Regional Airline Jobs Questions

[TexasFlyer]

In my opinion, TYS is too far to drive for you. So correct.

The commute into CLT from any PSA is not bad in my opinion if there are at least 4 daily flights on any airline that can get you to CLT. 6 is golden. That gives you lots of options and limited stress. It is still a commute, but it is possibly sustainable long term. Although I personally would not enjoy it long term.

 

[badtransam97]

I think there are avg of 6 per day out of both MEM and BNA. I would only be doing it as long as it took to get to something better...again, my whole career will prob be a commuter bc of not being able or willing to move for the foreseeable future. Hoping that with SAP I could arrange a commuter friendly schedule to commute in/out at the start and end of trips. Doable ??

 

[TexasFlyer]

Oh. And I could do a CLT base. SAT to CLT is flown by airways and american mainline. Also by both mesa and psa and others at times (mesa being phased out completely i think on that leg). It would be a 20 minute drive to SAT. Then a 3 hour flight. Easy commute for some. Yet I would rather drive 3 hours in my car to Houston and work for Mesa. That is how much I personally disliked commuting standby. Just my personal opinion though. Many others do that commute for years and have no complaints. Until you actually do the commute and experience it for yourself, there is no way to tell what your thoughts will be on it.

 

[TexasFlyer]

And yes. As long as the SAP exists, you can make a commutable schedule. So no worries there.

Just remember. While on reserve you will need a crash pad in base. So hopefully where ever you go, you spend little time on reserve and can hold a line quickly. I would not work anywhere that does not have a way to drop and pick up trips to make lines work out to a schedule you like. Most regionals I beleive have this in place. PSA just has a few extra perks with their SAP.

Ah. Dang tablet. Sorry for bad spelling. Tired of editing everything.

 

[mastermags]

I notice you did not list XJT. If that was an oversight, don't worry much about it.

I hate to say it, but I think gone are the days where turboprop time was equally valuable to jet time for your resume. If all things are equal I'd say go someplace that flies jets and props, but that basically leaves SKYW and maybe Piedmont. Go somewhere that is ordering airplanes and has growth to allow you to get a good schedule and upgrade quickly. From your list, that looks like TSA and Mesa. Of course, six months from now, everything could change (and probably will).

 

[Hacker15e]

gone are the days where turboprop time was equally valuable to jet time for your resume.

I have never heard anyone in any hiring capacity at a major airline say such a thing. What makes you say that?

IMHO, if anything, given the beginning of the hiring boom at the majors, it matters even less than ever what kind of turbine time you have.

 

[RA390]

I agree with @TexasFlyer in that commuting to a regional on reserve will wear on you pretty quick. The first time the airplane breaks at an outstation on the last leg to base and you miss your commute home after being gone for days is when the suck will really settle in. My short stint in this industry so far has only been as a commuter, so I can only imagine how nice now living in base will be. As others have said consider flight frequency and load factors on the potential commute. My current commute LAX-ORD on paper seems ok when you see 15-20 departures per day, but it is difficult when the majority of them are oversold by 3 seats and lots of other commuters. As a previous 135 charter guy, I can honestly say that commuting to reserve has been a better QOL than the 13 off a quarter for me

 

[badtransam97]

Is there any way one can see how "loaded" the flights online? Just trying to do some research on it. There are 6-8 flts or so to and from, but idk how to check how full or oversold they are for commuting purposes

 

[mshunter]

I've been making the commute from LAX to ATL, for just shy of two years now, in reserve. You guys are a bunch of Nancy's!


But yeah, if love to live in base. Only 15 more years till she is 18.

 

[Tommay85]

I have never heard anyone in any hiring capacity at a major airline say such a thing. What makes you say that?

IMHO, if anything, given the beginning of the hiring boom at the majors, it matters even less than ever what kind of turbine time you have.

Guys my age(30) that haven't flown anything else except a seminole, much less a turbo-prop for that matter, seem to think there's a MASSIVE difference. The old guys that know it doesn't matter are retiring...

 

[mastermags]

I have never heard anyone in any hiring capacity at a major airline say such a thing. What makes you say that?

IMHO, if anything, given the beginning of the hiring boom at the majors, it matters even less than ever what kind of turbine time you have.

