay attention to the viability of the airline as a business. There are a couple of regional carriers that might be on borrowed time and a downturn in the economy could finish them off leaving you high and dry in a far away city.

To add:

Don't judge the regional by its major.

There's no exception to this. You want to work at DL? Sure, a wholly owned could look appealing. Go back 10 or 12 years and see how many regionals had contracts with different airlines. Or even airlines which don't even exist anymore.

Like @Luigi said: Get hired.

 

[manniax]

There's no exception to this. You want to work at DL? Sure, a wholly owned could look appealing. Go back 10 or 12 years and see how many regionals had contracts with different airlines. Or even airlines which don't even exist anymore.

For DL in particular, being a dispatcher at a wholly owned regional doesn't seem to help much, from what I've heard. You still have to pass their testing battery to make it to a face to face interview. Now for AA, I've heard that they do hire more from their wholly owned regionals. So, keep your long-term career goals in mind as well. Unsure about Horizon/Alaska. United currently doesn't own any regional airlines, although they have agreements with a bunch of them. Southwest has never owned any regionals or codeshared any of their flights with a regional.

But basically I agree that it's best to get 121 experience and not stress too much on what your first regional is. If there's one you like a lot but don't get hired by, it will be much easier to get hired by them in the future if you have some dispatch experience elsewhere - even a small amount makes a big difference.

 

[MousyMaven]

This whole thread is garbage. Everyone has different opinions on what makes a good airline to work for. Nobody has worked for them all.

Find an airline that works for you based on what matters to you.

Applying for a job, accepting the offer and continuing to work for a company is a choice. I’d like to hear from people on how they would choose based on their personal experience or on what they’ve heard from others. There are trash places to work for and great places to work for.

In non-dispatch spaces, SkyWest consistently shows up as a good company to work for. I haven’t seen other regionals in those rankings. Their sheer size might be a factor.

 

[retrodx]

Applying for a job, accepting the offer and continuing to work for a company is a choice. I’d like to hear from people on how they would choose based on their personal experience or on what they’ve heard from others. There are trash places to work for and great places to work for.

In non-dispatch spaces, SkyWest consistently shows up as a good company to work for. I haven’t seen other regionals in those rankings. Their sheer size might be a factor.

Back to the ranking, I'd go for the following top 3:

1. Republic
2. CommutAir
3. SkyWest

Top two is mostly for COL relative to pay, location, and career advancement opportunities. SkyWest, not so much a COL advantage but career advancement is there. This is if regionals were the only choice. However, I'd consider LCCs and 121 supplemental if I were to do it again. Some of those operations give you an advantage with experience that you wouldn't otherwise see until the majors. Unfortunately it's not always seen that way since the most commonly recommended path is: regional > majors > profit.

 

[StuckInRedDirt]

Most majors don't care what regional you come from. The exception might be Horizon-Alaska and Envoy-American. Alaska and American have good reasons for this kind of relationship but will certainly hire from any airline if they like the candidate. If your goal is to work for a major you need to be competent and likeable. Any regional will provide excellent experience if you're a new certificate holder.

That being said, I am consistently hearing rumors about certain regional management asking their partner(s) not to hire their pilots, mechanics, or dispatchers until the regional gets staffing levels up. It would suck to be ready to move on to a major and have your own management destroy your chances of an interview.

 

[TRIGGERED]

Back to the ranking, I'd go for the following top 3:

1. Republic
2. CommutAir
3. SkyWest

Top two is mostly for COL relative to pay, location, and career advancement opportunities. SkyWest, not so much a COL advantage but career advancement is there. This is if regionals were the only choice. However, I'd consider LCCs and 121 supplemental if I were to do it again. Some of those operations give you an advantage with experience that you wouldn't otherwise see until the majors. Unfortunately it's not always seen that way since the most commonly recommended path is: regional > majors > profit.

I went 121 supplemental to LCC to Major. Definitely a good route to avoid terrible pay

 

[QXSOUP]

The only thing I’d add is pay attention to the viability of the airline as a business. There are a couple of regional carriers that might be on borrowed time and a downturn in the economy could finish them off leaving you high and dry in a far away city.

ALL regionals are on borrowed time.

 

[manniax]

That being said, I am consistently hearing rumors about certain regional management asking their partner(s) not to hire their pilots, mechanics, or dispatchers until the regional gets staffing levels up. It would suck to be ready to move on to a major and have your own management destroy your chances of an interview.

I know for a fact that a manager at Mesa Airlines did this, specifically with America West soon after Mesa relocated to PHX.

 

[Yurie158]

I got on a small 121 supp cargo to lcc. Not sure if that was the best vs going regional first but worked for me. My 121 supp did not pay that much higher than a regional or give me any special experience over a regional

 

[RegionalDXer]

I will say this because I feel like it needs to be said.. Republic really left a bad mark with me, when Covid was starting up. They had a class that was finishing up, Republic knew they were going to let them go but did not tell them till the last day of training. Had friends sign leases for apartments, etc. Then days later Republic fired them.. no heads up what do ever, all they were told was we will let y’all know when to come back in for OJT… Friends had to spend 1-2k to break the lease of the apartment that they had just signed for.

But go with whatever regional hires first or is closest to home or a place you can find cheap rent.if your goal is get on Delta or American, Go to a place that has a direct line into them.

 

[azmedic]

Best. - Compass. (Double wave)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[MousyMaven]

I will say this because I feel like it needs to be said.. Republic really left a bad mark with me, when Covid was starting up. They had a class that was finishing up, Republic knew they were going to let them go but did not tell them till the last day of training. Had friends sign leases for apartments, etc. Then days later Republic fired them.. no heads up what do ever, all they were told was we will let y’all know when to come back in for OJT… Friends had to spend 1-2k to break the lease of the apartment that they had just signed for.

But go with whatever regional hires first or is closest to home or a place you can find cheap rent.if your goal is get on Delta or American, Go to a place that has a direct line into them.

I know letting people go has to be tough but transparency will always soften the blow. Hopefully these folks found themselves at an airline that values them a little more than that.

Someone who recently left there for greener pastures said that RPA appears to be a ticking time bomb. Someone else told me they absolutely love it there except for the pay and plan to stay til retirement.