Like I said, it's just my opinion. I have filled out several applications where they asked specifically how much jet/FMS time you have. You wanna work overseas? They're generally looking for jet time. I'm not saying it's a rule, and I do believe that having both types of flying would strengthen your application, but it seems to be heading in that direction.

 

[Hacker15e]

Guys my age(30) that haven't flown anything else except a seminole, much less a turbo-prop for that matter, seem to think there's a MASSIVE difference. The old guys that know it doesn't matter are retiring...

Fortunately, pilots and HR personnel in the former category you mention have nothing to do with the hiring process at the major airlines. With respect to retired pilots, don't forget that the guy who runs hiring at Delta (Capt Arnie Kraby) is a retired Captain, and when he was gone last week at the WAI conference, another retired Captain sat in his place at the interviews in Atlanta.

The guys holding the keys to the kingdom at the jobs in the majors, as you say, know it doesn't matter.

I have filled out several applications where they asked specifically how much jet/FMS time you have.

That's a completely different statement than the "gone are the days...." one in your previous post. The only ones I see that say such platitudes are folks who are still trying to sow the seeds of SJS, and it isn't 2007 anymore.

I have filled out applications for all of the US legacies and several US Nationals, and none of them had such a question that discriminated between "jet" or "turbojet" experience and "turboprop". I definitely saw that on more than one regional application, however.

Seriously...it doesn't matter. Turbine time is turbine time at the major level. A pilot's ability to get hired at a National or major isn't going to hinge on the type of airplane s/he flew at the 121 regional level, especially as we continue to move further into the hiring boom and the "pilot shortage".

 

[chrisreedrules]

PSA is not too bad a commute from where you are.

Second to that I would say Piedmont.

Third to that I would consider maybe Whiskey or TSA... Avoid Republic and some of the others mentioned here.

 

[mastermags]

That's a completely different statement than the "gone are the days...." one in your previous post. The only ones I see that say such platitudes are folks who are still trying to sow the seeds of SJS, and it isn't 2007 anymore.

.

Ok, maybe I should have said "going are the days". Its certainly headed in the direction of quicker, more accelerated training programs. How many sims is initial training at Spirit, like four? We aren't there yet, but it's heading that way.

I have filled out applications for all of the US legacies and several US Nationals, and none of them had such a question that discriminated between "jet" or "turbojet" experience and "turboprop". I definitely saw that on more than one regional application, however.

Seriously...it doesn't matter. Turbine time is turbine time at the major level. A pilot's ability to get hired at a National or major isn't going to hinge on the type of airplane s/he flew at the 121 regional level, especially as we continue to move further into the hiring boom and the "pilot shortage".

U.S. Air asked. Atlas asked. Spirit asked. If I'm not mistaken, JetBlue also asked.

Look, are guys getting hired with no jet and FMS time? Absolutely they are. Can you do it too? Of course you can. I know flying a prop is more challenging and fun than flying a jet. All I am saying is, with all things being equal (projected upgrade time, desired domicile, compensation) and you had to pick between an all jet carrier or an all turboprop carrier (which is what somebody originally asked), I would pick jet. I believe it would give you more career options globally. I'm sticking to that.

 

[mshunter]

Like I said, it's just my opinion. I have filled out several applications where they asked specifically how much jet/FMS time you have. You wanna work overseas? They're generally looking for jet time. I'm not saying it's a rule, and I do believe that having both types of flying would strengthen your application, but it seems to be heading in that direction.

It's actually been that way for a very long time, and is shifting the other direction.

 

[wheelsup]

No one in my class at Airways came from a turboprop operator. The two guys in my new hire commuter class that came from turboprops didn't make it through training. Everyone else did including us CFI's...

I'm not saying turboprops are bad but this day and age, go to the jet if all things are equal. IMO.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

Like I said, it's just my opinion. I have filled out several applications where they asked specifically how much jet/FMS time you have. You wanna work overseas? They're generally looking for jet time. I'm not saying it's a rule, and I do believe that having both types of flying would strengthen your application, but it seems to be heading in that direction.

This (plus having the airplane blasted out from underneath me) is why I fly the jet now.

 

[Pilotman83]

I've got a buddy who is trying to get in with GoJet. Anybody know much about them?

 

[mastermags]

I've got a buddy who is trying to get in with GoJet. Anybody know much about them?